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Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Luke Bryan, Cody Johnson, Megan Moroney and Keith Urban are among the acts who will appear at Nissan Stadium as part of CMA Fest, which will run June 5-8 in Nashville and span 10 stages.
Also slated for Nissan Stadium are Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Riley Green, Ella Langley, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Rascal Flatts, Red Clay Strays, Darius Rucker, Shaboozey, Black Shelton, Zach Top and Bailey Zimmerman.
Four-night stadium passes range from $240 to $1,061, while single-night stadium ticket starts at $79.80.
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CMA Fest, which began in 1972 as Fan Fair, will spread across Music City on stages both free and paid. The event has a new partner, bank and financial services company SoFi, in a multi-year partnership.
MŌRIAH will kick off the Chevy Riverfront Stage on Thursday morning, performing the national anthem. Other artists playing that stage over the festival run include Gavin Adcock, Tanner Adell, Cooper Alan, Drew Baldridge, Sam Barber, Gabby Barrett, George Birge, Tyler Braden, Colbie Caillat, Ashley Cooke, Dasha, Jackson Dean, Marcus King, Randall King, Brandon Lake, Chris Lane, Ella Langley, Maddie & Tae, Dylan Marlowe, Kameron Marlowe, Max McNown, Midland, Megan Moroney, Ian Munsick, RaeLynn, Redferrin, Josh Ross, Conner Smith, Austin Snell, Alana Springsteen, Thelma and James, Tigirlily Gold, The War And Treaty, Hudson Westbrook and Tucker Wetmore.
Appearing on the Dr. Pepper Amp Stage at Ascend Park are Rodney Atkins, Frankie Ballard, Casey Barnes, Danielle Bradbery, Blanco Brown, T Graham Brown, Karley Scott Collins, Billy Dean, Tyler Farr, Filmore, Josh Gracin, Ty Herndon, Braxton Keith, Erin Kinsey, Lakeview, Edwin McCain, John Morgan, Kylie Morgan, Jerrod Niemann, Jamie O’ Neal, Mason Ramsey, Owen Riegling, Emily Ann Roberts, Reyna Roberts, Kaylee Rose, Shaylen, Sister Hazel, Iam Tongi, US Navy Band Country Current, Darryl Worley, Charlie Worsham and Jake Worthington.
Artists playing The Chevy Vibes Stage at Walk of Fame Park are Angie K, Graham Barham, Blessing Offor, Craig Campbell, Dillon Carmichael, Mackenzie Carpenter, Ashland Craft, Kashus Culpepper, Dailey & Vincent, Jade Eagleson, Exile, Mickey Guyton, Kelsey Hart, Tayler Holder, Greylan James, Willie Jones, Tiera Kennedy, Vincent Mason, Madeline Merlo, Drake Milligan, Lorrie Morgan, David Nail, Meghan Patrick, Dylan Schneider, Shenandoah, MaRynn Taylor, Thompson Square, Pam Tillis, Lauren Watkins, Mark Wills, Rita Wilson and Waylon Wyatt.
The Good Molecules Reverb Stage at Bridgestone Plaza’s line-up includes Willow Avalon, Maddox Batson, Laci Kaye Booth, Brenn!, Franni Rae Cash, Chapel Hart, Julia Cole, Preston Cooper, Kolby Cooper, Wesley Dean, Melanie Dyer, Madeline Edwards, Mae Estes, Carter Faith, Lanie Gardner, Cole Goodwin, Fancy Hagood, Jack Wharff and The Tobacco Flats, Max Jackson, James Barker Band, Just Jayne, Alexandra Kay, Zach John King, Matt Lang, Bryce Leatherwood, Hannah McFarland, Walker Montgomery, Will Moseley, Elizabeth Nichols, Adrien Nunez, Scoot Teasley, Cameron Whitcomb, Blake Whiten, Austin Williams and Eli Winders.
