Garth Brooks

Most people think that Garth Brooks' secret is that he plays country music as if it were rock and roll.That's different from playing country music like rock and roll, cranking the guitars until the band sounds more like Lynyrd Skynyrd than Lester Flatt. The rock and roll element in Brooks' music is more a matter of attitude than instrumentation, a sort of go-crazy delivery that's miles away from the well-mannered reserve most country stars convey. That's one of the reasons Brooks seems so at home on the arena circuit -- his performance is built around oversized gestures.

As President Barack Obama extends his buy-my-economic-plans-please tour through 60 Minut es tonight and into Tuesday with a prime-time news conference, the question that begs to be asked is whether the president is spending enough time actually governing - as opposed to talking about governing on TV. There is a difference. And as much as I - a TV critic and political blogger - welcome Obama's commitment to use of the tube, I worry as a citizen that he's not doing the nitty-gritty, late-night, closed-door, on-the-phone politicking that it takes to really govern this troubled land.

ON AND OFF THE AIR:* His name sounds more like an actor in some ponderous BBC drama, but Garth Brooks is really hot stuff in the American country music world. So there's no surprise that he is getting his first prime time network special at 9 tonight on NBC (Channel 2)."This is Garth Brooks" includes footage from a summer concert in Dallas -- including big hits "If Tomorrow Never Comes," "Friends in Low Places" and "The Dance."But interviews with the performer, family and friends also profile the artist who swept last year's Academy of Country Music Awards.

Deb Whittington, a 41-year-old high school science teacher from Effingham, S.C., and a devoted Garth Brooks fan, had to go to Wal-Mart.com to pre-order the country singer's new CD and DVD boxed set. And when she wanted another "Garth Brooks: The Limited Series" - just in case anything ever happened to her first set, she said - she had to go to her local Wal-Mart store to get it. That's because the retailer has exclusive rights to the discs and all of...

Country music fans have two chances to hear top artists Vince Gill and Garth Brooks in live radio performances this week.First up, Mr. Gill's new greatest hits collection album, "Souvenirs," gets a hearing -- the day before its national release -- on WXCY-FM (103.7), a country station based in Havre de Grace.The broadcast is from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow, and is a simulcast of "Vince Gill's Souvenirs," a program on cable television's Nashville Network.And on Tuesday, "Garth Brooks: 'Fresh Horses' " can be heard from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on both WXCY and Baltimore's big country station, WPOC-FM (93.1)

Move over Michael Jackson. Garth Brooks, the heartthrob of country music, is replacing the King of Pop at Annapolis' only black radio station.In another sign of the growing popularity of country music, WANN is dropping its mix of gospel, rhythm and blues, and public affairs programming for a mainstream country format Nov. 2.The AM station is adopting a new slogan, "Bay Country 1190," to attract more listeners with the chart-climbing country songs that have...

Garth Brooks is not the likeliest-looking pop idol.At a time when most male country stars are lean, tan and hunky, Brooks is pale, round-faced and pudgy, looking more like the Pillsbury Doughboy than a cowboy pin-up.But you wouldn't know it by the way his audience reacts.Last night at the Capital Centre, Brooks was on the receiving end of audience adulation all night.It wasn't just the usual screams and cheers, either; he spent as much time shaking hands, accepting presents and returning waves as he did singing and playing.

There are a lot of different ways to describe a product' popularity, but "it's selling like a Christmas album in August" isn't one of them. Because, as everyone knows, nobody buys Christmas albums in August.Nobody except Garth Brooks fans, that is.On Aug. 25, 1,576,716 copies of Brooks' "Beyond the Season" went on sale in record stores across the country. A week later, it was the fifth best-selling album in the country. (Publicists for Liberty Records, which released the album, did not have exact figures, but sales were estimated to exceed 200,000 units)

The hottest music recording in the country comes with fries.It's "The Garth Brooks Collection," a 10-song CD and cassette sold only at McDonald's, the hamburger chain. Mr. Brooks' record company says sales in the monthlong promotion campaign hit 4 million.But don't look for it on the best-seller list.This is because Billboard, the music business weekly that compiles the best-seller charts, and SoundScan, the sales-tracking service Billboard uses, count only records and tapes available in retail outlets.

Away from the adoring throng, Garth Brooks, country music's rising star, was lounging in his trailer, exhausted but grateful.He had just finished singing and playing his heart out for an audience of thousands at FanFair, country music's annual summer lovefest for musicians and their followers. He had passed among them, shaking and kissing proffered hands. Now, before a much smaller audience, he took a moment to reflect."You don't want to pinch yourself because you're afraid you'll wake up," Brooks said.

