CMA Fest
June 11-15th
Nashville, TN
Thursday:
So grateful that I was finally able to meet one of my biggest inspirations at the TK Pop Up Shop. BCole has the sweetest soul and I could not be happier to support the dream of her's that is Tribe Kelley. Also, so glad I finally met Hayley. But really, the entire FGL fam are the kindest peeps.
Friday:
In between Kels’ fan club party in the morning and Love & Theft’s Thefthead party in the afternoon, I hung out at the Bud Light Plaza Stage to catch sets from Kels, Love & Theft, and Brooke Eden.
Y’all know how I feel ‘bout my guys Stephen & Eric, so ya know that they straight killed it in front of the festival crowd. I loved seein’ so many people singing along to their tunes. And on that note, we have Kels. Over 4k people sang along to “Love Me Like You Mean It”. What is life? I’m so happy and so proud of this girl, there aren’t even words.
Now it was my first time seein’ Brooke perform but damn. That girl slayed. I was blown away by the energy that she gave, and just her raw talent in general. Quickly one of my fave female artists, and after meeting her..I’m obsessed. Sweet as apple pie, love her.
Saturday:
Sometimes ya wake up real early so you can be at Fan Fair before doors open in order to get the best spot for when ya friend plays (hours later)..well this was one of those times. Meanwhile, I was able to catch Russell Dickerson sing a few of his tunes. I’ve gotta say, I was well impressed. Soon enough it was time for Joel to play his three tunes and I couldn’t have been happier. Hands down he’s not only one of the best musicians but just one of the best people in general. He’s actually my favorite because he’s just the dopest, and so is Kyle! Kyle’s got some mad guitar skills, it’s just not natural.
After a pit stop at the BMLG Store to finally meet George & Cody from Waterloo Revival, I took to the streets of Nashville to go catch some performances at the Chevrolet Roadhouse Stage. I finally was able to see Brett Young live and I’m so happy about it. Let me just say, this Cali boy sure does country music well. “Smoke Show” is a smokeshow of a song. Also at the Roadhouse Stage was Ryan Griffin aka one of the best artists. He also had some mad talented guy by the name of Josh Kerr with him. It made me thoroughly happy to watch both of these guys show their talent. Ryan is an incredibly talented songwriter and I could listen to the songs all day..which is probably why I ended up seein’ him twice in a row. After their set Josh mentioned that they had a 2 hour, full band show at the Omni. So of course, I headed over for some more good tunes. I lucked out because not only did I get to listen to Ryan & Josh even longer, but I was able to see Kels away from the craziness. We ended up fangirling together and havin’ a little life chat.
I ended the night by catching Ryan Lafferty’s set outside at the Hard Rock Cafe. In case you were wondering, I was the girl dancing around and singing along to every word while Ryan jammed to “Stalemate”. We got to hear a new one that he was testing out for the new record that he’s recording, and y’all should definitely tell him that ya want “Suspicious”. Trust me on this one.
Sunday:
Well, no better way to start the final day of CMA Fest than with my favorite duo. And that’s exactly what I did. First on the agenda was L&T at HGTV’s The Lodge. Obviously they made waking up early to wait two hours in the heat worth it.
Next up, Michael Ray. He took CMA Fest to a whole other level. It takes something special to capture the attention of the crowd in the way he did. But I’ve said it once and I’ll continue to say it, MR is insanely talented. I ran from catching up with him to Fan Fair so I could catch my little ray of sunshine, aka Miss Kalie Shorr, do her thing on stage with Song Suffragettes. She’s one of the most talented people I know and I’m blown away by her. Also, she’s one of my favorite human beings because she has one of the kindest hearts out of anyone I’ve ever known.
I closed out my CMA Fest experience by chillin’ at the BMI Tailgate Party and catching three mind blowing sets. The vibes bein’ put out were perfect to end the weekend with. The artists givin’ out these vibes? Sammy Arriaga, Mitchell Tenpenny, and Danielle Bradbery. Trust me when I say that if ya don’t already know their music, you need to get on that immediately. I have been obsessed with Mitchell ever since because the groove that the songs have is something that can’t help but make ya feel good. And his song, “I Love”, will hit you straight in the feels. I knew of Sammy, thanks to the L&T boys who are like fam to him, so I knew there was major talent there. But his song “Santana” had me dancing from the first few notes. If ya watched The Voice, you know Danielle is talented. Well she’s definitely grown into her craft since the show and her new music is gonna show that. She sang a song she’s been working on and I totally dig the style.
I’ve gotta say that CMA Fest were four of my favorite days. I was able to catch up with friends and watch them blow minds of thousands of people and I was able to see artists perform live that I otherwise probably wouldn’t. I could not be more grateful for all that I was able to experience this weekend. I’m grateful for country music and the people it’s brought into my life. Here’s to CMA Fest 2016…
XO Christy
[additional photos from my weekend…]