CMA Music Festival Archives - Nashville Music Line

CMA Fest 2022 brings stars and fans back to Nashville

CMA Music Festival lineup set for Nissan Stadium and stages

By Preshias Harris

It has been two long years since Nashville could welcome fans to Nashville for the CMA Fest. Now, The Country Music Association has released the artist lineups for the multiple stages that will part of CMA Fest ’22, June 9-12. Outdoor daytime stages are free and open to the public.

“We’ve been waiting two years to host Country Music fans from coast to coast and every corner of the world. Sarah Trahern, the CMA’s CEO. Now we’re two months out and the excitement is palpable! We can hardly wait to bring the Country community back together in June.” – Sarah Trahern, CEO, Country Music association

A limited number of four-day passes are available, plus the newly-announced single night tickets for the Nissan Stadium nightly concerts, at https://cmafest.com/tickets/ or the CMA Box Office: 1-800-CMA-FEST.

Jason Aldean, Kelsea Ballerini, Gabby Barrett, Dierks Bentley, Kane Brown, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Russell Dickerson, Alan Jackson, Lady A, Parker McCollum, Carly Pearce, Thomas Rhett, Darius Rucker, Cole Swindell, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson and Zac Brown Band are already set for the Nissan Stadium shows.

The Chevy Riverfront Stage, Dr Pepper Amp Stage at Ascend Park, Chevy Vibes Stage at Walk of Fame Park and the Maui Jim Reverb Stage at Bridgestone Arena Plaza will also give fans a chance to see both established stars and emerging artists on the rise. Among the many artists already booked to appear on the stages: Jimmie Allen, Ingrid Andress, Tenille Arts, Priscilla Block. Mitchell Tenpenny, Elvie Shane, Rodney Atkins, Sara Evans, Chris Bandi, Caylee Hammack, Maddie & Tae and many more. Additional acts will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Visit https://cmafest.com to check out the hour-by-hour schedule for each of the stages and details on each of the artists already set for the Stadium and stages. @CMAmusicfest

I’m looking forward to seeing you again at the CMA Fest 2022!

Preshias Harris is a music journalist and music career development consultant with the emphasis on new and aspiring artists and songwriters. Her book, ‘The College of Songology 101: The Singer/Songwriter’s Need to Know Reference Handbook’ is available at www.collegeofsongology.com Follow her blog at www.nashvillemusicline.com

Patrick Darrah’s music tells a ‘Northern Truth’

The story behind ‘I Never Got Over You’

Small towns seem to breed great country singers, and those small towns aren’t always located in America’s southern states. Patrick Darrah grew up in the small rural town of Bloomingdale, NY, where he joined his father’s auto body shop when he left school. He looked set to carry on the tradition as the fourth generation technician in the family business.

But music was calling. Earning a college degree in music production and audio engineering, he moved on, first to New York City and then further afield. He is now settled in Nashville to focus on his career as a singer and songwriter.

His new album, NORTHERN TRUTH, dropped a few weeks ago and the lead-off single from the album, ‘I Never Got Over You,’ is now at country radio. We met during CMA Fest 2018 to talk about his music.

This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.

From Punk to Country

Prehias Harris: What was the music you listened to, growing up in Bloomingdale, New York?

Patrick Darrah: A wide, wide variety. My dad was born in the 1950s so I heard all that 60s and 70s rock and roll; Roy Orbison, Temptations, all that kind of stuff. He was in a band so I heard him practicing. And my mother’s interest was country and things like the Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker, Asleep At The Wheel… all those good quality, full bands that made some of the greatest songs, I think, ever written. So all of that, but I was in a punk rock band actually, growing up, if you can believe that!

PH: I can’t see that! I’m sorry!

PD: Yeah, that tends to be a bit of a shocker when I tell people that. But, you know, going through your ‘teenage angst’ years, and all that. But everyone in the town loved country and the musicians played it, so we’d play ‘bar band’ music and punk rock music and I was playing my country music on the side. So it was a mix of everything.

PH: Who have been some of the biggest influences on your career? You’ve moved around a lot, too.

