John Rich Bags "Nashville Star"

John Rich photo by Frank Ockenfels, courtesy of Warner Bros. Nashville.

March 23, 2009 — John Rich is going gangbusters with "Shuttin’ Detroit Down," which attacks the way corporate chiefs play with the everyday lives of people in Middle America. But auto industry execs aren’t the only big wigs he’s taking aim at these days: John’s also miffed at the suits who run NBC.

John was a judge last summer on "Nashville Star" when the show shifted onto network TV. Before the season started, he said repeatedly that it would be a "sledgehammer for country music." In retrospect, John now thinks the network took a sledgehammer to country music.

"I wouldn't touch ‘Nashville Star’ with a 40-foot pole," he told The Tennessean. "NBC completely bastardized what country music is about. I thought this was really going to represent country music, put us on a new level. Now, I will tell you, two artists ... you will hear from are Melissa Lawson and Gabe Garcia. Those two acts were the saving graces of that show."

John and the rest of the cast — including host Billy Ray Cyrus and fellow judges Jewel and Jeffrey Steele — taped episodes of "Nashville Star" at Music City’s Roy Acuff Theatre, built in the 1970s when the Grand Ole Opry moved from the Ryman Auditorium downtown to the Opryland grounds closer to the Nashville airport.

But John certainly spent some quality time at the Ryman in the last year: In fact, it’s where he got married in December.

"My dad was the minister," John said. "We did it right on the spot where all the country greats stood. It was perfect. Where does a country singer get married? The stage of Ryman Auditorium. I'm pumped. We're working on some little country singers right now."

John’s also working on the promotion for his brand new album, Son Of A Preacher Man. The CD hits stores on Tuesday.

John recently spent time at another legendary Nashville venue — Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. The legendary Kris Kristofferson showed up thrilled the crowd with an acoustic rendition of his classic, "Me And Bobby McGee." Click here to see it!