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“It feels so good to be at the 50th anniversary of CMA Fest!” “Buy Dirt” hitmaker Jordan Davis told the crowd Thursday (June 8) at Nissan Stadium. It was a sentiment that was repeated through the evening, as CMA Fest commemorated a milestone — five decades as one of country music’s premier connection points between […]
“Them good ol’ boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye.”
In January 1972 — “a long, long time ago,” as Don McLean said in the opening salvo of “American Pie” — his eight-minute pop opus rose to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for four weeks, lamenting “the day the music died.”
Just a few months later — also a long, long time ago — the Country Music Association inaugurated Fan Fair, an annual Nashville music event now named CMA Fest. The festival’s music definitely hasn’t died, though the pandemic forced a pause for two years. It will be presented for the 50th time June 8-11.
“American Pie” wasn’t intended as a prelude to CMA Fest, though in some ways, McLean foretold its emergence. At the festival, them good ol’ boys drink whiskey on Lower Broadway, or they sing about it onstage. The event features a reported 80,000 music fans moving “helter skelter in the summer swelter.” And McLean’s whole “American Pie” football scenario — “The players tried to take the field/The marching band refused to yield” — parallels CMA Fest, too: Its marquee performances are hosted in an NFL venue, Nissan Stadium.
2023’s Nissan lineups include Luke Combs, Eric Church, HARDY, Dan + Shay, Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan and Ashley McBryde. There’s no Carrie Underwood this year — maybe the “Church Bells” all are broken? But the festival keeps bringing people back to Nashville in search of a good time.
Don McLean photographed in 1972.
David Redfern/Redferns
“One of my favorite lines [in “American Pie”] as relates to CMA Fest is ‘I can still remember when the music made me smile,’ ” CMA CEO Sarah Trahern says. “That’s what I always think about every year. I usually ask all of our young staff, ‘Tell me about an artist you saw for the first time,’ because one of the things I think we really value is the opportunity at the festival to have artists in all different stages of their career.”
That’s certainly true this year. The lineup includes current hitmakers Lainey Wilson, Jason Aldean, Jon Pardi and Jelly Roll. It has its share of heritage acts, including Reba McEntire, Tanya Tucker, Trisha Yearwood and Shenandoah. And it even features some new ones — for instance, Kidd G, Harper Grace, Avery Anna and Noah Thompson —who are so young that they were born after the last time the festival changed its location, in 2001.
CMA Fest launched at the Municipal Auditorium downtown in April 1972 and stayed there until 1982, when it moved to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds. It returned to Lower Broadway downtown in 2001, and McLean appeared that year with a performance of “American Pie” at the Riverfront Stage — appropriate, since it coincided with the festival’s move from the racetrack to the riverfront. Or, better put, from the “Chevy to the levee.”
It’s doubtful that anyone who heard “American Pie” in 1972 thought the song, or McLean, would have country connections. But it didn’t take long for them to build. Pop singer Perry Como recorded one of his songs, “And I Love You So,” in Nashville exactly one year after “American Pie” hit No. 1. Before the ’70s were over, McLean recorded Roy Orbison‘s “Crying” in Music City with The Jordanaires on backing vocals, and it brought him a country hit in 1981. McLean became close friends with producer-guitarist Chet Atkins (who, ironically, died June 30, 2001, just 17 days after McLean played CMA Fest). And “American Pie” had a huge influence on Garth Brooks, who said it “could quite possibly be the greatest song in music history” in a 2022 documentary, The Day the Music Died: The Story of Don McLean’s “American Pie.”
“That song was about that undeniable chorus — you hear it once, and it’s stuck in your head forever,” says Charlie Worsham, who will play June 9 at CMA Fest’s The Cadillac Three & Friends concert at Ascend Amphitheater. “It was a story, and you kind of had to listen to the words to get the full value of the song. And it was a song that could be delivered with an acoustic guitar and a voice on the back of a truck.”
Since those are the kinds of songs that Brooks was frequently attracted to, his penchant for “American Pie” influenced the generations of country artists who have followed him. He has occasionally dipped into mortality in hits such as “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” “Papa Loved Mama” or the long version of “The Thunder Rolls,” and “American Pie” is famously built around the deaths of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper in a plane crash.
