The Country Music-Themed Week Keeps The CMA Party Going In Centennial Park
In the midst of CMA Music Fest, Musicians Corner continues to thrive. Another beautiful day in Centennial Park led to another packed house (lawn) as Carter’s Chord, Lighter Ray, The Henningsens and Bo Bice graced the stage. To compliment our country line up was Ryan Griffin, Brinley Addington, and Channing Wilson on the Lightning 100 Acoustic Stage.
Carter’s Chord are Musicians Corner favorites, having played last year and also at the Music City Unsigned Tin Pan South show. The three sisters never cease to amaze, especially throwing in their World Vision-inspired Love A Little Bigger.
Following Ryan Griffin on the Acoustic Stage was the hot new country duo Lighter Ray. The sisters Lauren Leiter and Chynna Rae (see how they came up with the name?) are full of spunk and energy with dynamic songs and beautiful harmonies.
After Brinley Addington serenaded the crowd on the Acoustic Stage, complete with a summer time anthem about boats, it was time for The Henningsens. This family trio from Illinois has had recent success with cuts by The Band Perry (You Lie, All Your Life), and has recently been recording with producer and Musicians Corner friend Paul Worley. Debuting a couple new songs, they kept the good-spirited crowd singing and clapping along.
Channing Wilson was the final Acoustic Stage act with a Jamie Johnson vibe and gritty southern country swag. He made way for the headliner of the day, Bo Bice. Bo was runner up in season four of American Idol to none other than Carrie Underwood, and he still has the fan base to prove it. Directly in front of the stage is usually reserved for casual dancers, wandering children and Rico, but for Bo, a crowd gathered up close to get a photo op. Showing just why he deserved to be in the Idol finale, Bo performed with all his energy, even covering (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction and Sweet Home Alabama.
This week is a very special Musicians Corner partnering with the American Artisan Festival for a THREE DAY EVENT! That’s right; three days of Musicians Corner: Friday 4-7, and Saturday and Sunday 2-6, all in Centennial Park. Get the complete schedule here: http://musicianscornernashville.com/#/calendar.
Musicians Corner is a non-profit program of The Conservancy for the Parthenon & Centennial Park. The spring season of runs every Saturday through June, and features great artists, special guests and fun activities. For additional information and the entire spring schedule please visit www.musicianscornernashville.com.
Well, another CMA Music Festival has come and gone! Can’t believe the week flew by so fast, but it was a fun one and actually not as hot as it usually is, too. Very thankful for that, let me tell you!
Started off the week of CMA Music Festival with the annual CAA (Creative Artists Agency) BBQ in their brand new, beautiful offices located in the penthouse of the Suntrust building next to the historic Ryman Auditorium. Had the chance to stop by for a little while for some great food, drinks, and enjoyed running into friends while out there. Mixed in with the crowd were Kip Moore, Jesse Lee, Jennifer Wayne of Stealing Angels, Jana Kramer, Hot Chelle Rae, Chase Rice, and sure many more I didn’t see. It was crowded! Thanks to CAA for the invitation to join them and see their new offices!
Thursday
First thing this morning, headed over to Tin Roof on Music Row for the A.M. Jam by our friends at Black River Entertainment! Craig Morgan started out introducing the first artist, Glenn Templeton, followed by Sarah Darling, and long-time friends, Due West. Each gave a short acoustic performance. Great performances by all!
Julie Roberts performing
Next, headed out to the festival to see Julie Roberts perform on the Bud Light Stage in front of Bridgestone Arena. Loved seeing Julie “do her thing” on the stage in front of hundreds of fans. Love the traditional sound that she is known for!
Then, we were off to the “You’ve Been Sentenced” celebrity/charity event at Hard Rock, which featured celebrities like: Buddy Jewell, Julie Roberts, Jeff Bates, LoCash Cowboys, Keith Burns, and many more. I still have NO IDEA how to play that game, what the rules were, not a CLUE! It was a card game and formed sentences. Nope, not a clue what was going on, but everyone seemed to be having a good time! If anyone wants to explain it to me, maybe I will understand now! Ok, probably not…
Heidi Newfield
Caught Neal McCoy’s show at Riverfront stage. That guy is always full of energy, entertaining, and even climbed up the side of the stage to the very top. Fun show!