Acts will perform free at The Hard Rock Stage with a slate that includes Ashley Anne, Palmer Anthony, Hayden Blount, BODHI, BoomTown Saints, Luke Borchelt, CECE, Hayden Coffman, Abbey Cone, Crowe Boys, Eddie and The Getaway, Sterling Elza, Brian Fuller, Giovannie and The Hired Guns, Colt Graves, Reid Haughton, Christian Hayes, The Heels, Hueston, Solon Holt, Preston James, Jason Scott & The High Heat, Britnee Kellogg, Alex Lambert, LECADE, Trey Lewis, Tyler Joe Miller, MŌRIAH, Clayton Mullen, O.N.E The Duo, Harper O’Neill, Pistol Pearl and the Western Band, Peytan Porter, RVSHVD, Sacha, Matt Schuster, Sophia Scott, SKEEZ, Kevin Smiley, Payton Smith, Liam St. John, Colin Stough, Troubadour Blue, Leah Turner, Alli Walker, Carson Wallace, Brendan Walter, Chandler Walters, Jay Webb, Wesko, Angel White and Sam Williams.
All artists perform for free to benefit the CMA Foundation, with a portion of ticket proceeds supporting music education programs. CMA Fest will be filmed for a special airing on ABC and Hulu later in the summer.
For more details and ticketing options, go here.
When Luke Combs’ team won road crew of the year at the CMA Touring Awards on March 3, it marked a passing of the baton — or, more accurately, a passing of the road case — as Combs’ crew took control of a trophy that Chris Stapleton had carted around the country and across the Atlantic during 2024.
Last year marked the first time that the Country Music Association honored an entire crew, and Team Stapleton decided during a post-awards celebration to take the award out where it had been won: on the stages, on the highways and in the back of semi-trucks that took the All-American Road Show from Nashville to the people.
The trophy was unloaded at every venue and placed somewhere on, or near, the stage as a reminder to all of Stapleton’s employees of the reputation they had created. The crew of the year hardware visited the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, The O2 in London and the set of NBC’s Saturday Night Live in New York, just to pick out a few spots on its itinerary.
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“They can never change that,” tour manager Jason Hecht says. “We’re always the first name on the trophy. For us, that’s a very cool thing, and to get to carry it around, and hopefully set a little bit of a precedent, that was definitely a really big sense of pride for us.”
Stapleton’s team had pride in the gig before there was ever a trophy to recognize it. The team had to have been working hard to get that first crew award in a line of work that’s grueling at its very foundation.
“A lot of these people are up at 6 a.m., 7 a.m. — first people in the door, and they’re not walking out until you’ve got doors closing, sometimes in the morning with trucks rolling away,” says Stapleton’s manager, Red Light Management’s Clay Hunt. “There’s ebbs and flows throughout the day, but this is really long, hard work.”
If they do that work correctly, most of the concertgoers won’t give a thought to the quasi-miracle that took place in the venue, as a stage was constructed and complicated sound and lighting was installed all on the day of that particular show.
“I always kind of look at it like a sports official, a referee,” Hecht says. “If somebody’s saying your name, then something’s gone wrong. By definition, your job is to be in the shadows and to stay out of the way.”
The work is likely appreciated most by Stapleton who, along with his wife/band member, Morgane Stapleton, makes it a point to look after their team. She insisted on having a women’s bus for the female members of the crew, they remember employees’ birthdays with gifts and celebrations, and when several on the team came down with an illness during their recent Australian tour, they didn’t even ask about what kind of expenses might be involved in their recovery. They made sure the employees got medical attention, a place to recuperate and plane tickets to catch up to the tour once they had rebounded.
That kind of attentiveness is not surprising for Stapleton. When he left the 2023 Academy of Country Music Awards in Frisco, Texas, he saw the roadies hard at work and picked up a blower to help clean up confetti. He is known, according to his team, to greet the local crew at the end of a show and recognize their role in his success as they prepare to tear it all down.
“I like to play music,” Stapleton said when his team won the crew of the year honor. “Everybody [involved] helps me do that every night in ways that would not be possible in any way, shape or form if everybody wasn’t at the top of their game.”
