The CMA Awards celebrated its 44th anniversary this year in a big way and with a very special keepsake: the organization broke open the “vault” and pored through thousands of archival photographs for a special book documenting the event’s four-plus decades. Penned by renowned music writer Deborah Evans Price and published by Whitman, the full color book, The CMA Awards Vault, takes readers on a unique journey through the vast history of the Awards, from its inception in 1967 to the present day. And after interviewing dozens of Country artists and mining their memories about the Awards to compile the book, Price spent a day in November celebrating its publication at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum with CMA Awards Executive Producer Robert Deaton and CMA Awards Consulting Producer Walter Miller, interviewing the two men on their amazing experiences working on the longest running and one of the most successful music awards programs in the history of television.
Listening to Miller, an award-winning producer who has worked on the Grammys, Tony Awards and other specials throughout his stellar 40-plus year career, and Deaton, a successful TV and CMA Award-winning video producer who has helmed the CMA Awards for the past seven years, it’s clear that the two have a mutual admiration society going that serves the show extremely well. Both men have a professed love and deep abiding respect for the genre, and those traits shine through when they speak about the yearly celebration of some of Country’s best and brightest and its many challenges and rewards. Since becoming involved with the CMA Awards back in 1970, New York native Miller has become a beloved figure in Nashville, and Evans Price recounted just how many of the artists feel about Miller during her introduction.
“Kix Brooks said so few people could come into this community from the outside and become so part of the community and be so loved,” said Evans Price. “Walter has taken the CMA Awards from a one-hour broadcast to the three-hour extravaganza we see today, and he’s worked on it since 1970. He’s won three Directors Guild Awards, Peabody Awards and countless others. And he loves Country Music.”
Miller recalled how he first became involved with the CMA Awards after receiving a call from CMA Awards Producer Irving Waugh. “I was directing three hours of classical music, and Irving Waugh called and said he wanted to talk to me about directing the CMA Awards. I told him I didn’t know a lot about Country Music but that I did play the fiddle a little. But that call really changed my life. This is my second home now. I love the town, love the people and I was fortunate enough to meet Robert Deaton. He was the bright light that shone through. We spoke the same language, he understood and he ran interference for me sometimes.
For Deaton, working with Miller taught him invaluable lessons about the TV world and helped him become a better producer. “Walter taught me that you have to have good taste. He taught me what is good television. The only way I was able to learn was being under Walter for seven years. It takes time to develop. And he taught me to take care of our artists. We have to put our best foot forward on that night. You protect these people and do everything you can to take each individual artist and make them look and sound as good as they possibly can on that night.”
Miller echoed the sentiment of just how important an appearance on the Awards is, especially for an up-and-coming artist. “That performer who stands onstage, on that live TV show, they get one chance to make an impact, and if they blow it the world knows about it. So you’ve got to make these people comfortable, treat them with tender loving care and have confidence in them.”
Both men agreed that the blend of traditional and modern Country sounds and influences is the key to a successful CMA Awards, and said they try to incorporate tribute to the genre’s history into each show as a nod to Country’s roots. “Rascal Flatts is Country and so is Miranda Lambert,” explained Deaton. “I make sure there is variety – traditional and contemporary. I don’t want to forget where we came from. Walter built this show over the years, and I’m gonna protect it.”
Sometimes there are differing viewpoints on the relevance of some of the performers on the telecast, something both men have learned to handle with diplomacy. “Hopefully we roll the dice and we’re right,” admitted Deaton. “Whether it’s Brad Paisley or Lady A or Taylor, you want to give them that shot when they’re set up to be able to take advantage of it. What you don’t want to do is be too early in their career, and then all of a sudden they under-perform on TV and we didn’t help them. We have to figure out when is the right time for when it will help them.”
“An example of that would be when Mary Chapin Carpenter did ‘Opening Act’ as an unknown,” injected Evans Price, referring to the 1990 CMA Awards when Carpenter won the crowd over with the clever song.
“Nobody wanted to put that on the air,” recalled Miller. “And we had to fight to get it on. But what a performance. That song told the whole story.”
And there are lively discussions about what song an artist will perform on the broadcast as well, according to Deaton, who admits that production values and the wow factor definitely come into play. “I love when Zac Brown Band did ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia.’ On paper you may go, ‘Are you crazy?’ They’ve had all these hits and you’re letting them do a cover? We went to their management and said, ‘You can do the hit and it’ll be great, it’s a great song. But if you do “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” then everybody will be talking about it the next day.’ We’re trying to create moments, we’re trying to create great television.”
The CMA Awards Vault is filled with many of those choice performance moments captured in photos, and Deaton and Miller definitely have their share of favorites through the years. “My favorite of all time actually was the set change with Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett. That was just awesome,” admitted Deaton. “Visually we want to push the envelope on certain songs but then sometimes we just want to put a great artist out there and let them sing. When we’re not enhancing it, we’re detracting from it. There are things we put on the show that are controversial,” he continued, “and some people scratch their heads. But if it fits organically, and it’s respectful of who we are and what we do, then the next day we’re in every paper and media outlet. We have pressure to deliver an audience.”
