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cma fest

The Country Music Association’s CMA Fest has been experiencing a growth trend ever since it relocated to Downtown Nashville in 2001.
Last year, the festival hit 90,000 visitors a day for the first time, and local media reported that it equaled those numbers in the 2024 edition, held June 6-9.

But the growth most evident at this year’s festival was the bulging presence of “barroom takeovers.” From Spotify to iHeartMedia to Warner Music Nashville and even Billboard, at least 11 labels, booking agencies and other organizations rented out performance spaces — or even entire buildings — for a range of extracurricular concerts. In some cases, artists played shows at those venues on top of their official CMA Fest activities. In other instances, artists dropped into the side bars without appearing at a sanctioned CMA event.

The uptick in these ancillary events is a natural outgrowth of the booming business in artist-affiliated bars. In the last year alone, Garth Brooks, Eric Church and Morgan Wallen have all opened the doors on new clubs along Lower Broadway, and Lainey Wilson took over the FGL House from Florida Georgia Line, rebranding as Bell Bottoms Up. Bon Jovi even opened a new bar during the run of the festival.

Those locales offer a ready-made spot at the edge of the festival’s footprint for businesses that want to market to core fans; thus CAA took over the weekly Whiskey Jam at the Skydeck for one night, Big Machine Label Group offered daytime shows at Wilson’s club, and Sony Music Nashville occupied Acme Feed and Seed with its Camp Sony at the same intersection where CMA Fest hosted its Hard Rock Stage and Riverfront Stage. It’s advantageous for the label, fans and the artists, too.

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“Being right there at the end where all the action is happening, it helps in terms of foot traffic,” SMN senior vp of marketing Jennifer Way says. “It helps in terms of catching artists that [play] a show and then can just pop up into the bar.”

Not that the adjunct shows are limited to the run of the festival or to the Downtown footprint. WME held its annual three-night Losers Live at a bar on the edge of Music Row, about a mile and a half away, June 3-5. Randy Houser, Brantley Gilbert and Mark Chesnutt headlined the three nights, all playing for free to make an impression on country-centric fans and other members of the industry.

“Many people arrive in Nashville prior to the official start of CMA Fest, and they travel from all over the world to hear live music,” says WME country music agent Carter Green. “So WME and Losers give the people what they want.”

The volume is impressive. While the festival itself yielded more than 300 artist performances, Spotify House trotted out 40 acts — including BRELAND, Tyler Hubbard and Dustin Lynch — during its three-day run at the Blake Shelton-affiliated Ole Red. SiriusXM booked 56 artists across four days at Margaritaville for performances and/or interviews, including Lainey Wilson, Jake Owen and Riley Green.

“This is surely the only genre who could pull this off the way we pull it off because all of the artists are so punctual, on time or early,” SiriusXM associate director of strategy, operations, and artist and industry relations Alina Thompson says. “We were on schedule all four days, and I was just so grateful to every artist and every artist team that came through the door.”

The opportunities, though, also represent a potential long-term problem. Several veteran music executives grumbled that the festival’s official daytime stages lacked some of the star power that they have boasted in previous years, though that’s a direct result of country’s current popularity. At least 50 artists — including Kenny Chesney, Luke Combs, Kane Brown and HARDY — played up to four out-of-town gigs during the four-day CMA Fest. Many were booked at the Carolina Country Music Festival, which overlaps with CMA Fest in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Some of those acts made it back for the Nashville event. Some did not.

That’s not a new development, but combined with the artists who choose to play the nearby clubs, it meant that the smaller stages had a higher volume of acts who were unfamiliar to many festival attendees.

That doesn’t mean the festival faces any sort of imminent disaster or that it represents a long-term trend.

“I think it changes year by year,” Carter says. “If people feel that way this year, it could change next year, and you could have all the biggest acts in country at that time playing during the day.”

Artists’ outlook on the festival is tied to their place in the food chain. It’s great exposure for acts who haven’t hit the commercial mainstream — Wyatt Flores and Puddin (K. Michelle), for example, garnered attention with multiple appearances. But the artists play for free, and the headliners are key to attracting the thousands of fans whose ticket expenditures assist music education charities.