“Just writing a song about that shit — can you imagine?” asks Jaren Johnston, who founded The Cadillac Three with Neil Mason and Kelby Ray. “It’s like, ‘Hey, I got an idea, Neil.’ It’s me and Ashley Gorley and Neil, let’s say. ‘Man, you remember that [Lynyrd] Skynyrd crash? Dude. Let’s do that today for Tuesday. That’d be fun.’ It just doesn’t exist anymore.”
Of course, there’s the “pink carnation and a pickup truck” line in “American Pie” — that pickup truck is still big business in country music: “wait in the truck,” “Heart Like a Truck,” “Truck Bed,” “I Drive Your Truck,” “New Truck,” “Out of That Truck,” etcetera.
But not to be forgotten is McLean’s reference to the spirit world with “the three men I admire the most/The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost.” Many of the artists who were crucial to that first Fan Fair are gone, including Ernest Tubb, Tom T. Hall, Roy Acuff, Porter Wagoner, Skeeter Davisand Marty Robbins. Like the genre itself, the festival is built on those memories, which is why Johnston skipped it last year. His father, former Grand Ole Opry drummer Jerry Ray Johnston, frequently took him to Fan Fair in the ’80s and ’90s at the fairgrounds. When the senior Johnston died, it made the thought of playing CMA Fest an emotional trap.
“Everything’s a memory there when you get into that world of grief and loss,” Johnston says. “You kind of stop yourself from going places where you think something might be triggered, and Fan Fair — CMA Fest — is definitely one of those for me.”
His father’s death affected each member of The Cadillac Three, which is why the group is appearing at the festival this year in a different form, joined by boundary-pushing acts such as Boy Named Banjo, The Randy Rogers Band, Tenille Townes and Elvie Shane, plus some unannounced guests who will likely demonstrate the wide-reaching net of the genre.
“CMA should be the big tent,” says Trahern. “And in the big tent, there is space for mainstream country music, and there’s space for Americana and space for bluegrass. If you think about it, the Country Music Hall of Fame has Emmylou Harris, who identifies as an Americana artist as well as a country artist, and has Flatt & Scruggs and Bill Monroe, who identify [as bluegrass]. So I’m really excited about that Ascend show.”
Oddly enough, that “American Pie” reference to “the three men I admire the most” could translate in CMA Fest history to Merle Haggard, George Jones and Johnny Paycheck. The three traditional country singers performed a group show at the festival in 1997 — the only time they would do so. Given their checkered pasts, it could easily be considered sacrilege to place them next to a line about the Christian Trinity. Worsham disagrees.
“I would argue that George Jones and Merle Haggard and Johnny Paycheck are the perfect country music examples to hold up as a story of redemption, of grace, because they all walked through the fire, and they all had their come-to-Jesus moment,” he reasons. “For them to stand on that stage together, and at a later time in their journey, I feel like is very spiritually accurate to the point of Christianity. And because gospel music is one of the parents of country music, country music has always been found in that path from the bar to the church and back, and those guys blazed that trail quite literally.”
McLean’s American Pie album featured the stars and stripes imprinted on the singer’s thumb, creating a metaphor that’s particularly useful to country music in 2023. Critics continue to debate — thumbs up, thumbs down — what constitutes country, and this year’s festival arrives at a time when some Americans are having a difficult time giving a thumbs-up to democracy.
“Country music’s real message is Willie Nelson going, ‘Good morning, America. How are you?’ ” Worsham says. “You lock arms and sing along and literally reach to the person in the concert sitting next to you who canceled you out in the voting booth, point your beer cans together and sing along to that. That’s what we need so badly right now, and that’s what country music has to offer right now, like it always has.”
“American Pie” may have lamented the “day the music died,” but despite the song’s surprising similarities to modern country, CMA Fest’s 50th installment serves as a symbol for a genre that’s willing to ponder the grave without actually stepping into it.
