Its bad enough to have your career derailed because of the fickle nature of a cross-genre fan base who only ever liked you for one song. But to have that same career resurrected by the success of your underage daughters career as a Disney-pop sensation actually, Im guessing Billy Rays pretty ok with that turn of events. See, even at his chart-topping best, Cyrus was never much more than a novelty act. After all, it wasnt his relatively straightforward take on dusty country-rock and traditional country revivalism that brought Billy Ray to the masses. His biggest selling points were his hunky, urban cowboy appeal and his undeniable ability to craft a two-stepping party anthem. Really, Cyrus and daughter are just two generationally-separated sides of the same coin. Now that hes ridden Mileys miniature coat-tails back into the limelight, hes got a ready-made audience waiting for him in his erstwhile female fans, whove grown up into the soccer moms who spawned Mileys tween worshipers.
Sat., June 6, 8 p.m., 2009