“If you’re a newer artist, you need to be there,” says SiriusXM/Pandora vp of music programming — country Johnny Chiang. “A-listers or B-plus artists, it’s not so much a need for them to do it. It’s just a way for them to give back. There’s a different perspective.”

In most instances, the artists and the ancillary businesses seem to defer to CMA in booking artists, a sign that the industry supports the festival’s mission.

“The CMA typically gets all their stuff scheduled first,” Way says. “We don’t really confirm the exact unique fan experience or activation until the stages are booked, until the artist knows where they’re going to be.”

Meanwhile, if the barroom takeovers syphon off too much of CMA’s business, Chiang suggests it might be effective for the organization to “get in deeper” with the unofficial groups, many of which are already partners in some way.

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s on one of their stages or one of our bar locations,” Chiang says. “What you’re talking about is still promoting country music and the CMA.”

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CMA Fest 2024 may have concluded with Sunday evening’s (June 9) lineup at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium, but fans were far from winding down. Instead, the tens of thousands of country music diehards came ready to party with everything they had left on the fest’s fourth night.

Sunday’s lineup included Josh Turner, Megan Moroney, Brothers Osborne, Carly Pearce, Jackson Dean, Bailey Zimmerman, and country/rock purveyor HARDY. Meanwhile, the platform stage featured two not-to-be overlooked newcomers: Zach Top and Wyatt Flores.

In all, the evening’s performances put country music’s vast breadth of sounds and influences on display, ranging from modern-day hits to covers of songs nearly five decades old. The night found traditional-minded country strains mined by artists including Turner, Top, Moroney and Pearce.

The deep-voiced Turner offered up his hits, including “Firecracker” and “Long Black Train,” in addition to his new single, “Heatin’ Things Up.” Newcomer Top staked his traditional country claim from the start of this two-song set, lacing his song “Sounds Like the Radio” with nods to Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee” and the year 1994, midway through a decade when artists including Jackson, Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire spearheaded country music’s rapid ascent into an economic powerhouse.

Meanwhile, Moroney — who will release her new album Am I Ok? on July 12 — offered up cleverly-crafted songs such as “No Caller ID,” “Man on the Moon,” “Indifferent” and her breakthrough hit “Tennessee Orange,” with her writing often based on classic country frameworks and torn from her own personal history of romantic wins and losses.

Brothers Osborne were clearly in their element, pouring forth an amalgam of blues, rock and country, while Dean offered an unfiltered, rock-soaked performance. Mississippi native HARDY, who topped seven different Billboard charts with his album The Mockingbird & the Crow, closed out the show with his mesh of grunge-rock, metal and country while offering up a handful of surprises.

Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde served as hosts for much of the evening, with the Nissan Stadium shows taped as part of the upcoming three-hour primetime special CMA Fest, slated to air on June 25 on ABC (and stream on Hulu the following day).

Here, we look at five top moments from Sunday’s show that closed out this year’s CMA Fest:

Wyatt Flores Brings Grit and Soul-Baring Songs

Right next to Nissan Stadium in Nashville — just across the parking lot — is the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center, where Antioch, Tennessee, native Jelly Roll spent years incarcerated as a teen. His underdog story has brought him from a jail cell to center stage at Nissan Stadium, headlining CMA Fest’s Saturday night show.

The crowd was already cheering before the hometown hero took the stage, and he rewarded their applause by performing “The Lost.” Pausing to take in the triumphant, full-circle moment, Jelly Roll — and many in the audience — were soon in tears. But those tears didn’t last long before turning into a joyous celebration.

“I am from Nashville, Tennessee!” he shouted to the crowd, which roared back with equal enthusiasm. “My father brought me here 23 years ago when the Tennessee Titans first came to town — this is a dream come true… playing to a sold-out Nissan Stadium crowd… and I’m getting to perform the No. 1 on country radio right this moment,” he said, before launching into his current (and fourth) Billboard Country Airplay No. 1, “Halfway to Hell.” The performance was heightened by Keith Urban playing guitar during the performance.

