"In Country Music, As In Life, Change Can Come Swiftly.."

The whole argument about "pure" country versus "contemporary" country tiptoes right up to the line of being disingenuous.

Taylor Swift is the proof.

Did she work her way up to fame from the coal mining towns of Kentucky?

No.

Can you imagine that she will ever have a clothing store complete with boots, buckles and key chains on lower Broadway (uh, that's Nashville's lower Broad to all you big city interlopers..)?

Uh, not.

Do you imagine that she would look sillier than Michael Dukakis in that Snoopy helmet he wore twenty plus years ago by sitting on a tractor or squinting down the barrel as she hung out in the family deer stand?

Ya, you betcha.

But even the heart hardened can't honestly deny that the kid's got game. She writes em' purty, she sings em' purty and, as evidenced from last night's SNL hosting gig, she's got some purty solid comic chops, too.

And she's what, like, twelve?

Do the math. She could have an amazing career of ten plus years, disappear from sight for five plus years and then make a "comeback"...

And she'd only be in her thirties.

Talk about career longevitiy.

And if the point must be made that she doesn't sing "pure" country (and while that has the appearance of a fair point, I'd suggest that it would be fun to have a roundtable debate on just what exactly that term really means..), the point should also be made that her success is shining a very bright and very positive light on Nashville and not only entertaining millions of country music fans, but also millions of fans who, when they think country music,think, as Trace Adkins cleverly put it, "..twang and trains and hillbilly thing.."

Not to mentioning opening the doors of opportunity for a lot of singers and writers who will benefit from the opening minds of music industry movers and shakers who can see that country music is really no longer JUST about the aforementioned "twang and...".

In other words, Taylor Swift, whatever else she may or may not bring to the show biz table, is the best damned ambassador Nasvhille has ever lucked into.

And for those folks who simply can't accept that it's not 1961 anymore and that country music has evolved past George and Tammy and Conway and Loretty, try looking at it this way...

If the first exposure that "city folk" ever had to country music had to be a singer that was more pop than Patsy, be thankful for small favors...

And it turned out to be Taylor Swift.

And not Lady Gaga.