Sunday night’s American Music Award show’s performances were replete with an underlying competition for the most fire, undulating loud acoustics, vampy outfits, and creative mechanisms for suspending singers.
It was repetitive and a little boring until the curtain went up and three men seated on stools with a backlit stage simply did their thing.
Dressed in jeans and black t-shirts, the faces of the man on the left playing guitar and the man on the right who harmonized were never revealed until half way through the number, allowing all of your attention to listen to Kid Rock sing, “Times Like These,” his new song inspired by Detroit’s tough stretch.
Like an old PowerPoint, video screen behind him displayed series of changing Michigan images and nary was a saucy move made during Kid Rock’s warm, heartfelt performance.
I didn’t even know who he was. Kid Rock’s bio reveals lots of brawls, run-ins with the law, and a divorce from Pamela Anderson. Got some talent though.
I wondered whether he agonized over the AMA event, since it’s so competitive. Whether to add a full gospel chorus, hover over the crowd in a suspended Chevy Nova, or just perform with a tiny bit of fire.
Last night, I saw an artist who chooses his own way in an industry full of individuals caught up in trends, the latest fashions and crazed technology banging their way up against a career ladder of uncertainty. 
Kid Rock is a confident man who despite a slow start in his career doesn’t follow the pack. He chooses his own way through his career and life. How many of us are doing that?
Have a look at his AMA performance last night.
Be sure and listen up when he gets to this part:
“I am a new day rising
I’m a brand new sky
To hang the stars upon tonight.”
This song may be about a city fighting for its life, but Kid Rock inspires all of us to reinvent ourselves right now, even during tough times – “times like these.”
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