The CMA rules around the crew of the year trophy don’t allow consecutive wins, though individual members of a team can still collect honors. Two Stapleton employees — tour videographer/photographer of the year Andy Barron and backline technician of the year Derek Benitez — were with Stapleton in Australia and unable to claim their awards in person this year. But the team watched a CMA livestream of the event from Down Under and saw the owner of Stapleton’s PR firm, Sacks & Co.’s Carla Sacks (who also reps Combs), win publicist of the year. Sacks was visibly emotional.
“I really was very overcome in a way I didn’t expect in that room,” she allows. “To look out at that community of people that rarely wants, or gets, the spotlight, and then to be recognized by those peers, hit me in a way I wasn’t really prepared for.”
In the days after his win, Barron kept at the job in Australia and New Zealand, a camera in his hands every day, constantly looking for new angles on the same songs and the same people as he documents Stapleton’s work for social media and for posterity. Even as he moves about the arenas and amphitheaters, he’s cognizant that after the artist and crew head for the next city, they leave an impression behind them.
“We want every person who’s working at the venue — the promoter, everyone involved at the place that is opening their doors up to us — we want them to be excited when we’re coming back,” Barron says. “We’ve just always treated every show like that, and everyone on our team has the same mentality.”
Mirroring the one-nighters that it represents, the crew of the year trophy moves on after one year to its next recipient, though it will still carry a plaque with Stapleton’s name — and the names of each of his team members — as Combs takes it back on the road. In some cases, the award will revisit concert halls where Stapleton carted it in 2024. But it’s certain to expand its travels with Combs’ entourage.
“We’re excited for the Luke Combs team and for them to continue on,” Hunt says. “It sounds like they’re going to try to carry on the tradition.”
The country music industry honored those who get (and keep) country music’s top shows on the road on Monday night (March 3), as the 19th CMA Touring Awards were held in Nashville, as members of Nashville’s country music industry elite gathered at Marathon Music Works.
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The annual awards ceremony honored winners in 20 categories, in addition to honoring one touring individual with the lifetime achievement award. Notably, the touring sector represents the largest category of CMA membership.
CMA CEO Sarah Trahern called artists’ touring crews “the backbone of country music’s incredible live experience.” Singer-songwriter-entertainer Keith Urban, who has twice won the CMA’s entertainer of the year honor, served as host for the event for a third year.
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Luke Combs’s Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour crew won the lion’s share of the evening’s trophies, including the evening’s most coveted honor, the crew of the year. Members of Combs’s team and crew also won in categories including tour manager of the year, production manager of the year, lighting director of the year and publicist of the year.
Host Urban said jokingly at one point, “Welcome to the Luke Combs touring awards.” Combs’ record-breaking 2024 stadium tour — which broke attendance records in its first three weekends — has further cemented two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Combs’s superstar status.
Luke Combs and his team won the overall “crew of the year” honor, in addition to numerous other accolades throughout the CMA Touring Awards ceremony.
John Russell/CMA.
“This is one of the coolest nights of my career,” Combs said as he took the stage and welcomed his entire touring crew onstage with him. “I have done so many incredible things, played os many incredible shows in so many incredible places and none of that happens without these people up here… I owe everything that I have to these guys onstage and so many other people who couldn’t be here with us tonight.” He also thanked all of the touring crews of all country artists for all their hard work behind the scenes.
Last year’s crew of the year winner, Chris Stapleton’s “All-American Road Show Tour” crew, took the trophy with them around the world on Stapleton’s tour. Combs promised to carry on the tradition, saying, “We are going to take this thing to some places that country music has never been this year.”
More touring members were honored in categories including lighting director, tour video director, tour videographer/photographer, stage manager and tour manager. Guitarist Charlie Worsham, who picked up the CMA’s musician of the year honor in November, was named touring musician of the year, for his role on the road with Dierks Bentley.
