'CMT Insider' visits Newnan to film Alan Jackson's hometown

Published Tuesday, January 26, 2010
'CMT Insider' visits Newnan to film Alan Jackson's hometown

By Winston Skinner

The Newnan Times-Herald

Viewers of "CMT Insider" will be getting a taste of what Coweta County is like on an upcoming episode.

A crew from the weekly magazine show visited the local area on Monday -- starting at the Coweta County Convention and Visitors Bureau and filming at the home of country music star Alan Jackson's mother, Ruth. The crew also filmed scenes of the surging Chattahoochee River -- topic of one of Jackson's hottest hits -- on the Coweta side of the river near Whitesburg.

The last stop was the original location of Sprayberry's Barbecue, on Jackson Street -- named for Andrew Jackson long before the Newnanite with the same initials went to Nashville.

Adam Black, host of "CMT Insider," came to Newnan on Monday along with Tim Hardiman, producer, and Meghan Coomes, associate producer. Jack Frost was the camera operator for the shoot.

The audio technician was Clint Crowley, whose parents live in Peachtree City.

Hardiman said there have been visits to several other hometowns of country music artists. The profiles of those towns will be aired on "CMT Insider" over a 10-week period. The show airs at 1:30 p.m. each Saturday and is rebroadcast on Sundays at 11 a.m.

There have been recent visits to the Oklahoma hometowns of Toby Keith and Reba McEntire and a segment in Hendersonville, Tenn. focused on young star Taylor Swift.

On Sunday, the team was in Macon, hometown of Jason Aldean. Today, they are scheduled to be in Dahlonega, hometown of Zac Brown of the Zac Brown Band.

"Usually, we just hit three locations" for each hometown profile, Hardiman said. Because of the length of the segments, "it gets a little tight if you do more than three," he explained.

The hometown segments are being done in conjunction with Bing, the new Internet search engine.

"It's been great. We get to go around the country and meet some very interesting people," Hardiman said. Seeing the hometowns also helps the show's makers understand more "about the artists we cover on a daily basis," Coomes said.

The Bing Hometown segments gives new insight into country stars, their hometowns and "the town as it relates to them," Coomes added.

"CMT Insider" explores a wide range of topics that interest the country music audience. There are star interviews and news and reports on new CD releases, videos and movies -- as well as which songs are where on the charts.

Fashion and behind-the-scenes reports are also featured on the program.

Pam Mayer and Tray Baggarly of the Coweta County Convention and Visitors Bureau worked with CMT to arrange the Monday visit. Baggarly actually traveled with the crew to the various locations.