PD: I was in Pennsylvania in a little town called Richland. Oddly enough, I was going through a particularly strange but good part of my life at that time. Kind of sorting out my own personal demons, figuring out my direction musically. I don’t know it was necessarily the music around me more than the town itself and the people that were there. But playing in smaller bars there and meeting people did a lot to help shape the sound and the style of my music. Continue reading “Patrick Darrah’s music tells a ‘Northern Truth’”

The Band Steel catch Moon in a Mason Jar

Creating Country that rocks

Bo Steele and Ben Rubino are the Band Steele. They’ve been friends since they met in high school in Winston County, Alabama. After a video of Bo singing in a hospital waiting room went viral, they became celebrities appearing on local television and the nationally-syndicated Rick and Bubba radio show. They are now signed to indie label Fire River Records.

Bo and Ben are currently touring to support their new album, MOON IN A MASON JAR. ‘Good Times,’ one of the tracks on the album, is featured in the movie ‘Life on the Line’ starring John Travolta, Kate Bosworth and Sharon Stone. (Bo also secured a role in the movie!)

The Band Steele sat down to talk with me just after Fan Fest 2018. Or rather, Ben could talk, but Bo, who was suffering from strained vocal cords, was under doctor’s order to have complete vocal rest. Ben spoke for both of them while the normally talkative Bo wrote some notes that he could share with Ben and me during the interview.

This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.

Playing on Broadway

Preshias Harris: Tell us what was one of the highlights of CMA Fest 2018 for you? And did you get to see any of your favorite artists?

Ben Rubino: We were too busy to see any of our favorite artists. But my highlight would be that we got to play down on Broadway at The Valentine. Just playing on Broadway, that’s what Nashville’s all about. So that was my highlight for sure.

PH: Was there any moment this year, interacting with fans, that stood out for you?

BR: So hard for me to pinpoint a moment. But the reaction from everybody, it was just amazing. I remember we were playing Alley Taps in Printers Alley and there was this table off to our left. We were jammin’ and they were just loving it! They were complete strangers and they were in that moment where I was at and it was just awesome!

PH: So the stars just lined up?

BR: Yeah, it was just a good feeling!

PH: Was this your first CMA Fest?

BR: It was our first time performingat CMA Fest.

PH: What were your main influences when you were growing up?

The influence of Lynyrd Skynyrd

Continue reading “The Band Steel catch Moon in a Mason Jar”

CMA Fest 2018 a record-breaker with capacity crowds

47-year high in ‘fan engagement’

Michael Ray performs at CMA Fest 2018, Photo: Caitlin Harris/CMA

CMA Fest 2018 was a huge success by just about any standard. The Country Music Association (CMA) reported the ‘highest fan engagement’ in the festival’s forty-seven year history.

Country music fans from all fifty states, Puerto Rico and thirty-six international countries poured into Music City to attend the longest-running country music festival in the world.

Overseas fans arrived from as far away as Australia, Argentina, Brazil, South Africa and Chile. Attendance from European countries, including Germany and Poland was up. So was attendance by fans from Great Britain, possibly helped by new direct flights between Nashville and London, England, on British Airways.

Fans pack Riverfront Park at CMA Fest. Photo: Hunter Berry/CMA

This year, fans could see more than 300 acts performing on 11 official stages. Ticket proceeds go directly to helping enrich and sustain music education programs across the country through CMA’s nonprofit arm, the CMA Foundation, thanks to every artist at the festival donating their time.

Among this year’s highlights…

=>> A sold-out CMA Songwriters Series show at the CMA Theater at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum featuring Mary Chapin Carpenter, Vince Gill, Mac McAnally and Don Schlitz.

==> The Ultimate Fan Experiences Drawing, which offers fans special access to artists meet-and-greets and performances, saw a 36 percent increase in participants. Traffic on the festival’s official website CMAfest.com increased by more than five percent over last year.

==> Over the course of the four-day festival, Xfinity Fan Fair X welcomed 71,000 attendees, up 10% over 2017, and hosted 365 artists across meet-and-greets and three indoor stages in the exhibit hall, including the expanded Radio Disney Country Stage.

