The Stars Are At CMA Fest

Country music’s top stars are in Nashville this weekend for the CMA Music Festival and Fan Fair.  The performances began Thursday morning with Montgomery Gentry, and continued through the weekend.  Hundreds of artists are performing on multiple stages around downtown Nashville, including the LP Field football stadium.  Those who come are creating memories for their children that could inspire a career.  That’s what happened to Carrie Underwood: “I came to CMA Fest as a tourist when I was about 14 years old, it was so much fun to be on that side of it, and now be on this side of it, there’s people everywhere, all here to enjoy music, and we’re the only genre of music that does this for the fans, so it’s really cool.”

 

While CMA Fest creates memories for all who attend, the event makes an impact on the performers as well.  Brad Paisley will never forget his first appearance at Fan Fair in 1999: “It means a lot to me because this is the first place I got positive confirmation that I was going to have a career.  That was when it was still called Fan Fair, I was a new artist that had a song called ‘Who Needs Pictures’ that was struggling in the charts, and I sang a new song in front of the audience called ‘He Didn’t Have To Be,’ and having never heard it, gave me a standing ovation, and I started crying, and basically they told me that I floored them.  And as an artist when you write a song and perform it for the audience, that’s the ultimate response.  So that was the moment I thought I think I’m gonna be OK.  So this has always meant something to me.”

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