“Country music was alive and well in 1972,” says Trahern. “And certainly it’s alive and well today in 2023.”
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As CMA Fest gears up to welcome visitors from around the world to downtown Nashville June 8-11, the enduring festival will celebrate 50 years of bringing together country music fans with their favorite artists.
“From a fan’s perspective, there’s nothing else like it in the world,” says Luke Combs, who will perform at Nissan Stadium on the festival’s opening night. “You can go see every act in the genre, from the smallest act to the biggest act, and all you have to do is walk a few blocks. It’s so unique.”
When the inaugural festival was held on April 12, 1972, at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, it was billed as Fan Fair, drawing nearly 5,000 attendees and featuring performers including Roy Acuff, Bill Anderson, Loretta Lynn, Ernest Tubb and Jeannie Seely.
“[Fellow country artist] Dottie West and I were very close,” Seely recalls. “Sometimes, just to mess with some of the DJs that were visiting, we would cut station promos as each other. I got pretty good at saying, ‘Hi, I’m Dottie West with RCA. Welcome to Fan Fair.’ ”
Since then, the festival — which was renamed CMA Music Festival in 2004 then CMA Fest in 2018 — has evolved into a four-day event that in 2022 featured more than 150 artists and drew an estimated 80,000 fans daily from every U.S. state and nearly 40 countries. Each night features some of the genre’s biggest artists performing at the 70,000-capacity Nissan Stadium. Artists play CMA Fest for free, with a portion of the proceeds going to the CMA Foundation to aid music education initiatives.
“I appreciate so much what the artists give up to be here,” says Sarah Trahern, Country Music Association CEO since 2014. Every year, Trahern writes thank-you notes to each act who plays the stadium and includes notes from children who have benefited from music education. “The artists that play the weekend shows could be playing different places for a lot of money, but they recognize the history, the fan connection and community aspect of the festival,” says Trahern.
Luke Combs at the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards from Ford Center at The Star on May 11, 2023 in Frisco, Texas. Combs will be among this year’s headliners at Nissan Stadium.
Rich Polk for PMC
Across five decades of uniting artists and fans, CMA Fest has spurred numerous unforgettable moments — several of them involving autograph lines. In 1988, a power outage forced artists including George Strait and Reba McEntire to sign autographs in the dark. In 1996, Garth Brooks appeared at Fan Fair unannounced and signed autographs for 23 hours straight, never taking a bathroom or food break. In 2010, a young Taylor Swift signed autographs for 13 hours. The festival’s recently created Fan Fair X area inside the Music City Center convention center draws on a long-standing tradition of artists and record labels creating often elaborate autograph-signing booths.
Trisha Yearwood, who made her Fan Fair debut in 1991, recalls how in 1996 her then-manager, Ken Kragen, had the idea of creating a recording booth for fans to sing Yearwood’s No. 1 hit, “XXXs and OOOs.” (She broke through five years earlier with “She’s in Love With the Boy.”) “They’d take home a cassette of them singing with Trisha. It worked so well, except for one thing: I couldn’t get anybody to actually sing unless I sang at the top of my lungs with them,” Yearwood remembers. “That was fun, but after about eight hours straight of that every day, I had no voice. I think it was one of the most creative booths at Fan Fair ever.”
Several artists, including Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton, first attended CMA Fest as fans or even interns.
“I had my headset, my walkie talkie and was driving people around in golf carts to and from their buses to the corrals where artists would sign autographs,” recalls Bentley, who worked as an intern at Fan Fair in 1995. “The first artist I drove was Jo Dee Messina. I remember her being nervous, like, ‘No one’s going to know who I am.’ We pulled up outside the corrals and there’s all these fans shouting her name. I remember going, ‘I think you’re going to be OK.’ I drove Sammy Kershaw around. He was chain-smoking cigarettes the whole time. I still am the biggest Sammy fan of all time. I played my first CMA Fest 10 years later.”
Garth Brooks takes on a 23 hour autograph session during the 25th Annual Fan Fair in 1996 in Nashville.