==> Fans enjoyed listening to and meeting the 51 up-and-coming artists featured on the new CMA Spotlight Stage.

CMA Fest MuttNation. Photo: Amanda Eckard/CMA

==> Miranda Lambert’s MuttNation Foundation was a “pup-ular” highlight inside Fan Fair X again with 55 dogs finding their forever homes.

==> Fan safety and security was enhanced this year. A ‘clear bag’ policy was implemented across the CMA Fest footprint. CMA ramped up safety precautions with upgraded breakaway fencing at the Chevy Riverfront Stage, which was utilized Sunday afternoon as lightning neared the area allowing fans to exit the area swiftly.

==> Fans got see some of country’s biggest stars, including Carrie Underwood, Charley Pride, Chris Stapleton, Dan + Shay, Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Florida Georgia Line, Garth Brooks, Jason Aldean, Jon Pardi, Kane Brown, Keith Urban, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Combs, Maddie & Tae, Trisha Yearwood and many more.

Emerging artists at CMA Fest

For me, and for many other country fans, CMA Fest offers an unrivaled opportunity to see and meet the rising artists who are performing here just as their careers begin to take off. Many years from now, when those acts are headlining, we’ll look back and say, “I saw them when…”

Among the emerging artists that I saw and spoke to this year were Adam Rutledge, Band Steele, Dallas Remington, Dugger Band, Harper Rae, Mags, Matt Rogers, Patrick Darrah, Shane Owens, Uncle Si and the Sicotics and Zach Stone. Many of my interviews with these artists have appeared (or will soon appear) here at this blog. Although they are all unique in their own way, each of these acts impressed me with their courage, their persistence and their resolve to do what it takes to achieve their goals. Remember those names!

CMA Fest TV Special August 8

The festival was filmed for a three-hour special, ‘CMA Fest,’ which will be hosted by Thomas Rhett and Kelsea Ballerini and airs Wednesday, Aug. 8 on the ABC Television Network. This year marks the 15th consecutive year of the broadcast.

Ready to get your tix for next year? Verified fan pre-sale for CMA Fest 2019 begins Monday, July 30, with a national on-sale Monday, Aug. 6 here.

Watch a ‘sizzle reel’ of all four days of CMA Fest 2018 at YouTube here.

CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium. Photo: Kayla Schoen/CMA

Adam Rutledge drops new single and EP

‘Love Kickin’ In’ high-energy anthem

Adam Rutledge has a reputation for bringing contagious high energy to the stage that quickly cranks up the audience at his live shows. Adam has appeared with hot acts such as Brothers Osborn, Chris Janson, Eli Young Band, Cassadee Pope and Phil Vassar. In fact, Adam’s career is now managed by Phil Vassar (along with Amy Millslagle of i81 Entertainment).

He has a strong presence on social media with around 12,000 Instagram followers and thousands more on Facebook. Adam was in Nashville for CMA Fest 2018, playing at Music City Light Stage, Bridgestone Arena Plaza. He has a brand new EP, RUNWAY, that includes his new single, ‘Love Kickin’ In.’

Taking a few minutes away from the CMA Fest hustle and bustle, Adam sat down with me to catch up on what’s new with him.

This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.

Airfield serves as video backdrop

Preshias Harris: Tell us about what’s been going on with your career since you dropped your single.

Adam Rutledge: Yeah, so it’s been exciting! I’ve shot a music video for the single which we’re really excited about. It’ll be out in a few weeks. We shot it at an old, abandoned airport on a runway. It was a beautiful backdrop for the video. And I’m promoting another record coming out June 22nd.

PH: Tell me about any radio tours you’ve got planned.

AR: We’re in the process of planning radio tours right now.

PH: You’ve got a lot of wheels moving in your career. Which is the most exciting one?

AR: Being right here with you! No, it’s all so exciting. I can’t just pick one. There’s the new record, the video and working with so many talented people. I’m just one percent of all this! It’s everybody else that makes this all work for me. I’m just thankful for all the good people on my team.

PH: How long did it take you to get the songs for your CD?

