ASCAP

Martina McBride poses with a fan.

Kix Brooks oddly bathed in orange light.

Last night, we wandered down to the Ryman Auditorium to check out the scene at the ASCAP Country Music Awards. The show was just wrapping up, so we hung around the red carpet and valet area to see who was in attendance (and who was hitting the after-party across the street). 

I don't know if it's just the nature of Nashville, or the genre, or that it was the ASCAP Awards, as opposed to the Grammys, but the atmosphere was remarkably casual. No limousine line. No metal barricades. Just a few valets and LOTS of SUVs with tinted windows. 

(I'd like to break for a moment here and suggest that you don't have to be in California to be environmentally conscious. Just saying -- I'd like to have seen ONE Prius.)

As the stars waited for their cars in the Ryman parking lot, they took pictures with fans and signed autographs. 

Some observations:

1. Ninety-nine percent of the women at the show wore black dresses and extremely tall high heels. ... Kellie Pickler bucked this trend and wore bright red. She also hit the after-party.

2. Dierks Bentley wins the "down-home" award for driving his old, white Chevy truck.

3. Martina McBride has excellent hearing. While posing for a picture, a fan who was 5 feet away said quietly to her friend, "I just saw her in Virginia." Martina turned and called out, "You were at the Virginia Beach show? That show was a lot of fun."