The evening also highlighted the importance of caring for mental health, as the CMA’s senior vp, industry relations and philanthropy Tiffany Kerns led a segment of the evening devoted to spotlighting the trade organization’s work to help touring crews care for their mental health. They also spotlighted the work of organizations Amber Health, All Access Onsite, MusiCares, Backline, Music Health Alliance and Porter’s Call. The evening also spotlighted the CMA’s Touring Mentorship Program, which aims to give early-career touring professionals access to guidance from experienced touring professionals.
“A healthy professional leads to a healthy community,” Kerns said.
Later in the evening, the late concert promoter Ben Farrell was honored with the CMA Touring Awards’ lifetime achievement award. The accolade is reserved for an individual who has achieved the highest level in the country music field of touring. Farrell began his country music career in 1970 and worked in the industry for 52 years. He remained at Varnell Enterprises for the entirety of his career. Notably, during that time, he also served three decades as a concert promoter for Garth Brooks, first joining Brooks in 1989.
Brooks was among several people who took part in a video tribute to Farrell, with Brooks noting, “I knew him, I loved him, and if you knew him, you loved him, too.”
Over the years, Farrell also worked with such artists as The Statler Brothers, Merle Haggard, Randy Travis, Kenny Chesney, George Strait and Charley Pride. Among those honoring Farrell’s legacy Monday night were his wife Autumn, daughter Ella Grace and Morris Higham president/partner Clint Higham.
Higham was also feted as a winner during the evening, being named manager of the year. Higham is known for his decades of work with artists including four-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Chesney, as well as other Morris Higham clients including seven-time CMA group of the year winners Old Dominion, Country Music Hall of Famer Barbara Mandrell and estate work for late music legends Kris Kristofferson and Roger Miller.
See the full list of CMA Touring Awards winners below:
Business manager of the year: Julie Boos (Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy)Coach/truck driver of the year: Wendy Holt (Lainey Wilson)Venue of the year: Ryman Auditoriium (Nashville)Publicist of the year: Carla Sacks (Sacks & Co.)Lighting director of the year: Kevin Northrup (Luke Combs)Tour video director of the year: Tyler Hutcheson (Luke Combs)Tour Videographer/photographer of the year: Andy Barron (Chris Stapleton)Talent agent of the year: Austin Neal (The Neal Agency)Front of House engineer of the year: Todd Lewis (Luke Combs)Monitor engineer of the year: Michael Zuehsow (Luke Combs)Support services company of the year: Dega CateringBackline technician of the year: Derek Benitez (Chris Stapleton)Touring musician of the year: Charlie Worsham (Dierks Bentley)Talent buyer/promoter of the year: Adam Weiser (AEG Presents)Manager of the year: Clint Higham (Morris Higham Management)Production manager of the year: Jerry Slone (Luke Combs)Stage manager of the year: Donnie Floyd (Morgan Wallen)Tour manager of the year: Ethan Strunk (Luke Combs)Unsung hero of the year: Robin Majors (Kenny Chesney)Crew of the year: “Growin’ Up and Getting’ Old Tour” Crew (Luke Combs)Lifetime achievement award: Ben Farrell
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Country music’s biggest stars are shining bright this holiday season with the 15th annual CMA Country Christmas special. Hosted by Grammy winners Amy Grant and Trisha Yearwood for the second year in a row, the variety show brings together country singers and gospel singers to celebrate the Christmas season.
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While it originally aired on ABC this week, you can now watch CMA Country Christmas online through Hulu. The streaming service has CMA Country Christmas available to stream on-demand for all subscribers, as part of its “Huludays” festive lineup.
Log into Hulu.com with your account details to start watching all the performances from CMA Country Christmas online. Not a subscriber? Hulu‘s latest promotion gets you up to one month of access to the streaming service for free, with no commitment. Your free trial lets you watch all of Hulu’s on-demand shows, movies and specials from your TV, computer, tablet or phone (via the Hulu app).
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Sign up for Hulu’s free trial here. Plans start at just $9.99/month after your trial period is up. See full details here.
CMA Country Christmas features a cavalcade of artists performing both Christmas classics and new festive hits. Grant and Yearwood team up to perform “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” and Grant’s 1982 Christian hit, “Sing Your Praise to the Lord.” Grant also performs “Tennessee Christmas,” while Yearwood takes on a Christmas medley.