One year ago, he got a taste of headlining at the stadium when he performed on the platform stage at CMA Fest, but on Saturday night, he fully made that dream come true. He dedicated his set to the teens that are currently in the juvenile center.

“I know they can hear us because I was one of them, one time. I was in and out of jail and in and out of drug addiction, and tonight I am headlining CMA Fest at Nissan Stadium,” he said. Launching into “Son of a Sinner,” with lights aglow all around the stadium, he said, “I’m here to tell you you can do whatever you want in life, I don’t give a f— what anybody says,” before praising country music as “the genre that saved my life.”

Jelly Roll’s shows have become part concert, part therapy session, part spiritual revival for those who identify as an outcast, feel misunderstood, are struggling with addiction, or are simply working through any personal struggles — and his CMA Fest set was no exception.

“This is a come one, come all kind of crew,’ he said. He later added, “I am here to represent the lost and the broken,” before performing his new song “I Am Not Ok.”

Prior to making country music, Jelly Roll was primarily known as a rapper, and he passionately and effortlessly sailed through a medley of rap classics, including Eminem’s “Lose Yourself,” Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend” and Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson,” before performing his own collaboration “Wild Ones” (sans Jessie Murph). The crowd’s reaction was so fervent that the singer-songwriter collapsed onto a riser on the stage, laughing in amazement. Later on, wife Bunnie XO made a brief appearance and shared a kiss with Jelly Roll.

From there, he offered up his four-week No. 1 Country Airplay hit “Need a Favor,” with the audience waving hands high in the air. He then followed up with his two-week No. 1 “Save Me,” welcoming labelmate Lainey Wilson back to the festival stage with a hug. Jelly Roll then returned solo to center stage, waving his hat to the crowd and thanking the audience for their part in his triumph story.

Shortly into his set at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium on Friday night (June 7), two-time CMA Award winner Cody Johnson laid down a challenge for the crowd with one simple question: “Are you ready for some country music tonight?”

For more than three hours, approximately 70,000 fans filling the stadium answered that question with a resounding ‘Yes.’ As the four-day country music extravaganza CMA Fest reached its halfway mark, the Friday night lineup at Nissan Stadium offered a triple shot of Texas country, thanks to a lineup that included Johnson, Parker McCollum and Jon Pardi.

Women artists also made a strong showing Friday night, with the lineup featuring the “Redneck Woman” herself, Gretchen Wilson, as well as “Austin” hitmaker Dasha, singer-songwriter K. Michelle’s soulful set on the platform stage, and Kelsea Ballerini, who just announced her added gig as a coach on The Voice.

In the process of the cavalcade of artists taking the stage, night two at Nissan Stadium showcased the country music industry’s continued economic power and international draw, with die-hard country music fans attending from all 50 states and numerous countries. Night two also highlighted the power of songs that break through to the core of deep-seated emotions — whether heartbreak, remorse, love or celebration — to fuel fan-connecting, headliner-status careers.

Throughout the evening, the songs that poured from the two stages highlighted enduring country classics, some of the biggest hits of the moment, party-ready fare and moments of self-reflection and heartbreak — with those spectrum-spanning emotions sometimes wrapped into a single song.

As the clock reached midnight, two-time CMA entertainer of the year winner Luke Bryan launched his show, asking the crowd, “Ready to take this into the next morning?” He then proceeded to fill his midnight set with a string of hits he’s piled up over the past decade-plus, including “My Kind of Night” and “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Everyday.” The bulk of the concertgoers stayed, ready to continue an already hours-long, music-filled day in downtown Nashville into the wee hours of the morning at Nissan Stadium.

Here, we look at five top moments from night two of CMA Fest.

Dasha Takes Nashville to “Austin”

As scores of artists performed on outdoor stages throughout Nashville’s Lower Broadway on Friday (June 7), some of country music’s rising Latino country artists gathered for a panel and performance inside Fan Fair X at the CMA Closeup Stage.

