‘Crossroads’ on the Right Path

“CMT Crossroads,” a monthly series that debuts at 8 p.m. Sunday on the Country Music Television cable channel, is such an exciting idea that the program’s creators apparently felt the concept alone is enough. It isn’t.

In a pop music world where radio and TV programmers draw narrow boundaries, it’s welcome news indeed when a series defies arbitrary categorization by bringing together leading figures from separate fields--in this case pairing a country artist with someone from rock, R&B; or pop.

In the opening show, rock’s Elvis Costello and country’s Lucinda Williams--passionate and original artists who have drawn freely from both fields--are splendid choices.

The pairing works marvelously at times, especially on Williams’ “Change the Locks” and Costello’s “Indoor Fireworks,” songs about the tensions and thorns of relationships that embody the sense of dramatic obsession running through both artists’ work.

It’s equally winning to see them turn to the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” to point out the long connection between country and rock.

But there aren’t as many highlights as there should be in the hourlong show. It’s nice to have a ragged, dress-rehearsal feel to the program, which is taped with an audience, but more structure would help. Eliminating the idle chatter (including an extended question-and-answer session) would provide more time for music, and the musical segments could be more revealing if they went beyond the artists’ own material to showcase songs from their respective fields that they both admire. With fine-tuning, “CMT Crossroads” could be much more than just a good concept.