And the pressure-filled time element of live TV is a challenge as well, albeit one that both Deaton and Miller have grown accustomed to through the years. That’s when it helps to have consummate hosts including Vince Gill and more recently Brooks & Dunn and Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, who can stretch or crunch as needed and think quickly on their feet.
“I remember one year when O Brother Where Art Thou? won, and what seemed like the entire front row seemed to come up onstage,” recalled Deaton, laughing. “It was like 300 people. It was like, ‘Are they ever going to stop coming?’”
“Years ago when the Awards was at the Ryman in the early ‘70s, I spent more time running back and forth to Tootsie’s getting artists to go back onstage,” added Miller, chuckling. “Because they would go over and drink at Tootsie’s and we’d have to get them and bring them back over for the show!”
And sometimes even the hosts have to pitch in and sacrifice their egos for the good of the time clock. “Brad has such a great sense of humor – he will come up with things during the show and ask, ‘Can I say this?’” said Deaton. “But he and Carrie work really, really well together. We were so far behind in the show last year, and I’m going through copy and we’re starting to cut things left and right. Brad comes up to me and says, ‘If I win Male Vocalist, I’ll give you the shortest acceptance speech you’ve ever heard.’ He understood the time issue. Walter taught me it’s not professional to go over our time slot. So Brad won, gave the shortest speech ever, walked off and asked, ‘How’d we do?’ And I said, ‘We just got a minute back baby!’ So we were able to come in on time by the exact second.”
Turns out Deaton was respectful of the time element even before he became such an important part of the production end of the show. “When we won for Martina’s ‘Independence Day’ video, we couldn’t go up onstage so I never got to be on TV. But let me tell you if I win again, I’m going up there! And you might as well sit down, ‘cause I’ve got a lot to say!”
“I still say we should use the trap door,” added Miller, laughing, on how to solve the ever-present problem of some of the overzealous acceptance speeches by winners.
Another panic-inducing challenge both men address in making the Awards come together year after year is the constant production changes that can happen right up to the last day or two before the broadcast. In order to keep things flowing, CMA employs teams in three cities at once doing graphics and screen content: an editing facility with three bays and three post-houses in Nashville and post facilities in New York and London. “Once you decide who’s on the show, we have to come up with set design, script graphics, what they’re going to sing, time of the song and much more,” explained Deaton. “You can’t have long intros and you can’t have long outtros so you’re editing the song, re-recording music and discussing their look and wardrobe. We have three cities doing graphics and screen content; the reason we have London is we can be constantly working for 24 hours, so they can make changes overnight. And so it’s continuous like that for at least three weeks.”
This year’s challenge occurred when Taylor Swift changed her planned performance just days before the show, causing everyone to regroup and revamp. “I’m in the car and I get a call that Taylor would like to perform a different song. I ask what she wants to do for production, and her manager said she wants ‘you to come up with something.’ So I got the record, called my set director with ideas and he gave some ideas. We presented an idea and heard from Taylor 30-minutes later that she said loved it. We went from changing the song, the set and doing a rendering in about four hours. You just do it.”
The Nike philosophy has served Deaton and Miller well in the past few years especially, as the Awards has continued to gain in ratings and popularity. But the ratings and success are just icing on the cake to these two professionals, who get their satisfaction from working with one of the best production teams in all of television.
“Working with CMA Awards team and working with Walter is the best part,” admitted Deaton. “All these people are coming in from different places. Our director is Walter’s son, Paul Miller, who is amazing. Our supervising producer is from Israel, he’s fantastic. Our writer David Wild is a Rolling Stone writer and one of the most influential music writers in the country. We honored two employees this year for 25 and 31 years service on the show. My wife said this to me about five years ago, ‘that how you work best in this business, is if you have a servant’s heart.’ I never really understood it until I worked with Walter, because he serves the artists. And I want to serve him. It truly is an amazing experience to work with these people who are the best in the business.”
Graced by a foreword from Kenny Chesney and an afterword from Barbara Mandrell, The CMA Awards Vault 144-page hardcover 12-inch by 10-inch book with slipcase is available for $49.95 in bookstores and online retailers as well as at www.CMAawards.com.
CMA members can purchase the book for the discounted price of $35 plus shipping/handling by using the code: GBR10 at the online store’s checkout page on www.CMAawards.com, in the “coupon/gift certificate code” box. Save on shipping/handling fees by purchasing the book at the CMA office in Nashville at One Music Circle South.
“I’m thankful for the wonderful journey this book provides through the history of the CMA Awards,” wrote Mandrell in the book’s afterword. “Reading it makes one feel so ‘behind the scenes,’ ‘inside’ and as though they’re having conversations with many of the great artists in Country Music.”
“The 44th Annual CMA Awards,” hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood, drew 16.5 million viewers on ABC during November sweeps and sold out the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. The three-hour broadcast will re-air on CMT on Monday, Dec. 20 at 4 PM and 9 PM ET. Visit www.CMAawards.com.
