“Can You Duet?”

That’s the name of the singing talent contest that kicks off its second season on cable channel CMT at 8pm Saturday, June 20. Now we here at Nippertown have been very, very reluctant to tip our hat to reality TV because, well, let’s admit it, it’s a sickness.

But we’re going to make an exception for “Can You Duet?” because the lovely and oh so talented Avalon Peacock is in the competition. The daughter of the always bold and adventurous vocalist Annette Peacock, Avalon first caught our attention singing in the Woodstock alt-country band Mechanical Bull. We heard her on the album. We saw her play live at the Bearsville Theater and again at Tess’ Lark Tavern. We were sold. She’s got the goods.

She’s also quite a fine photographer, whose work frequently livened up the pages of Chronogram.

So she auditioned for “Can You Duet?” with Mechanical Bull’s other vocalist and primary songwriter Chase Pierson. But the show’s judges – Scott Borchetta, Big Kenny Alphin and Naomi Judd – split them up and paired Avalon up with Nashville singer Ryan Larkins.

We’re not giving away any secrets when we let you know that Ryan and Avalon end up being selected as one of the ten final couples in the competition. The question is how far can they go? After all, Avalon is obviously not your typical aspiring Nashville singer. Her CMT bio states that her musical influences are Jeff Buckley, Bjork, Etta James and Elbow – and none of their music videos are ever gonna slip into rotation on CMT.

Good luck, Avalon. Nippertown is rootin’ for ya.