Weather may have crashed parts of CMA Fest, but the looming lightning and scattered showers were no match for Nashville’s 52nd kickoff to summer.
“Long live CMA Fest,” Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association, bellowed to the June 5 crowd. More than 300 artists signed up to sing, strum and jam. For 80 acts, this was the first time playing at the event in front of tourists from all 50 states and 33 countries.
And to Trahern’s credit, rain or shine, the boot scoots, pop-up concerts and show stopping moments in Nissan Stadium sparkled just as bright as in previous years.
That’s the beauty of country music: It takes something ordinary like a summer storm and turns it into poetry that reaches the corners of big cities and rural towns. CMA Fest takes the country radio charts and turns them into an array of performances across downtown Nashville for four days.
Up and down Broadway, fans drifted out of honky-tonks to line dance over freshly soaked pavement while Shania Twain’s “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” blasted.
Macy Marrione wore a white and pink sash boasting of her 13th birthday. She picked up an autograph from singer-songwriter Elizabeth Nichols after the TikTok star’s set was canceled. Nichols slung her guitar over her neck and walked over to the horde outside a barricade to sing the chorus to one of her songs.
Locals and visitors tested the limits of their cell phone batteries capturing videos for TikTok, shooting selfies for Instagram and Googling whether heartthrob Riley Green was single.
“He’s so attractive,” Avery Culbertson, a student at Belmont University, gushed outside the Good Molecules Reverb Stage.
“I’d like to get the lovely and talented Miss Ella Langley on the stage,” Green told thousands during his set. It was just one of many surprise guests and duets. Jason Aldean and Travis Tritt harmonized on “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive.” Lainey Wilson added vocals to the Brooks & Dunn performance of “Rock My World (Little Country Girl).” Jelly Roll welcomed Shaboozey to his city: “It’s the most magical place on Earth.” Kelsea Ballerini invited her “Cowboys Cry Too” collaborator Noah Kahan to sing “Stick Season” at his inaugural CMA Fest.
And for the “Love of God,” Brandon Lake proved why he’s having a well-deserved moment in country music by bringing a full-blown gospel choir to the main stage as he and Jelly Roll crooned from an island smack dab in the center of the stadium. Can they get a “Hard Fought Hallelujah”?
Deacon Claybourne, err Charles Esten, brought three of his fellow actors from the hit series “Nashville” onstage to perform “Down the Road.” The four-member band will return to the Ryman Auditorium as part of a reunion tour.
Veteran performers like Keith Urban shredded electric guitar and ran amok through a sea of cell phones. “It’s freaking midnight, but we’re just gonna keep on playing,” Urban riffed to the crowd, receiving copious cheers.
Darius Rucker mixed old-school classic “Only Wanna Be with You” into a set list of mega hits including “Alright” and “Wagon Wheel.” Cody Johnson had the crowd scream-shouting his five-times-platinum single “‘Til You Can’t.”
Newbies like Sam Barber, Carter Faith and Max McNown tasted the sweet spotlight glow of a stadium-sized crowd. With trucker caps and guitar straps, they strummed beat-up guitars and belted far-reaching notes. Although no one touched the power harnessed by K. Michelle at the end of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
During the day, Carly Pearce sold wardrobe items from her closet for charity. Dustin Lynch fans shot squirt guns and jumped into a pool at the Margaritaville Hotel as storm clouds threatened to move in. And Dasha reenacted a bar-stomping scene straight out of “Coyote Ugly.”
Inside Fan Fair X, “Reba’s House” displayed iconic fashion by the red-haired beauty along with her “Voice” coaching chair. Fans could sit in it, push the button and turn, then get a fun video texted to them. Fans lined up by the hundreds in meet-and-greet lines that snaked in snarls around the room.
Behind-the-scenes, The Tennessean nabbed interviews with the stars about new music, performing at CMA Fest and their go-to karaoke songs. Rita Wilson chose “Hip Hop Hooray” by Naughty By Nature.
Parker McCollum had the best response for the most country thing he’s ever done: “Rode a horse bareback naked one time,” the Texas native with a deep voice answered. “I was wearing Crocs, too.”
On Saturday, Megan Moroney brought her brother and “really cool attorney” Brian Moroney onstage to strum “Tennessee Orange.” Blake Shelton and Trace Adkins shook their “Honky Tonk Badonkadonks.” Jordan Davis encouraged fans to “Buy Dirt,” and Rascal Flatts reminded them “Life is a Highway.”
As if the weekend wasn’t inundated with enough impactful storytelling, Sunday’s lineup included heavy hitters Dierks Bentley and Luke Bryan in the final spots.
What fans might not realize is every musician performs for free. More than $2.5 million in ticket sales benefited the CMA Foundation, which partners with schools and music educators to provide grants and bolster music education programs.