Confederate States of American Idol

Terry Mattingly is wondering why are all these American Idol contestants from the south. All of the top two finishers but one have been from the south. Carrie Underwood is the sole exception and she's from a small town in Oklahoma. Why? Well it ain't because there are a lot of southerners.

"There's still an awful lot of old-school singers who got their starts in church, and many mainstream country musicians still do a gospel album," said John Reed Shelton, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of North Carolina and one of the region's most respected observers. "Everybody tends to go to church, and Southern evangelical Protestantism, both black and white, emphasizes and rewards musical performance."

Well I'll be damned.

I must admit I've descended from the first circle of music hell, pop, to the second, Country. Hopefully I'll never find out what the third is, although I suspect it's Western. I've been listening to lot of Brad Paisley lately. He certainly has that church connection down. He has songs about having to sit through a long sermon on nice summer days and has a hymn on each of his first two albums. My pastor even used "When I Get Where I'm Going" as an intro into a lesson series on the theology of heaven. His music is pretty good stuff especially because he has such a great sense of humor. For instance "All You Really Need is Love" has these lyrics which speak to my current predicament:

Let me say I'm happy for you both
And here's a little something that the two of you should know
If you want to do it right
Just take my advice
All you really need is love

And a license and a blood test and a bunch of invitations
A minister, a white dress, and of course a congregation
And flowers and music and candles and cake
And a bunch of rice for folks to throw as you drive away

It goes on like that for quite a while...