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“Latin Roots: The ‘Equis’ Factor in Country Music” featured artists Frank Ray, Angie K, Leah Turner, LouieTheSinger and Sammy Arriaga, with the panel moderated by Rolling Stone writer Tomás Mier.

Each artist spoke of their respective backgrounds and journeys into country music, which are varied. Texas native Louie TheSinger, who signed with UMG Nashville earlier this year and released his single “Brothers,” previously performed R&B music prior to making a switch to country, and is open about sharing his story of being incarcerated for two years on a drug charge. Meanwhile, Frank Ray was a police officer in Texas prior to transitioning to performing country music. Angie K noted her El Salvador roots, but also her identity as part of the LGBTQ+ community.

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Angie K spoke of migrating to Georgia from El Salvador, saying, “Moving here from El Salvador…when you’re in a country where freedom is not as easy as it is here…my dad, his grandfather was kidnapped and as soon as he got out, got cancer and passed away. My dad almost got kidnapped and that’s one of the reasons we ended up moving to the United States,” Angie K recalled. “I remember talking to my dad and he was like, ‘It doesn’t matter because you are healthy and you are ok.’ That’s the Latin community that I want people to know,” she said, drawing applause from the audience.

“We are a beautiful community and I think both Latinos and country people, there’s real trauma in both of those worlds and we are here to do the priority of taking care of each other,” Angie K added.

“I’m a border town boy, raised in Columbus, New Mexico, and in Texas,” Ray said, noting the deep ties between country music culture and Latin culture. “The Latin community and country music…the American cowboy wouldn’t exist without the Mexican vaquero. I just picture, at some point, there was a guitar being passed around a campfire. That’s why the themes are the same—love, family, heartbreak, whiskey. Growing up in a border town, country music [would be heard] as much as mariachi.”

The artists’ music was also front and center during the event. Mexican-American country singer-songwriter Turner, who fully embraced her Latin roots with her 2022 EP Lost in Translation, performed a scorching version of her sultry ballad “T Shirt.” Angie K performed her new song “Red Dirt on Mars” and Arriaga offered up the tear-jerker “The Boat.” Ray, who earned a Billboard Country Airplay top 20 hit with “Country’d Look Good on You,” performed a mashup of his breakthrough song, the bilingual “Streetlights” and his new release, “Uh-huh (Ajá).”

Each spoke of Latino and country singers who inspired them, including Luis Fonsi, the late Tejano singer Selena, Jessi & Joy, Rick Trevino (who earned a Hot Country Songs No. 1 in 1997 with “Running Out of Reasons to Run”) George Strait, Garth Brooks, Carin León and the late country music singer Freddy Fender, known for his No. 1 Hot Country Songs hits “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights” and “Before the Next Teardrop Falls.”

Arriaga, a Cuban-American who grew up in Miami, first garnered attention in 2011 with his stint on American Idol. In addition to releasing his own original songs, including his recent single “Dominoes,” Arriaga has long helped solidify ties between Latino music and country music with Spanish versions of country hits such as Luke Combs’ “Beautiful Crazy” and Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man.”

“The Spanish language, everything just sounds more romantic,” Arriaga said. “These [songs] are too beautiful to not be experienced by my culture. I wanted to do it in a way that we weren’t changing too much of what people are used to, so we just flipped the language. We had musicians from Mexico and Miami and we added some flair. It opened up some doors for me to tap into a Latino community. I’ve noticed a lot of Texans are loving the music.”

Angie K told Arriaga, “You were one of the first people I saw…when I was trying to decide whether to release [her bilingual single] ‘Real Talk,’ and you were doing this, so I thought, ‘Why not?’ I feel like you are also one of the pioneers with Spanish and country.”

Of working to increase visibility for artists with Latin roots in country music, Ray said, “It takes a lot of work and I couldn’t be more proud to do this with this group here. We love these opportunities and there are not a lot of them. It also brings us closer together.”

