We can all learn from country music

I just finished watching -- no, savouring -- the two-and-a-half hour Country Music Television (CMT) tribute to Reba McIntyre.

I cried like a big fat baby through most of it. I'm a total sucker for the kind of sentiment that is alive and well in what writer Nicolas Dawidoff called "The Country of Country.'

The show, the first in a new "CMT Giants" series, celebrated Reba's remarkable show business career, mainly through beautiful tributes, in words and in song, from Reba's music industry friends, including Faith Hill, Dolly Parton, Trish Yearwood, Martina McBride and Wynonna -- in other words, some of the greatest voices in country music.

Those folks down in Nashville know how to touch a person's heart. They look you in the eye. They talk and sing about what it means to be human. They're not afraid of showing their frailty. And they sure know how to celebrate their own community. The TV special combined real, human emotions with superb production values. (You shoulda seen the red dress Reba wore for the final number, her superb cover of the Bobby Gentry classic, Fancy. My, my, Reba sure looked fine.)

Employee communicators could take a few lessons from Reba and her friends.

"Do you know what the Southern definition of a true music lover is? It's a man who, if he hears a woman singing in the shower, puts his ear to the keyhole."
      - Mississippi shop owner Larry Finch, as quoted in "In the Country of Country"