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I agree it’s been a lively, at times contentious thread here. If there’s anything new that can be added, I would say that Carrie’s popularity is at such a point that the words Memphis disc jockey George Klein said about his good friend Elvis seem to apply: “If you’re a fan, no explanation is necessary. If you’re not, no explanation is possible.”

And I think you sell Carrie Underwood short; she still had to live up to the hype. Selling her first album, fresh off “American Idol” was one thing; but she’s done well with her two albums since then, and continues to draw large crowds on the road. People are paying really good money not just to see her, but to go back and see her, and even driving long distances to see her more than once on the same tour.

You can say she was propped up all you want, but she still has to execute on an almost daily basis to retain the fans who bought into the hype, and grow her fan base. If it were really as easy as just sending out a singer heavily promoted by corporations, the music industry wouldn’t have spent the last several years fearing for its economic life.

No pun intended, but she’s the “All-American Girl.” She’s likable, has a good voice and a non-threatening personality. And where women in the 1990s followed Shania Twain and tried to present themselves as fantasy women, Carrie Underwood has instead put herself forward as the girl next door. Audiences feel like they know her; that their sister or neighbor was one good TV audition away from *being* her.

Can she keep this up? Will she eventually get to the top of each list, or is there somebody below her that might jump ahead?

From the commercial side of things, of course someone will eventually replace her as the industry darling. It’ll be interesting to see how she adjusts to married life, and eventually motherhood. Like anyone else who has experienced those things, they will be part of her growth as a person which one would expect would translate into growth as an artist.

One thing I keep thinking of in this whole discussion is what role being ignored by radio has played in the careers of some of my other favorite artists. It seemed pretty liberating for Johnny Cash when he hooked up with Rick Rubin and consciously set out to just record what he wanted without any notion of getting back onto radio.

I’ve enjoyed Dwight Yoakam’s material of the last decade probably a bit more than I did his 90s output. I look at Rosanne Cash, Allison Moorer, Shelby Lynne and most recently Chely Wright and I see where not chasing Billboard has led to much more material that I enjoy from those artists.

I figure with her talent, by the time Carrie Underwood isn’t a radio darling, she’ll have evolved into something far more special than what the industry is content to applaud her for being today.

Alot of things with Hearts and Armor could have been done differently. MCA believed that “Down On My Knees” was gonna be some huge crossover smash. Much better choices could have been made. I would have held that for a slot #5 release. And while “Wrong Side of Memphis” was a good choice for a single and was a top 5, i would not have made it a lead off. I would have went with “Walkaway Joe” that may have helped push it to #1 and helped the album get better first week sales. I believe its her lowest charting album, even though it did go platnium.

After that and the handling of “Song Remembers When” I was suprised how daring they were, and how many singles they pushed from “Thinkin About You” but with two number 1′s off that album, one of them being a massive hit of 1994 “XXXs and OOOs” I still found the sales a little disappointing.