AR: Some of them I’ve had written for years. Some of them I’d released on my own, years ago, and we went back and re-recorded and re-mixed them. And some of them were pitched to me and they are pretty new, so the songs span a large period of my life, actually.

PH: I’m going to ask you something that every artist hates when I ask it but I’m going to ask it anyway. What’s your favorite song on the album? Or a special one that means more to you personally? Continue reading “Adam Rutledge drops new single and EP”

Matt Rogers knows it takes hard work to reach the top

Making new fans during CMA Fest

Matt Rogers is making sure he will reach the eyes and ears of as many potential fans as possible during CMA Fest 2018. The Eatonton, Georgia, native now calls Nashville ‘home,’ but devotes a large part of every year to touring far and wide.

His latest project is an EP titled ‘Richest Place On Earth’ and he recently released the music video for the title track exclusively on Raised Rowdy. The song recently won a top award in the Music City SongStar competition.

I caught up with Matt in between some of his scheduled CMA Fest appearances.

This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.

Preshias Harris: You gave up a career in the medical career to move to Nashville. Why did you do that?

Matt Rogers. Photo credit: Preshias Harris

Matt Rogers: Music has always been there for me. When I was growing up, I played in church. I was in a youth ‘praise and worship’ band, I had a garage band, I had a little group in college. I started writing in college and when I moved home, I started playing more and more often in bars and clubs and I put a band together. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I was really fumbling through different careers and different jobs, things like that, until I finally got a great job and a great career. But I had a goal to move up here [to Nashville] and I had a lot of support to move up here, so I saved up some money and set my plans and my goals out. And I ‘saddled up’ and moved on up.

The move to Nashville

PH: What was your time frame for that move?

MR: I was already coming up here often, monthly or bi-monthly, to take meetings, writing sessions, things like that. But I’d made a plan. I said, ‘In a year-and-a-half, I’ll move to Nashville.’ So I made a plan and started meeting people who could help me with that transition. At the end of that year, I found a place to rent, and I haven’t looked back since.

PH: Tell me about your EP, ‘Richest Place On Earth.’

MR: It’s a personal story. For the first year-and-a-half I was up here, I wrote about two hundred songs. So I wanted to narrow it down to just a few that would really describe who I was, not only as an artist but as a person. I wanted a cohesive project that you can listen to, start to finish, and have a better idea about who I was after you got through listening to it.

PH: What made you pick that title?

MR: It’s about me leaving that full-time job in Georgia and moving up here and taking the chance to do what I was wanting to do. To do what I think I was meant to do. That’s the story. I want to live out loud and break the mold. I want to leave a story behind to be told. Continue reading “Matt Rogers knows it takes hard work to reach the top”

Zach Stone tells stories in music and video

Texas singer/songwriter inspired by life’s moments

Zach Stone was in Nashville to play some dates at CMA Fest 2018. Zach is an emerging artist from Arlington, Texas. His influences range from George Strait to Jason Aldean, and his own music can move from hard-driving country rock to emotional ballads. He is currently self-releasing a series of singles and their accompanying music videos that are held together by a thematic thread running through them.

We sat down to talk just as CMA Fest was wrapping up.

This is one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.

Preshias Harris: What are some your favorite things to do with music, besides performing?

Zach Stone: Wow. Well, you really made it hard for me because my favorite thing is performing! Songwriting is a lot of fun. I really enjoy creating my own storylines, getting to tell stories and convey emotions that I’m feeling and thinking about going through. I really didn’t start doing that until I moved to Nashville about seven years ago. That’s been a new experience. The more I’ve done that, the better I’ve gotten. It’s just been super cool to keep moving forward with that. One of my other favorite things that I’m just recently discovering with our new video series that we’re doing is that music videos are so much fun.

PH: It sounds like you’re enjoying that aspect.

ZS: I love getting to shoot music videos! It’s fun to create these storylines and characters and act in them. It makes me think that one day, I’ll eventually want to do some movies. Right now I’m just focusing on each song and music video individually because each one has been ‘my baby.’

