Alan Jackson with Cole Swindell? More Dubious ACM Duets

cole-swindell-alan-jackson The calamitous and disturbing plan of the Academy of Country Music to pair up some of country music’s worst stars of today with country music heroes of the past just keeps getting worse. Ever year the ACM’s take advantage of the talent assembled for their awards show in April to tape a future-airing television special. This year their bright idea was to pair up old stars with new ones and have them play the ACM’s “Party for a Cause” event and then air it May 15th on CBS.

Though a few of the collaboration ideas seem kind of cool, some of them are downright sinister to the hearts of traditional country fans who revere the past greats, and revile the new artists who are stomping on the traditions of the genre. Fans were already horrified to hear that Dwight Yoakam had been paired with EDM country star Sam Hunt. Now the full slate of duets has been revealed, and it also includes Alan Jackson singing with former Luke Bryan merch guy turned Bro-Country earache Cole Swindell, and sainted country music historian Marty Stuart buddying up with “Outsider” Eric Church. Florida Georgia Line is also getting into the mix with a duet with David Lee Murphy.

Not all the pairings are terrible though. Some of them look downright intriguing. And perhaps we should be thankful that older artists are being highlighted at all instead of being kept on the sidelines as is usually the case. But reuniting old friends, and working to craft timeless collaborations where the chemistry is rich would have resulted in more memorable collaborations that what it appears we have here, which is trying to mix to things together that naturally are polar opposites.

The Duets Include:

  • Dwight Yoakam and Sam Hunt
  • Alan Jackson and Cole Swindell
  • Marty Stuart and Eric Church
  • Luke Bryan and Ronnie Milsap
  • Alabama and Eli Young Band
  • Florida Georgia Line and David Lee Murphy
  • Brooks & Dunn and Reba McEntire
  • Keith Urban and John Anderson
  • Darius Rucker and Sara Evans
  • Dierks Bentley, Ashley Monroe, and Kip Moore
  • Clint Black and Joe Nichols
  • Hunter Hayes and Brett Eldredge
  • Lady Antebellum and Brandy Clark
  • Miranda Lambert and Patty Loveless
  • The Band Perry and Deana Carter
  • Brantley Gilbert, Jake Owen, and Kenny Chesney will all perform solo as part of the taping as well.
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