Behind the Music

One of the shows I look forward to seeing every couple of months at Joe's is The Country Music Association Songwriter Series. Essentially, what happens is four or five songwriters you've never heard of show up and sing songs that are embedded in your brain even if you think you never listen to country music. They drink bourbon and tell fish out of water stories about their trip to New York and the songs they've written that big-name acts record and they laugh a lot because they're pretty successful without all of that messy fame.

Bob Di Pierro is one of the major organizers of and performers at the event (which this week was in honor of Rascall Flatts who will perform many of the same songs played Wednesday at Joe's, tonight at Madison Square Garden). He and his gang may be facing less obscurity now that they've got their own reality television program, but hopefully they can continue to play the underdog, because no one will pay to see a winner. Just ask Rascall Flatts.