CMA Festival 2019: Stadium RECAPS

The event, which features more than 300 country acts ranging from up-and-comers to legendary singers and superstars, annually attracts tens of thousands of people to Music City. Fans from all over the world pour into town in hopes of hearing their favorite songs and snapping selfies with their beloved artists.

"We have a diverse range of artists playing Fest this year," said Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association. "I'm excited to see the nightly concerts return at Ascend Amphitheater, which are a great alternative to the concerts at Nissan Stadium. The Spotlight Stage is back at Xfinity Fan Fair X with new and independent artists, and we have several of our superstars returning to CMA Fest for the first time in a while."

Where does the money go?

Country singers donate their time during CMA Fest. Ticket proceeds from the festival go to the CMA Foundation, which supports high-quality music programs nationwide.  "Each year, we're incredibly grateful to the artists who perform at CMA Fest for free, so that we can we can give back to music programs around the country through the CMA Foundation," Trahern said. "We have some exciting activations and events for fans to now give back to music education as well."

PHOTO Left: 

Billion-Air Waves: RCA's Chris Young joins the Billion-Airs club during his Artist of the Day play at CMA Fest. Pictured (l-r) are the label's Paige Altone, Caryl Atwood and Randy Goodman, Young, CMA's Sarah Trahern, the label's Dennis Reese, AMG's Rob Beckham, the label's Alaina Vehec and Kent Earls and Country Aircheck's Lon Helton.

CMA Fest 2019: Country music fans wait out the rain, lightning across downtown Nashville

Lightning forced delays at outdoor stages in Nashville Friday morning (June 7) as CMA Fest opened its second day, but a steady rain did nothing to dampen the ardor of fans filling Nissan Stadium Thursday night. "Thank y'all for sticking around," Florida Georgia Line's Tyler Hubbard said near midnight during their closing set. Not only was the venue still mostly full, many of the faithful were shedding ponchos to embrace the rain – and the music – full bore.

THURSDAY: 

Four hours earlier, Tanya Tucker opened with help from her producer and artist Brandi Carlile during a set that featured new composition "Bring My Flowers Now" and "Delta Dawn." Kane Brown mixed material from his two RCA albums including a solo "What Ifs," "Heaven," "Good As You" and "Homesick." Midland popped up on a satellite stage to perform "Mr. Lonely." The next surprise were Chainsmokers, who joined to close Kelsea Ballerini's set with "This Feeling" after she poured on hits "Peter Pan," "Yeah Boy" and "Miss Me More."

Brothers Osborne amped up the guitar shredding for "Stay A Little Longer" and "Shoot Me Straight," then amped up the crowd with Brooks & Dunn on "Hard Workin' Man." Brothers remained onstage as B&D then welcomed Ashley McBryde for "You're Gonna Miss Me." Rascal Flatts packed in hits including "Prayin' For Daylight," "Summer Nights" and "Life Is A Highway." FGL's set was bookended by guests: Hardy on "Y'all Boys" and Morgan Wallen on "Up Down."

DAY ONE Highlights. Set Volume, Tap to play:

Best of Fest Day One
Day one of #CMAfest was a BLAST and there's still so much more to come! 😍🙌
Posted by CMA Country Music Association on Friday, 7 June 2019

FRIDAY: 

A National Anthem performance was the first of two by Lindsay Ell, who later appeared with Brantley Gilbert on “What Happens In A Small Town.”

Jo Dee Messina’s set included “Heads Carolina, Tails California;” “I’m Alright;” “Lesson in Leavin’” and “Bye Bye.”

The audience went for a “Pontoon” ride through the Little Big Town catalog, complete with tens of thousands of people singing

along enthusiastically to “Mm, motorboatin’.” “Better Man,” “Boondocks,” the cell phone-illu minated “The Daughters” (dedicated “to all the little girls out there”) and “Girl Crush” were also in the set.

“This is an absolute dream come true for Shay and I,” marvelled Dan + Shay’s Dan Smyers. Thanking fans and Country radio

throughout, the set included “Alone Together,” “All to Myself,” “From The Ground Up” and “Speechless.” The biggest sing-along

of the night came during “Tequila.”

Thomas Rhett invited the first and tallest surprise guest of the night, Jon Pardi, to duet “Beer Can’t Fix” while – what else?

– drinking beer. The CMA Fest telecast co-host rolled through “Crash and Burn,” “Look What God Gave Her,” “Life Changes”

and “Die A Happy Man.” Rhett also recalled every detail from “that mango-rita you were drinkin’” to “that Coldplay song that you

were singin’” during “Unforgettable.” Meanwhile, I can’t remember if I ever got the MMR vaccine.