“We should all do a big tour,” Ray also said, drawing agreement from his fellow artists and cheers from the audience.

The 51st annual CMA Fest launched on Thursday (June 6), with a cavalcade of artists performing on nearly a dozen outdoor and indoor stages in downtown Nashville. As the sun set, a swarm of festivalgoers — many sunburned and already having taken in hours of music that day — descended upon Nashville’s Nissan Stadium to […]

When tens of thousands of music fans visit Nashville June 6-9 for the Country Music Association’s annual CMA Fest, most of those attendees will see an artist — or two, or 10 — for the first time.
Surprisingly, those same artists may be meeting one of the musicians playing with them for the first time, too.

For all the uncertainties that fans and industry executives encounter during the festival, the instrumentalists carting their amplifiers and guitars through the Downtown footprint represent a sub-economy full of stress as they live out their musical dreams. Many of them work for multiple artists, sometimes picking up eight to 10 shows with as many as six different acts over the run of the festival. And in some instances, particularly on the smaller daytime stages, a musician could be appearing behind an artist they’ve never rehearsed with or even met.

“It was almost like a rite of passage,” says drummer Kayleigh Moyer, a Belmont University alumnus working this year with RaeLynn, Reyna Roberts and, quite likely, another artist or two who call at the last minute. “If you weren’t playing three or more shows during CMA Fest week, as a music major or musician — like, what were you doing?”

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Plenty of artists at CMA Fest — particularly those booked during the nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium — have their own bands on salary. But the daytime stages feature a fair number of acts who haven’t reached that financial level and need to hire a band for the festival, which represents a chance to showcase for some of the genre’s most avid fans. Those artists are all drawing from the same local pool of players, and up-and-coming musicians have the potential to make extra cash.

“In a lot of other situations, these artists wouldn’t be cool with people taking multiple gigs on the same day,” says multi-instrumentalist Kyle Pudenz, who had RaeLynn and Zandi Holup on his calendar 10 days ahead of the festival, with space to take late requests. “But when it’s CMA Fest, they know that the pay is not really livable unless you are playing several shows. I’ve actually jokingly called CMA week ‘Musicians’ Black Friday’ for the past several years, because it’s finally the week of the year where you overcome the January/February dry spell.”

Artists famously play CMA Fest for free, introducing themselves to potential new fans, cementing their relationships with existing followers and generating revenue for the CMA Foundation, which donates proceeds to music education programs.

The musicians are compensated at a lower rate than usual, with the CMA paying $170 per performance this year, based on an agreement with the Nashville chapter of the American Federation of Musicians, AFM Local 257. In 2023, the CMA paid $120,800 to 617 musicians, according to AFM 257 president Dave Pomeroy, an average of $195 per musician.

That’s not necessarily the only income source for the week. Some artists who pay their bands higher rates will compensate them beyond the CMA’s $170 base. And there are a ton of “non-CMA” shows, including label showcases and open bars on Lower Broadway.

“Every artist that I [play with], I have to fill out separate paperwork for each,” says drummer Andrew Edmonds, playing this year with Hannah Ellis, Madeline Merlo, Tenille Arts and Carter Faith. “Some artists are really great, and they’re like, ‘We’ll compensate you for full-show pay.’ Or, you know, ‘This acoustic thing pays this.’ Each person is doing different payments for different things. I have no idea what I’m making.”

They might get paid for rehearsal, too, though not every act has one, especially since technology has introduced new options. Most acts employ click tracks that keep the tempo steady in the musicians’ in-ear monitors. Fill-ins can receive “charts” — sheet music that provides chord progressions and song structures  —  and board tapes from previous shows are now routinely available, providing an opportunity to rehearse at home with the artist’s actual concert performances. “That wasn’t as common 10 years ago, to get those before gigs,” Moyer says.

No matter what level of preparation they have, musicians can still count on having an unpredictable experience. Thus, the festival has numerous nicknames: the “CMA hustle,” according to Pudenz; a “throw-and-go,” per Moyer; or a “plug-and-pray,” as drummer Sarah Tomek puts it.