Chris Hollo
CMA Fest has been held in multiple locations throughout Nashville over the decades. The event moved from Municipal Auditorium in downtown Nashville to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in 1982. In 2001, the festival returned to downtown Nashville with a larger presence, including programming at Music City Center and Adelphia Coliseum (now called Nissan Stadium), while also shifting from weekdays to a four-day weekend.
In 2004, the audience at the newly rechristened festival expanded exponentially when CBS aired the two-hour TV special CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night To Rock; since 2005, the event has aired on ABC.
“I think televising the festival was groundbreaking,” says executive producer Robert Deaton, who helms the TV specials for CMA Fest and the CMA Awards, as well as CMA Country Christmas. “Unless you went to see a concert, you never got to see these artists perform in their element — you would see them do a song or two on the CMA Awards or on late-night shows. Soon, fans started going, ‘This is the party we want to be at,’ and attendance kept increasing.”
Still, the jump from fairgrounds to stadium “felt like a risk,” Deaton says, and notes that it took time for CMA Fest to grow into its new home. At first, says Trahern, “we sold the floor and a lot of seats on the first balcony, but the second and third balcony were empty. [So] we wanted to grow this into something bigger. We needed better sound, better sight lines, and the only way to do that was to move from the fairgrounds to the stadium.”
Keith Urban performs at the Nightly Concert at The Coliseum on June 13, 2004 in Downtown Nashville at the 2004 CMA Music Festival.
John Russell/CMA
The festival has a strong history of guest performers, including Paul McCartney in 1974, Bryan Adams in 1993, The Beach Boys in 1996 and a surprise performance by Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus and Keith Urban of “Old Town Road” in 2019. Deaton says that viewers of this year’s special can expect more collaborations than ever, pairing country artists from different eras, along with some surprise, non-country guests.
Even as this year’s CMA Fest, its corresponding telecast and a forthcoming documentary centered around the festival pay homage to the event’s past and present, Deaton is already looking to future TV specials, where one artist remains on his bucket list: Strait.
“I’d love to get the king, George Strait,” Deaton says. “He can play anything he wants, bring whomever he wants onstage with him. It would be so amazing to have him on the show.”
Expansion isn’t the only way CMA Fest has evolved. Over the past several years, the event has increasingly showcased the breadth of country music, spotlighting artists of color and in the LGBTQ+ community. Last year, the Black Opry was part of CMA Fest, while this year’s festival features Rissi Palmer’s Color Me Country, with Willie Jones, Charly Lowry, Dzaki Sukarno and Julie Williams. Last year, 84 women performed across the festival’s four days; this year’s will feature 106 women artists. CMA Fest attendees can expect performances from both newcomers and fan favorites at the event’s 10 stages, including several outdoor stages that are free and open to the public.
“Supporting underrepresented communities is a key part of our mission,” Trahern says. “We supported the Country Proud show last year and we’ve moved that onto our own footprint at the Hard Rock stage this year. We are excited to continue to have diversity on all of our stages.”
In 2007, when crowds lined up for events like the Chevy Sports Zone in downtown Nashville, CMA Fest had an aggregate attendance of 191,154 fans at all of its shows.
John Russell/CMA
Music journalist and country music historian Robert K. Oermann feels that CMA Fest fulfills a vital role in terms of exposing artists fans may not see — or hear — elsewhere. “Let’s face it, terrestrial radio is never going to change,” he says bluntly. “They are not interested in Black people or women or anything different. So the best thing is for everyone to go around them, and CMA Fest provides that opportunity. I often see artists there that I love who are not on the radio.”
“It really is about music discovery,” Trahern says. “It’s as important to us to have artists in the baby-act stage as it is when they are in the stadium. Megan Moroney is a great example. Last year she played the spotlight stage as an emerging artist, and now she’s playing the Chevy Riverfront stage and our Nissan Stadium platform stage.”
Even as CMA Fest has grown, the uniqueness of the festival’s unparalleled fan focus remains paramount.
“The fans — and it’s everyone from 6 years old to 96 years old — they want to see a show, get an autograph, have personal contact with their favorite artists,” Oermann says. “That connection is beautiful, and there is no ‘We’re cooler than you are’ attitude from the artists. I don’t think you could have a festival like this in other genres of music.”