Playing for The Country Network

PH: What were some of the highlights of your first CMA Fest? Continue reading “Zach Stone tells stories in music and video”

Uncle Si and the Sicotics bring humor to CMA Fest

‘Sicotic’ trio mix music with fun

One of the most original acts in country music has to be Uncle Si and the Sicotics. Si Robertson and his daughter-in-law Marsha Robertson came to fame as part of the hit television series, ‘Duck Dynasty,’ setting the record for the most-watched show on the A&E Network. The show depicted the Robertson family who became successful selling duck calls for hunters.

When the TV series ended, Si and Marsha decided to combine their love of music and their sense of humor into a new direction: making music. They teamed up with hit singer/songwriter Bridgette Tatum and became Uncle Si and the Sicotics, playing to crowds of fun-loving fans. Si, known for his ever-present Tupperware cup of iced tea, and the two young ladies have released a six-song EP titled ‘Uncle Si and the Sicotics,’ available at all digital outlets and via their website.

[L to R]: Marsha, Si and Bridgette, Uncle Si and the Sicotics. Photo: Preshias Harris

I met up with the trio when they were in Nashville preparing for appearances during CMA Fest. I began by asking Si what has been happening in his life since the Duck Dynasty TV series ended in 2017.

“Well, we went into the music business, me and my daughter-in-law,” said Si. “And then we met this young lady right here, Bridgette Tatum, at a charity event which Jesus worked out or we would have never met. Then we got together and we wrote six songs and recorded them. And we all actually think it’s pretty good music, all six of ‘em. We’ve got a record label deal and we’re going out on the road doing our thing!”

What about that Tupperware cup?

So, I had to ask Si: What’s the story behind the famous green Tupperware cup?

“I’ve got it here with me,” he said. “My mother sent it to me in a ’care’ package [while I was in Vietnam], tucked inside my cowboy boots, because I’d asked her to send me a pair of cowboy boots and a pair of blue jeans so that while I’m not on duty I’d have civilian clothes. So she sent [the cup] and the clothes and some food. That was in 1968.” Continue reading “Uncle Si and the Sicotics bring humor to CMA Fest”

Lance Carpenter & Krystal Keith team up on ‘Anyone Else’

Lance knew this could be his ‘hit duet’

During the whirlwind that is CMA Fest 2018, I found a quiet spot to talk with Lance Carpenter and Krystal Keith, two singer/songwriters who are currently making waves with their duet, ‘Anyone Else,’ released on the Show Dog-Universal Music label.

Lance hails from the family farm in Arkansas, but it wasn’t until he left home to go to college that he bought a used guitar at a local pawn shop and began to write songs. One day, he Googled ‘songwriting’ and found Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and from that connection, he attended an NSAI Song Camp. Three years later, in 2011, he made the ‘official’ move to Nashville.

Although Krystal is the daughter of Toby Keith, she is definitely her own singer/songwriter. After taking two years away from performing to welcome her daughter, she is back full time, recording and touring. We met up and talked about what is new and exciting right now for Lance and Krystal.

This one of a series of interviews that I conducted with rising singer/songwriters during CMA Fest to find out about their new music, their musical influences and their experience at CMA Fest.

On the road with ‘Anyone Else’

Preshias Harris: What’s been happening in your career life since the single, ‘Anyone Else’ dropped?

Karen Keith performing during Tin Pan South 2018. Photo credit: Catrina Engelby

Krystal Keith: We’ve been non-stop on the road. The single dropped in December and in January we went on our first radio tour date. We’ve been on the road pretty much four or five days a week since then. So, lots of travel.

PH: Do you like the travel aspect?

KK: I love to travel. I really do. And I have a two-year-old at home, so that’s the hardest part now, being a mom and being away from her. But thank God for my support system at home, taking care of her.

PH: Tell me, what’s the story behind your duet?

