They were playing Little Big Town on both Sirius and XM.

Sirius plays directly through my Alpine head unit. And installed right beneath that is my XM Commander, plugged into the Alpine’s Aux outlet for full-range sound. So, while I’m listening on Sirius, I can see what’s playing on XM simultaneously. And switch if I see something more interesting.

How good is Little Big Town if they’re playing them on both Sirius and XM’s new country channels SIMULTANEOUSLY?

THAT FUCKING GOOD!

You can take me to the paradise
Then again, you can be cold as ice

Fleetwood Mac was a struggling band, a journeyman band. That could tour, but couldn’t make any real money. And when no one’s getting rich, bands split up. That’s what happened. Bob Welch moved on.

Then, through a quirk of fate, the remaining members of the act heard the Buckingham Nicks album at Sound City in Van Nuys, and the rest is history.

Over the course of a year, Fleetwood Mac built itself into one of the biggest bands in the world. It started with "Over My Head", and then kicked into high gear with "Rhiannon". And when you purchased the album, you discovered ""Crystal" and "Landslide". "Say You Love Me".

That first album by the reconstituted band was SO big that there was INSTANT demand for the follow-up, "Rumours".

Unfortunately, with this level of success, this ratio of quality could never be duplicated. The band took a left turn, then splintered. But those Fleetwood Mac fans, they still exist. What are they listening to NOW?

If not NPR or right wing talk, oldies. They’re not listening to hip-hop or pop. They don’t care about Jay-Z or Jessica Simpson, but they DO care about music. How do you turn these people on to music?

By exposing them to something they want to hear.

Oh, there are some musos into alternative rock, wanting to buy the Shins. But most baby boomers, and that generation right behind them, they’re looking for something a bit different. A bit mellower, a bit more meaningful. Not that the meaning is paramount. First it has to be ear-pleasing. Records that hit this niche EXPLODE! Not only Norah Jones, but Corinne Bailey Rae. WHAT ELSE CAN WE SELL THEM?

LITTLE BIG TOWN!

Four people over thirty, two women and two guys. Singing music that’s a blend between the Eagles and the aforementioned Fleetwood Mac. But, unless you’re a country fan, you’re UNAWARE OF THEM!

I’m not saying that Little Big Town’s material is as good as classic Fleetwood Mac, I’m just saying that it delivers a hit for this niche, people who loved Fleetwood Mac would buy Little Big Town if they only HEARD THEM!

That’s what’s wrong with the new Starbucks label. It’s a BUSINESS DEAL! For a minute there, Starbucks delivered what we’ve lost, A FILTER! That’s why they could sell records. Because their customers believed that Starbucks was combing the releases for what was GOOD, for what THEY WANTED TO HEAR!

Little Big Town should make a deal with Starbucks. For a month-long campaign. Because, if they did, people would buy the album, FURTHERMORE IT WOULD DELIVER AWARENESS! That’s what’s lacking in today’s boomer marketplace, AWARENESS!

In today’s fragmented, niche sphere, you just can’t reach everybody. How the hell are you going to reach BABY BOOMERS?

A spot with American Airlines. A featurette on Little Big Town. With a bit of human interest, didn’t one of the band members lose their spouse?

And morning TV shows. I don’t watch ’em, but Google tells me Little Big Town has never played the "Today Show". Can’t someone at the label, in management, approach the producers and show them the NUMBERS?

Yes, as of this week, Little Big Town has sold 1,041,259 albums. It’s not like the morning shows would be taking a flier on a new band, one without any proven success.

You’ve got to go wherever boomers go. Because, believe me, if boomers heard "Bones", the most Fleetwood Mac-oriented track, they’d BUY THE CD!

All those lifestyle marketing ideas hip in the last century, they work if the record is GOOD! Play Little Big Town in open-air bars, casual restaurants… Even give the proprietor a box to sell.

God, I’d get a mailing list and E-MAIL BOOMERS "BONES"! Yup, for FREE! Sure, a bunch of them would be TOO STUPID to know how to download/play the track. But those who were computer savvy… I haven’t heard of a band doing this before, certainly not in the boomer sphere. And, I’m a big believer in pull rather than push, but if you make a deal with an opt-in list, somebody who’s already e-mailing them, their wireless provider, their BANK, then they’ll be into it. And, if you’re giving away something for free… Hell, Schick gave away two four blade razors with last Sunday’s L.A. "Times", Felice was THRILLED!

Boomers are just a couple of years and a couple of changes behind the young ‘uns. You can do things that no longer work with kids.

And they also have MONEY!

How about a FREE NYC concert for Amex-holders. Take out a full page ad in the "New York Times", with hip copy, on Sunday, in the Arts & Leisure section, offering up this free show for Amex cardholders. And, maybe a link where you can download "Bones" FOR FREE! Maybe that’s BETTER than spamming people.

But the key is to keep thinking, keep coming up with ideas.

Little Big Town is not Toby Keith. They’re BARELY country. Hell, on the same site you drive people to to get their free track, have video of the band playing with Lindsey Buckingham, clips from CMT’s "Crossroads". Both Fleetwood Mac tracks and Little Big Town originals. (Full cuts, sans Windows Media copy protection, don’t insult your non-stealing, non-tech-savvy audience. Hell, if you’re lucky people WILL steal and trade the video!)

Create some awareness. It’s about multiple impressions. If a boomer hears about something TWICE, he thinks it’s HAPPENING! These are not teenagers in front of the computer, over-messaged, turned off by all advertising. Boomers can be sold if you RESPECT THEM! By speaking intelligently, by delivering something that DESERVES THE HYPE!

And Little Big Town does.

It’s not about print, not about reviews, more about getting people to HEAR THE MUSIC!

Little Big Town shouldn’t be opening for Martina McBride, but JIMMY BUFFETT! Someone who’s not country, but who hits the target vacation/good times/monied audience!

"A Little More You" is Little Big Town’s "Over My Head". A sensuous song about love that makes people FEEL GOOD! Now that the label is working the track, it’s time to push the button. Less from the top down, but the bottom up. Anywhere baby boomers congregate, "The Road To Here" should be played. In TASTEMAKER LOCATIONS!

Every bar and restaurant in Nantucket should be hit. Martha’s Vineyard and Bar Harbor too.

And there are resorts in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Anywhere monied people go for R&R in the summer should be serviced with this album. And, in one or two or three of these locations, Little Big Town should play a live show in late August, FOR FREE!

It’ll be like kids coming home from college. They’ll be telling all their friends back in the suburbs about the new act they’re into! Just plant some seeds. Let the band find the baby boomer connectors/tastemakers, they’ll spread the word FOR YOU!

Boomers are looking for good music. But they don’t want what you’ve invested in, but only one or two GOOD THINGS!

Little Big Town’s "The Road To Here" is one of those things. It’s my favorite album of the year.