This story originally appeared in the June 3, 2023, issue of Billboard.
As CMA Fest — formerly known as Fan Fair — celebrates 50 years of being an indelible connection point between scores of country music artists and their most ardent fans, three top-shelf artists are on board to guide viewers through some of this year’s biggest moments from the show. Explore See latest videos, charts and […]
In April 1972, the Country Music Association held its inaugural “Fan Fair” at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, welcoming 5,000 fans and featuring artists including Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff, Tom. T. Hall, and Ernest Tubb.
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In the five decades since, the festival — which was rebranded CMA Fest in 2018 — has evolved into the four-day festival that regularly draws 80,000 fans to downtown Nashville. On June 8-11, CMA Fest will celebrate its 50th anniversary, featuring performances from artists including Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert, Eric Church, HARDY, Cody Johnson and Hailey Whitters.
That growth and evolution — which included relocations to the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in 1982 and to downtown Nashville in 2001 — will be highlighted in the 75-minute documentary CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fair, which will debut on Hulu on Wednesday, July 5.
CMA Fest: 50 Years of Fan Fair marks CMA’s first feature film. CMA’s CEO Sarah Trahern and senior vp, marketing, content & communications strategy Kelly Striewski serve as executive producers on the film.
The festival’s journey is shown through one-on-one interviews with artists including Keith Urban, Wynonna Judd, Jeannie Seely, Lorrie Morgan, Dolly Parton, Frankie Staton, Carrie Underwood and Reba McEntire.
“CMA Fest has taken several shapes throughout its storied history,” Trahern said via a statement. “As we step into our 50th year, our hope with this film is to underscore the one thing that has remained with the festival—its heart. We are thrilled to share the evolution and magic of this incredible event with the Hulu audience.”
“What better way to tell the story of CMA Fest than through the eyes of the artists, our industry and the fans,” Striewski added. “This film highlights the truly unique connection that exists within CMA Fest and how this festival has continued to grow the Country community throughout its 50 years. We couldn’t be happier to have this story debut on Hulu.”
“We have a long and valued partnership with CMA and are excited to expand on that by adding this extraordinary film to the Hulu slate,” said Rob Mills, executive vp, unscripted and alternative entertainment, Walt Disney Television. “We can’t wait to share this with music lovers everywhere, who will be treated to a behind-the-scenes look at the heart of CMA Fest and its many contributions to the country music community.”
CMA Fest’s history will also be feted with other exhibitions, including the photography exhibition “In the Hands of the Fans: Fifty Years of CMA Fest,” which opens June 6 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Additionally, on June 10, the Hall of Fame will feature a screening of the 1997 documentary Fan Fair Phenomenon, which aired on The Nashville Network. The screening will take place at 2:30 p.m. on June 10 in the museum’s Ford Theater and is included with the cost of museum admission, though Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum members can view the documentary for free.
Spotify will return with another top-shelf performers lineup for their marquee four-day country music showcase, Spotify House, at this year’s CMA Fest in Nashville, slated for June 8-11.
Spotify House will once again take over Blake Shelton and Opry Entertainment Group’s Ole Red music venue in downtown Nashville for the four-day music showcase, which will feature Brad Paisley, Brothers Osborne, Dierks Bentley, Hailey Whitters, Ingrid Andress, Jordan Davis, Luke Grimes, Mickey Guyton, Old Dominion, Lady A and Ruston Kelly on the Mainstage over the weekend.
The full Mainstage lineup also features Alana Springsteen, Ashley Cooke, Avery Anna, Brett Young, Brian Kelley, Chase Rice, Chayce Beckham, Chris Young, Colbie Caillat, Conner Smith, Dalton Dover, Danielle Bradbery, Dylan Marlowe, Dylan Schneider, Ella Langley, Ian Munsick, Jon Pardi, Josh Ross, Kameron Marlowe, Kylie Morgan, Lily Rose, Mackenzie Carpenter, Mitchell Tenpenny, Restless Road, Riley Green, Sam Hunt, Tanner Adell, Tenille Arts, Warren Zeiders and 49 Winchester.
