The cowboys are coming. The cowboys are coming. For the first time in their history the Country Music Awards are being held somewhere else other than Nashville, and that somewhere else oddly enough is New York City. While the West Village is abuzz with the possibilities (this might even top fleet week in making fantasies come to life), the city's urban BBQ restaurants and faux cowboy bars, are suddenly having to deal with a sudden influx of, well, authenticity.
With over 500 events and tens of thousands of visitors making the pilgrimage. People who go to bars like Coyote Ugly, Hog's and Heifers, Rodeo Bar and Hank's Saloon with their tongue firmly planted in their cheek will be in for quite a surprise. For one weekend only all these imitation cowboy haunts are going to get the full pinocchio treatment, and will wake up transformed from an interpetation of a cowboy bar into the genuine article.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we recommend you take full advantage. Check out the New York Times' Official Guide to CMA week. Then grab yourself some grub at Dallas BBQ, go to one of the numerous CMA week gigs, and then head over to Hog's and Heifers and enjoy the rare site of tourists from Nashville looking down their noses at NYC locals making asses of themselves dancing on tables.
