I'm Rooting for Jessica Simpson!

Jessica Simpson is a big star. Whether you like that fact or not is up to you. She is a beautiful, young woman, we all know that. She has been in the tabloids for years, and she is one of the most recognized young stars in Hollywood....or now maybe Nashville.

I'm just going to say it up front. I don't care who Jess has been married to, or who she dates. I don't care about Tony Romo or the Dallas Cowboys either. I DO think it's deplorable that Cowboy fans boo her at Texas Stadium. I more than likely will not buy the zit medicine she hocks on late night TV as well. I did think she was extremely funny on the Pizza Hut spots a few years ago, and I have not been to any of her movies. Hopefully that experiment is over.

BUT.....I will embrace her in Nashville and root for her in today's country music scene. Jessica is a star, with real star power. Doesn't she just look country too? I think so. So after all this time she's finally come to Nashville. One question. What took so long? She with her country roots, her looks, her voice, she was a Nashville natural the whole time. Seems like good advice finally showed up.

I have been playing country music on the radio for 26 years. I've seen a ton come and go. I have also never been thrilled with those who come to Nashville only to leave us, or try to leave us for greener pastures or bigger pay days. They just blow us off and run for the Pop/Rock scene thinking of huge stardom. You know who they have been. Many...we don't have to mention any names here. Most of the time, THAT plan fails and when it does, they try to reconnect with Nashville and country fans. But y'all are way too smart for that. Many times the door never really opens again.

Jessica's new song Come On Over, is a real stunner to me. When I heard this country project was in the works, I was skeptical. But the song is COUNTRY! It's short, tight, concise, has some great country licks in it, some great steel guitar riffs too. Plus she sings the daylights out of it, and it just fits her like a glove. The album comes out next month, and to be honest, I'm looking forward to hearing it. With all that she is, she should've come to Nashville long ago.

We all do our best work when we become comfortable with who we are as people. Sometimes it takes a while to find out who we really are as young adults. And when we do, it feels so good to find your niche. When I started in country radio in 1982, at WOBL in Oberlin, Ohio, I had no knowledge of the music. My first job or two was rock.- n- roll. But it fit me fine, and I've done nothing except country since, and had good success. I am hoping for the same for her. She is a star, and if the music is good she will be great for Nashville. Jessica sounds comfortable with her new life and song, away from Hollywood and in Nashville.

For some reason I feel differently about her than virtually every other tabloid star. I don't have much empathy for the rest of that bunch. When I see her, I have always seen someone other than who she was. I always saw someone seemingly uncomfortable in her own skin. -Sad. Maybe it was because I knew the look. I too, in my 20's had to find my own way through a few mine fields. Sound familiar? Thought so. I always felt Jessica was a fish out of water. She just needed a new pond to swim in.

I feel bad for anyone, man or woman who gets booed by 80.000 at a football game for being who they are, plus the rumors, the real dirt they try to dig up or just flat out invent in Hollywood. I'm not saying she's an angel or that mistakes haven't been made, but being in your 20's is a tough job sometimes, and I haven't forgotten that either.

I'm rooting for Jessica Simpson! It's not often that a real star comes to OUR neck of the entertainment woods, Nashville, and settles in. Trust me Jess this is your niche. I think you could really make a go of it if you stay true to the music. We've made many stars and watched them fly away, it's good to have one come home to roost.