The lineup of performers also includes FOR KING + COUNTRY and Carin León, who team up to perform “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” while recent CMA winner Cody Johnson performs “White Christmas” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”
Ashley McBryde and Brittney Spencer team up to perform “Man With The Bag,” Jon Pardi sings “400 Horsepower Sleigh,” and Gospel legend CeCe Winans takes the crowd to church with a spirited rendition of “Joy to the World.”
This is the 15th year that CMA Country Christmas has been broadcast. Filmed in Nashville in front of a live audience, the holiday special is an official production of the Country Music Association.
Watch CMA Country Christmas on-demand now on Hulu.
As the countdown continues to the 58th annual CMA Awards, set to air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Nov. 20, country music fans will be anxious to see who takes home the evening’s top prize — entertainer of the year. This year, the nominees are Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson.
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Luke Bryan, a two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner himself, is offering his thoughts to Billboard on who could potentially take home this year’s EOY accolade.
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“I look back at when I won CMA entertainer of the year and in my opinion, that’s always been about who has sold the most tickets and has been kind of the most impressive thing out there in the touring world,” Bryan says.
Each of the nominees has been selling out headlining shows in venues ranging from amphitheaters and arenas to stadiums: Wallen on his One Night at a Time Tour, Combs on his Growin’ Up and Gettin’ Old Tour, Stapleton with his All-American Road Show Tour, Jelly Roll with his Beautifully Broken Tour and Wilson with her Country’s Cool Again Tour.
“When I look at what Morgan Wallen’s doing out there, selling out multiple [stadiums], and I know Luke Combs is doing that too, and obviously, they’re just both great entertainers,” Bryan says. “I don’t know who to sit there and put my endorsement on, but I have just been in awe watching Morgan Wallen go from being on some of my stadium tours and hanging on the bus with me, to watching him just really put up Garth Brooks-like stadium shows, has been pretty incredible. So, I think certainly it’d be something really, really great if Morgan might get him one or two, or three or four the next couple of years. But I think they’re all worthy of it. Lainey won last year, and that’ll probably put her in the front-runner spot, too, but it is a hot seat kind of thing. They all got my vote.”
Wallen, who scored his third CMA entertainer of the year nomination this year, leads this year’s overall CMA nominees with seven nods. Meanwhile, Stapleton earned his eighth nomination in the entertainer of the year category (he has yet to win the prize), while Combs earned his fifth nomination in the category (he has previously won twice), Wilson picked up her second EOY nomination (she is the reigning CMA EOY winner) and Jelly Roll nabbed his first nomination in the category this year.
Bryan is gearing up for the release of his new album, Mind of a Country Boy, on Friday (Sept. 27). The 14-song album features his current single, “Love You, Miss You, Mean It,” which currently resides at No. 8 on Billboard‘s Country Airplay chart.
The Country Music Association has announced the nominees for the 2023 CMA International Awards. The awards, which encompass six categories – two for artists and four for industry players – honor those who have impacted the growth of country music in the international marketplace.
Luke Combs, Kip Moore and Morgan Wallen are vying for the International Artist Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement by a U.S.-based artist who has demonstrated the most significant creative growth, development and promotion of the country music industry outside of the U.S. during the eligibility period.
“As we continue to see country music grow globally, it is thanks in large part to those who have supported our mission and spearheaded events, initiatives and programming to reach new territories around the world,” Sarah Trahern, CMA CEO said in a statement. “The dedication from each of these nominees has made them a vital part of the success of our genre internationally, and we cannot wait to celebrate them in the coming months.”
This year’s nominees hail from Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S.
Nominees are voted on by international members of CMA along with a select panel of U.S.-based professionals who have knowledge in the international country music industry. Voting is open now through Thursday, Sept. 28. Winners will be announced later this year.
Here’s a complete list of nominees:
International Artist Achievement Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievement by a U.S.-based artist who has demonstrated the most significant creative growth, development and promotion of the country music industry outside of the U.S. during the eligibility period.