Tomek will back Chris Housman and Jenny Teator during official CMA shows and make non-CMA appearances at the weekly Whiskey Jam and in Lower Broadway events at Tequila Cowboy and Jason Aldean’s Kitchen + Rooftop Bar. 

Those CMA gigs are a tight-wire act. When one show ends, the next band has 15 minutes to set up on the same stage. That means plugging guitars into unfamiliar amps, praying the electronics all light up and setting in-ear monitor levels for each musician. Drummers have additional issues — most are in charge of a laptop with the click tracks and instrumental enhancements, and they have to play on a kit they’ve never used before, adjusting heights, angles and locations for cymbals, snares and toms.

“It probably takes you five minutes into the set to just settle down because you’ve made it, you’ve arrived, the sound check — everything’s working, we hope — and then you can kind of calm down,” Tomek says. “By the time you calm down, the set’s almost over. And then you’re on to the next one.”

Getting to the next one isn’t always easy. Most of the stages are within a block or two, but Nashville’s Downtown is hilly, the crowds can be massive, and once the day begins, the event never stays on schedule. Musicians have been known to text while onstage behind one artist to let the next artist know they’re running late.

“There’s really nothing you can guarantee,” says guitarist Tyler Cain, who works with pop artist Gavin DeGraw. In previous CMA Fests, he has played behind Meghan Linsey and Billy Currington, among others. “Not only are you hoping everything’s on time and works out, but you also may be jumping into a situation where you didn’t even have any rehearsal, or maybe you don’t even know the artist. Like, when you’re onstage for them, that’s the first time you’ve met them.”

The schedule tends to work itself out — “I’ve never missed a downbeat,” Moyer says — and adapting to the surprises as they come does have long-term benefits. “I think it makes you a better musician to put yourself in situations that you’re maybe a little scared,” Cain suggests. “Being able to deliver quickly, that’s a good skill to develop as a musician.”

The biggest skills revolve around overcoming weather. The heat index invariably tops 90 degrees during CMA Fest, and there’s typically a rain shower or two. “Music gear isn’t actually designed to work at that temperature,” Pudenz notes. “If your pedal board’s sitting directly in the sun, you might suddenly find that none of your stuff works when you plug it in.”

That goes for the human body, too. Tomek says she has “seen stars” while overheating in the middle of a CMA Fest set, though that doesn’t allow for any presentation shortcuts.

“You got to still look cool,” she says. “It’s not like you’re going to be wearing khaki shorts out there. You’re going to still be wearing your boots and your hat, and it’s like 100 degrees. It’s such an intense week for the cats down there.”

Grueling as it is, the musicians appreciate CMA Fest. They came to Nashville to play, and succeeding at the festival builds confidence that they can probably play through anything.

“At the end of the day, the music is the most important thing,” Edmonds says. “No matter what happens, you have to mentally block everything out and just be like, ‘All right, we’re doing this. This next 30 minutes, I’m here, and we’re going to crush it.’ ”

Recent tourmates Jelly Roll and Ashley McBryde are set to co-host this year’s CMA Fest, set to air Tuesday, June 25, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on ABC, and streaming the following day on Hulu.

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The three-hour primetime concert special will film in Nashville during the 51st annual CMA Fest, set for June 6-9. The special will highlight top moments from the festival, including surprise collaborations from some of country music’s top artists and never-before-seen performances.

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This year’s nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium will feature performances from artists including Jelly Roll, Keith Urban, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Luke Bryan, Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, Brittney Spencer, Hardy, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” hitmaker Shaboozey, McBryde, Thomas Rhett, “Austin” hitmaker Dasha and Bailey Zimmerman. The four-day country music festival will also host hundreds of artists performing on nearly a dozen stages across downtown Nashville.