Chris LeDoux, 56, a former world champion bareback rider who parlayed songs about the rodeo life into a successful country music career, died Wednesday in Cheyenne, Wyo., of complications from liver cancer. He described his music as a combination of "Western soul, sagebrush blues, cowboy folk and rodeo rock 'n' roll." By 1989, he had released 22 albums, which he sold at concerts and rodeos, and had a loyal, if limited, fan base. But Mr. LeDoux soon became a country star, teaming with Garth Brooks for the Grammy-nominated, top 10 hit "Whatcha Gonna Do With a Cowboy" in 1992.

Must a country music star trade her country soul to become a pop diva? Find the answer in the latest singles from Shania Twain, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes, each of whom parlayed country music fame into across-the-board pop success. All three have just released the first singles from new albums, but only one is a hit with country fans. Twain's "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" is getting country listeners good, making its debut this week at No. 21 on the Radio & Records trade publication's list of the most-played records on country stations in the nation.

Performing at a big benefit concert is usually perceived as enlightened self-interest. Neil Young, who has an autistic child, organized the Bridge Concerts to raise money for the Bridge School, which treats such children. Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys is a Buddhist, so he helped organize the Tibetan Freedom Concerts. Because Sting is big on environmental activism, he's a regular part of the annual rain forest benefit concerts. So it's not surprising that Melissa Etheridge was the first artist brought on board for Equality Rocks, the gay and lesbian rights concert being held at Washington's RFK Stadium today.

Highlights and lowlights from the Orioles' 9-3 win over the New York Mets in Port St. Lucie, Fla. UP -- Greg Myers: His noisiest day this spring. DOWN -- Wayne Kirby: Goes 0-for-4 and gets picked off first base. EVEN -- Albert Belle: Not always operating at full speed, but drives in two runs. UP -- Cal Ripken: Had to get another hit sooner or later. UP -- Buddy Groom: Doesn't give in to Garth. The bats They awoke after a three-hit snooze in Port Charlotte. The Orioles pounded out 15 hits, including three each by Myers and DeShields.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Grand Ole Opry meets the Grand Old Party. The one name that symbolizes country music past and present -- Opryland -- is joining Washington, the one name that symbolizes politics past and present. Gaylord Entertainment, the company that owns the Grand Ole Opry and Opryland Hotel in Nashville, plans to open a 2,000-room hotel-convention center in Prince George's County, south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge on 40 acres in Oxon Hill. At a cost of $560 million, the new Opryland Hotel is expected to open in 2004.

An old zen koan observes that we can never cross the same river twice. Because while the geography around it is solid and unchanging, the river itself is forever in motion. It may look the same on the surface, but the water we passed over yesterday is today miles downstream, while the water beneath us now could have come from anywhere -- rainfall, run-off, even another river.It's worth keeping that model in mind when looking at how popular music evolved in the 1990s. Outwardly, things seemed fairly constant.

Garth Brooks ought to be the happiest man in country music today.His albums sell in the millions as a matter of course, and he's had at least two albums in the Billboard Top 10 for most of the last year. His shows are packing them in at a time when superstars like Bruce Springsteen and U2 have trouble filling halls (in fact, tickets for his Oct. 22 concert at the Capital Centre sold out before most folks even knew they were available).He's making money hand-over-fist, with an income that Forbes estimates at $44 million over the last two years, making him the 13th-best-paid entertainer in the world.

It's going to be crowded in CD stores by Christmas.After a largely superstar-less summer, the record industry is coming on strong for the fall, with a boatload of big-name releases set to be in stores by early December.Just some of the highlights: Garth Brooks, Nine Inch Nails, Will Smith, Barbra Streisand, Rage Against the Machine, Brooks & Dunn, Paula Cole, Sting, Don Henley, Biggie Smalls, Mariah Carey, Marilyn Manson, Jewel, Metallica, Savage Garden, Beck, Live, Dru Hill, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Fiona Apple and Korn.

Imagine for a moment that you're the biggest star in country music. Your albums routinely top the charts; your tours play to packed houses from coast to coast. You've set numerous records and won countless awards. Millions know your name.Why would you want to be someone else?That's the question Garth Brooks fans are asking as their hero, seemingly at the top of his game, takes a hiatus from country music so he can pretend to be rock star Chris Gaines.It would be convenient to say that the answers to this and other questions may be found on "Garth Brooks in ... The Life of Chris Gaines" (Capitol 20051, arriving in stores today)

It's going to be crowded in CD stores by Christmas.After a largely superstar-less summer, the record industry is coming on strong for the fall, with a boatload of big-name releases set to be in stores by early December.Just some of the highlights: Garth Brooks, Nine Inch Nails, Will Smith, Barbra Streisand, Rage Against the Machine, Brooks & Dunn, Paula Cole, Sting, Don Henley, Biggie Smalls, Mariah Carey, Marilyn Manson, Jewel, Metallica, Savage Garden, Beck, Live, Dru Hill, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Fiona Apple and Korn.