Luke Combs
Kip Moore
Morgan Wallen
Jeff Walker Global Country Artist Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievements by a country music artist signed outside of the U.S. The artist must have furthered the popularity of country music as well as brought attention to the country music format in their foreign-based territory.
Casey Barnes (Australia)
Kaylee Bell (New Zealand)
Tebey (Canada)
Jo Walker Meador International Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual in advocating and supporting country music’s marketing development in territories outside the U.S.
Jon Cauwood (U.K. – music consultant)
Sina Hall (Germany – Semmel Concerts)
Natalie Waller (Australia – ABC Music)
Rob Potts International Live Music Advancement Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievements by an individual who has made important contributions to the live music industry by extending performance opportunities and building live audiences for country music outside of the U.S.
Susan Heymann (Australia – Frontier Touring)
Anna-Sophie Mertens (U.K. – Live Nation)
Ron Sakamoto (Canada – Gold and Gold Productions, LTD.)
Neil Warnock, MBE (U.K. – United Talent Agency)
Wesley Rose International Media Achievement Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievements in the media as they relate to country music outside of the U.S.
Jill Johnson (Sweden – ‘Jills Veranda’ SVT)
Ross Jones (U.K. – Holler)
Richard Murdoch (Scotland – BBC Radio)
Dayna Bourgoin (Canada – Pure Country Radio, iHeart Radio)
International Country Broadcaster Award
This award recognizes outstanding achievement by a radio broadcaster or syndicated radio reporter outside the U.S. who has made important contributions for the development of country music in his/her country.
Stefanie Jüneman (Germany – FM Maximum Roc)
Joakim Richardson (Sweden – Go Country)
Ricky Ross (U.K. – BBC Radio Scotland)
Justin Thomson (Australia – KIX Country)
Wimpie van der Sandt (South Africa – Bok Radio)
The ballot schedule has been revealed for the 57th annual CMA Awards, which is set to be held in in Nashville this November.
The eligibility period for this year’s awards ceremony is from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. The nomination ballot and instructions for online voting will be emailed Wednesday, July 5 to Country Music Association members in good standing who are eligible to vote.
The voting schedule is as follows:
July 14: Voting for the nomination ballot closes at 6 p.m. CT.
Aug. 2: The second ballot is emailed to CMA members.
Aug. 16: Voting for the second ballot closes at 6 p.m. CT. The final nominees in each of the 12 categories are set to be announced later in the summer.
Oct. 2: The third and final ballot is emailed to CMA members.
Oct. 27: Voting for the CMA Awards final ballot closes at 6 p.m. CT.
All balloting is tabulated by the professional services organization Deloitte. To vote in all three rounds of balloting for the 57th annual awards, prospective CMA members must apply for membership by Thursday, June 1.
In regards to the 2023 CMA Broadcast Awards — which awards broadcast personality, station and national broadcast personality of the year — applicants are no longer required to be CMA members in order to submit.
The CMA Broadcast Awards are presented for broadcast personality and station of the year in four categories determined by market size (major, large, medium and small market) as well as two categories for CMA national broadcast personality of the year (daily and weekly). Digital service providers with livestream broadcasts are eligible to apply for national broadcast personality of the year.
To submit an entry, radio stations and broadcast personalities in the United States and Canada can log on to broadcast.CMAawards.com, where guidelines and instructions for entries are posted. The site will continue to accept submissions until Friday, June 30 at 5 p.m. CT.
All CMA Broadcast Awards entries must reflect performances and events between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023. CMA’s panel of judges, which includes radio and industry professionals, will view and evaluate each entry online. CMA Broadcast Awards winners will be notified in early October and recognized at the November ceremony.
Additionally, the nomination period for CMA’s “industry honors” — which includes categories such as the CMA founding president’s award, the CMA Foundation humanitarian award and the Irving Waugh award of excellence — will remain open through Sunday, July 9.
Nominees and winners for the 2023 CMA Broadcast Awards and the CMA Awards are determined by professional members of the CMA.
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