Eric Church’s solo, acoustic and career-spanning 18-song medley of a set included almost all of the Eric Church songs you can think of. Maybe most of them he can think of. Carrie Underwood’s high-energy closing session also featured surprise guest Joan Jett (!) on “Bad Reputation,” “I Hate Myself For Loving You” and “I Love Rock & Roll,” among others. Afterward, Underwood

closed with “Blown Away,” “Love Wins” and my personal mantra, “Before He Cheats.” –Caitlin DeForest

The full CMA Fest 2019 concert schedule for Friday (June 7, 2019 Credit: Nashville Tennessean)

SATURDAY:

Click to ENLARGE

Weather worries didn’t stop fans from packing Saturday’s show, and they were rewarded with more surprises.

Billy Ray Cyrus returned to the stage 45 minutes after his set, joining Lil Nas X and Entertainer of the Year Keith Urban on “Old Town Road.”

Brett Young’s six-song set included chart-toppers “In Case You Didn’t Know,” “Here Tonight” and new single, “Catch.”  

Miranda Lambert was joined by fellow Pistol Annies members for “Hell On Heels” and “Sugar Daddy” before solo performances of “Kerosene” and “Mama’s Broken Heart.”

New tune “Locomotive” received its first live performance, as well.

With his trademark Solo cup in hand, Luke Combs belted out “She Got The Best Of Me,” “When It Rains It Pours” and, from his

new EP, “Lovin’ On You.” He later joined headliner Tim McGraw for a performance of “Real Good Man.”

 

The Tennessean (by Cindy Watts & Matthew Leimkuehler): CMA Fest 2019: Here's what you missed from Night 3

Billboard: CMA Fest 2019, Day 3: Backstage with Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs, Dierks Bentley & more

Dierks Bentley welcomed Tenille Towns to the stage, celebrating women in country with short covers of Trisha Yearwood’s “She’s in Love with a Boy” and Deana Carter’s “Strawberry Wine.” They also dueted on “Different For Girls” before

Dierks closed with a solo performance of “Drunk On A Plane.”

McGraw shut the night down with “Truck Yeah,” “Something Like That” and “Shotgun Rider.” An audience member caught his

eye at one point. “Ladies and gentlemen, Randy Travis is right here in the front row,” McGraw said in surprise, offering a few bars of “On The Other Hand.” “How much better can it be [to] have Randy Travis on the front row?” Maybe none better? –Addie Morton

The full CMA Fest 2019 schedule for Saturday (June 8, 2019 Credit: Nashville Tennessean)

SUNDAY: 

CMA Fest closed the same way it opened – with weather delays. Once skies cleared, Jimmie Allen kicked off

with the National Anthem before David Lee Murphy performed “Party Crowd,” “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” and “Dust On

The Bottle,” in addition to a mailbox money medley of “Big Green Tractor,” “Living In Fast Forward,” “Anywhere With You” and more.

Chris Janson intermixed his own “Fix A Drink,” “Good Vibes” and “Drunk Girl” with Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” and “Truck Yeah,” which he penned for Tim McGraw, before punctuating his set with “Buy Me A Boat.”

Trisha Yearwood then debuted her single, “Every Girl In This Town.”

Old Dominion’s set included “Snapback,” “Hotel Key” and “No Such Thing As A Broken Heart” in addition to their newest

single, “One Man Band.”

Maren Morris shared hits and fan-favorites including “I Could Use A Love Song” and “My Church” before introducing

the night’s only surprise guest, Brandi Carlile, for “Common.” Morris closed with Pop hit “The Middle.”

Keith Urban took the stage near 11pm for a 30-minute set that included “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” “Love Somebody Like You” and

“The Fighter.” He made his way through the crowd for his final number, “Wasted Time,” and told attendees, “Everything we do is

about this moment right here ... singing and having a good time and celebrating this precious life that goes by so fast.”

Keith Urban raises eyebrows, brings down the house

Billboard: 5 Unforgettable Moments from CMA Fest 2019 Night 4: Keith Urban Shines, Chris Janson Rocks & more

Luke Bryan launched with “Country Girl (Shake It For Me).” As the clock rolled past midnight, Bryan’s 10-song set included “Rain Is A Good Thing,” “Knockin’ Boots,” “What Makes You Country,” “Kick The Dust Up” and “Play It Again.” He closed with a

cover of Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer.” –Monta Vaden

The full CMA Fest 2019 schedule for Sunday (June 9, 2019 | Credit: Nashville Tennessean)

CMA Fest 2019 just ended, but preparations for the 2020 festival are already underway. Next year's performance dates have been announced as Thursday, June 4, through Sunday, June 7.

Four-day passes will go on sale Friday, Aug. 2, at CMAfest.com/tickets.

CMA Fest 2019 encountered a few challenges with the weather, but performances by Lil Nas X and Keith Urban helped to make this year's CMA Fest "truly one to remember," according to Sarah Trahern, CEO of the Country Music Association.