Lance Carpenter performing during Tin Pan South 2018. Photo credit: Catrina Engelby

Lance Carpenter: ‘Anyone Else’ is a song I found on a ‘comp’ disc back in 2011 about, maybe, a month after moving to Nashville. Me and Forest [songwriter Forest Glen Whitehead] would get comp discs from publishers and writers, and we’d listen to them and hear what everyone was excited about. And this was track one on a disc. I heard it and I thought, if I ever cut a duet I’m recording that song. I wrote [a note] in my phone under ‘songs I would cut’ that day. Flash forward to 2016, I was in the studio recording songs for solo projects and I had an extra spot on the session. I knew that song by heart so I decided to record it. The next day, I thought I’d better call the [song] writers and make sure I can record the song. I hadn’t even asked them. They said, absolutely, go for it. They said, who are going to get for the duet part? I said, I have no idea. I’ll figure that out some other day. A little bit after that we started writing, and I heard Krystal had recorded a song that I’d pitched to her called ‘Resting Beach Face’ and one we wrote together called ‘I Got You.’ When I heard her singing in the studio, I said, there’s the voice for that song! I wonder if I can talk her into doing it. So I sent her an email. Crazy idea! And she said yes. It turned out amazing. Our teams loved it, and [Krystal’s] dad gave me a record deal. Continue reading “Lance Carpenter & Krystal Keith team up on ‘Anyone Else’”

Craig Campbell fights colorectal cancer with Cornhole Challenge

Raises hundreds of thousands of dollars with celebrity friends

It was Craig Campbell‘s Celebrity Cornhole Challenge time in Nashville on Tuesday, June 5. The celebrities – and hundreds of fans – turned out at the City Winery to enjoy a warm, pre-CMA-Fest afternoon of fun for a good cause: to raise aware and funds for Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC). This is a cause very close to my own heart. My brother Shannon died from colorectal cancer at the age of 39 and his death could have been prevented simply by a colonoscopy.

Craig Campbell gets the Cornhole Challenge under way. Photo: Preshias Harris

In case you are not familiar with cornhole, it is a game in which small bags filled with dried corn or beans are tossed at a target consisting of an inclined wooden platform with a hole at one end. Points are scored when a contestant tosses his or her corn bag into the hole (3 points) or onto the board (1 point). The game was said to originate in Germany in the 14^thcentury and was revived by settlers in Kentucky in the 19^thcentury.

Craig’s new single: ‘See You Try’

The annual Celebrity Cornhole Challenge is organized by Craig Campbell who is recognized for his ‘new-school’ take on classic Country. On June 8, Craig released his first new collection in five years, an EP titled SEE YOU TRY (Broken Bow Records). The title song, ‘See You Try,’ is also Craig’s new single, written by Tyler Hubbard (Florida Georgia Line), Bart Butler, James McNair and Jordan Schmidt.

Craig was joined by LOCASH, Walker Hayes, Brett Kissel, Russell Dickerson, Jerrod Niemann, Brett Young, Lindsay Eli, Tegan Marie, Morgan Mills, Taylor Phillips, Dee Jay Silver, The Cadillac Three and other celebrities who tried their cornhole skill (or lack of it) to entertain the fans who cheered them on.

During a break in the action, I asked Craig, how did this event come about?

“Six years ago, I wanted an event that honored my dad,” said Craig. “He was 36 years old when he died of colon cancer, so I thought, what can I do to honor him? And to have fun and do something different, you know? A lot of people are having free concerts, golf tournaments, fishing tournaments. But no-one is having a cornhole tournament. So then, I thought it was a pretty cool play on the whole corn hole / colon, that sort of thing! So that’s how it all started. Now we’re at year number six and I feel it’s just getting bigger and better.”

Brett Kissel talks about Garth and Brad

As Brett Kissel took a break to grab a bottle of cold water, I asked him how it felt when he opened for Garth Brooks, the dream of every singer and songwriter.

“It was the best thing I’ve ever been able to do in my career,” he said. “I’ll tell you, every night that I got to step out on stage to perform and open the show, and then a few times when I got to be on stage and sing with Garth in front of his crowd, I’m telling you Preshias, that was exactly what Cloud Nine feels like! I believe that there are moments that are similar to what heaven could feel like, and that was like a heavenly moment.” Continue reading “Craig Campbell fights colorectal cancer with Cornhole Challenge”