The Mainstage’s daily (and nightly) lineup is presented by Spotify’s Nashville team and Spotify’s flagship Hot Country playlist. Spotify is also bringing back the Fresh Finds stage to further support their commitment to supporting rising musical talents, with the lineup to be announced in the coming weeks.
For fans who want to hit the dance floor, Spotify House will also offer exclusive late-night DJ sets, including Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley, as well as Cheat Codes + Friends.
“The Spotify House has become a CMA Fest staple and we couldn’t be more excited to be returning to Ole Red again this year,” said Jackie Augustus, lead, country & folk, artist partnerships at Spotify. “As always, we wanted the lineup to reflect the trends and discoveries that listeners have been making on platform. Every year the genre expands into new influences and sounds, so we’re looking forward to giving the fans an opportunity to experience 2023 country in its fullest. And as always, we have a few surprises up our sleeves, so you never know who might show up on our stage…”
Country music fans can stop by Spotify House on Thursday, June 8, through Saturday, June 10, from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. CT daily, and Sunday, June 11, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT. All shows will be open to the public, and space will be limited to first-come, first-served.
Jimmie Allen has been removed from the performer lineup for this year’s CMA Fest after sexual assault allegations in a new lawsuit, according to a statement from the Country Music Association obtained by Billboard.
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CMA Fest is slated for June 8-11 in downtown Nashville. Allen had been slated to perform during the festival’s closing evening, on Sunday, June 11, on the main stage at Nissan Stadium. Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley and Ashley McBryde are also on the June 11 lineup. Last year, CMA Fest welcomed an estimated 80,000 country music fans daily to downtown Nashville, and this year, will celebrate 50 years of connecting artist and fans.
The removal comes hours after a civil lawsuit was filed Thursday (May 11) against Allen, as an anonymous “Jane Doe” who previously served as a day-to-day manager for Allen claims to have been repeatedly sexually harassed and raped by Allen, and that Allen’s management company fired her when she complained.
The lawsuit, first reported by Variety and independently obtained by Billboard, was filed Thursday in Tennessee federal court. The anonymous “Jane Doe” accuser claims that Allen “manipulated and used his power” over her job as a day-to-day manager in order to “sexually harass and abuse her” over a period of 18 months from 2020 to 2022.
“Plaintiff expressed in words and actions that Jimmie Allen’s conduct was unwelcome, including pushing him away, sitting where he could not reach her, telling him she was uncomfortable and no, and crying uncontrollably,” the woman’s attorneys write in the complaint. “However, Allen made clear that plaintiff’s job was dependent on her staying silent about his conduct.”
In a statement to Billboard, Allen admitted to a sexual relationship with his accuser but denied all allegations of wrongdoing. Allen also said he is determined to defend himself against the lawsuit.
“It is deeply troubling and hurtful that someone I counted as one of my closest friends, colleagues and confidants would make allegations that have no truth to them whatsoever,” Allen says. “I acknowledge that we had a sexual relationship — one that lasted for nearly two years. During that time she never once accused me of any wrongdoing, and she spoke of our relationship and friendship as being something she wanted to continue indefinitely.
“Only after things ended between us, did she hire a lawyer to reach out and ask for money, which leads me to question her motives. The simple fact is, her accusations are not only false, but also extremely damaging. I’ve worked incredibly hard to build my career, and I intend to mount a vigorous defense to her claims and take all other legal action necessary to protect my reputation.”
Allen has also been suspended by his record label BBR Music Group (Allen records for the label’s Stoney Creek imprint), including the ceasing of of radio promotion for his current single “Be Alright.”
“In light of today’s allegations against Jimmie Allen, BBR Music Group has decided to suspend all activity with him, effective immediately,” a label representative said via a statement to Billboard.
Delaware native Allen had also previously been slated to deliver a commencement keynote address at his alma mater Delaware State University. In a release obtained by Billboard, it was noted that Allen is no longer delivering the commencement address and has been replaced by Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester. According to the release, Allen informed the university he would no longer be available to participate in the ceremony.