Last year, two-time CMA Award winner McBryde opened shows on Jelly Roll’s headlining Backroad Baptism Tour. Former Billboard Country Power Players cover star Jelly Roll’s ascent to headlining status has been swift, thanks to his underdog story, his passionate, joyous persona and his genre-fluid hitmaking, topping Billboard rock and country charts, including earning three Country Airplay hits in 2023, with “Son of a Sinner,” “Need a Favor” and his Lainey Wilson collaboration “Save Me.” Last year, he was named the CMA new artist of the year, and earlier this year, he earned two Grammy nominations, including a nomination in the all-genre best new artist category.

His music connects with McBryde’s, in that both have forged unique musical signatures based on country, rock and poetic storytelling arcs–whether that is Jelly Roll’s unfiltered, personal songs of struggles with addiction, McBryde’s songs of small-town aspirations (“Girl Goin’ Nowhere”) or the vivid lyrics that showcase the wilder side of small towns on her album Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville.

McBryde has also earned the respect of not only fans but her industry peers, winning a Grammy for her Carly Pearce collaboration, “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” which also topped the Country Airplay chart in 2022. McBryde has earned six total Grammy nominations to date, including three nominations for best country album, for her projects Girl Going Nowhere, Never Will and the collaborative project Ashley McBryde Presents: Lindeville.

CMA Fest is produced by the Country Music Association, executive produced and written by Robert Deaton and directed by Alan Carter.

Artists who perform during the festival are not paid for their sets, but volunteer so that sales profits can benefit the nonprofit CMA Foundation, which launched in 2011 with the aim of focusing “on providing sustainability, advocacy and accountability within music education by investing in various resources for students, schools and communities.”

CMA Fest launched as Fan Fair in 1972, drawing 5,000 fans to Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. Over the past half-century, the festival has grown to become Nashville’s signature country music festival, welcoming fans from all 50 states and 39 international countries.

The first round of performers for this year’s CMA Fest, slated for June 6 to 9 in downtown Nashville, has been revealed, as Music City gears up for the massive country music festival, which annually draws tens of thousands of fans from across the United States, as well as 51 international countries.

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The star-studded evening shows at Nashville’s Nissan Stadium will feature performances from Kelsea Ballerini, Brothers Osborne, Luke Bryan, Jordan Davis, HARDY, Jelly Roll, Cody Johnson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ashley McBryde, Parker McCollum, Megan Moroney, Jon Pardi, Carly Pearce, The War And Treaty, Thomas Rhett, Keith Urban, Lainey Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman, with additional performances and collaborations to be announced in coming weeks.

The Chevy Riverfront Stage will feature performances from artists including The War and Treaty, Brian Kelley, Anne Wilson, Warren Zeiders, Wyatt Flores, Dylan Gossett, Lily Rose and BRELAND. Meanwhile, the Dr. Pepper AMP Stage at Ascend Park will feature a lineup that includes Mickey Guyton, Charlie Worsham, Brittney Spencer, Lorrie Morgan, Ty Herndon, Shenandoah and Lauren Watkins.

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Over at the Chevy Vibes Stage at Walk of Fame Park, performers will include HunterGirl, Carter Faith, The Castellows, Blanco Brown, Zach Top and Tigirlily. The Good Molecules Reverb Stage at Bridgestone Arena Plaza will feature Tanner Adell, Emily Ann Roberts, Madeline Merlo and RVSHVD, among others. Additionally, the Hard Rock Stage returns this year, featuring artists including Tucker Wetmore, Kasey Tyndall and Reyna Roberts. All outdoor stages at CMA Fest are free and open to the public.

Ascend Amphitheater will also return with three nights of performances at the open-air venue; lineup and ticket details for Ascend will be revealed in coming weeks.

CMA Fest will once again be filmed for a national television special to air on ABC this summer. For a full lineup of this year’s initial round of CMA Fest performers, visit cmafest.com.

CMA Fest 2023 came to a close Sunday night (June 11) at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, celebrating its milestone 50th anniversary with a stacked lineup of some of country music’s brightest stars across multiple decades, demonstrating the enduring impact of the genre on generations of fans. The lineup featured one of the best-selling groups in […]