From there, I headed over to Jana Kramer’s CD release party at aVenue off of 3rd ave. She did an acoustic set of most of the songs from her album. Jana’a always entertaining and charming on stage. Many One Tree Hill fans were present, that was obvious! The place was packed and Jana gave a great performance. She’s another one of our favorites on here, if you couldn’t tell! Be sure to look for her album in stores and you can buy it right now on iTunes, too, if you don’t want to wait! You won’t regret it, it’s a great album
Then, I caught Miss Willie Brown at the Bud Light stage. They were ok. Not really that crazy about their music, but they were energetic on the stage and others seemed to enjoy them.
Friday
This was my favorite day out of all of them because it featured performances by a some of my favorites: THE FARM, Jesse Lee, and Gloriana.
Gloriana performing on Riverfront stage
Caught Gloriana at the Riverfront stage. Loved seeing their full set and their harmonies were flawless, as usual. Great to hear that their new single that was recently featured on The Bachelorette is doing so well for them on the charts. Highest ranking single of their career and almost top 10 right now.
Then, headed over to the Hard Rock to catch another friend, David Bradley, on the acoustic stage. David’s always charming with his British charm and never disappoints with his performances.
Went over to the convention center for a bit to see what was going on over there with the artists signing before heading back over to the Hard Rock to catch another friend and favorite, Jesse Lee, do an acoustic performance. It was short, but sweet! LOVE Jesse who is always fun to watch perform! She’s got lots of personality and the vocals to match. I just want to be able to catch her doing a full band show one of these days soon. I’m sure it’s amazing!
Ended the day with THE FARM. I loved seeing THE FARM do a full set on the Riverfront stage, which is where I mainly stayed during the festival. If you haven’t heard or seen them, check them out if they pass through your town and you can also hear their single “Home Sweet Home” on the country charts right now. It’s broken into the top 20 and still climbing! LOVE these guys! Good people and incredibly talented! Their show is high energy, too, with Damien even doing a backflip on the stage. Loved the whole thing and these guys are going to continue to WOW audiences as people get a chance to see them this summer touring, I’m sure of it!
Krista from THE FARM
Highlight of the day: Seeing THE FARM and Jesse Lee perform!
Saturday
Started out the morning at the Riverfront stage seeing Love and Theft followed by Kip Moore. Enjoyed both of these shows.
Love and Theft are always good to see, plus enjoy their music. Stephen is always entertaining to watch and shows a lot of personality. Just a really fun guy! Eric? Not so much. He always manages to look bored on the stage and like he’d rather be anywhere but there at the moment. Like their music, but would like to see them both be equally as entertaining.
Then, they were followed by Kip Moore. He seems very at ease on the stage and was fun to watch. Love his music and glad that he’s now experiencing some success with his chart-topping single. Hope it continues for him!
Spotted in the front row of the crowd were a whole bunch of girls dressed in red sundresses hoping to capture the attention of Kip. Watched his video a few too many times, I guess!
Wandered off out into the festival a little and then back to see Casey James for the first time. First off, best hair out there and such a cutie! Glad to get THAT off my chest. He was highly entertaining and great musicianship!
Following Casey was Heidi Newfield on the Riverfront. Loved her performance! She’s always high energy! I was afraid she was going to have a wardrobe malfunction in that peacock dress, though! I don’t imagine the guys would have minded that so much! She had on a peacock dress with fishnets. High octane attire for a high octane show, I guess! lol
Finished up the day at the convention center.
Sunday
Started out Sunday at the TJ Martell Ride for a Cure event. It started off with breakfast at Mickey Roo’s in Franklin. I was thinking was going to be able to get some interviews like last year, but with the actual ride being cancelled due to the rain, things were thrown off a bit for everyone. Couldn’t be helped and no one’s fault, just bad weather throwing things off for everyone and making the best of it. The pre-jam was going on in there and I got to LISTEN to an interview by Good Morning America just too busy in there to conduct any myself. So, for me, it was kind of a let down, but the breakfast was nice and it was fun running into Lauren Alaina, Dean Alexander, and Little Big Town out there. I just opted out of the concert since it was raining and would be out in the mud. Just wasn’t quite up for that. I am glad to hear that the event was still a success for the charity raising over $55,000!
Photo credit: Randi Radcliiff/Little Big Town and Lauren Alaina
Back to the Riverfront stage at CMA Music Festival I went (See? I said I spent most of the week there!) and saw Sunny Sweeney do her thing! I just love her Texas attitude and her whole Texas sound. She’s a lot of fun on the stage and just shows a lot of sass!
Then, off to see Jason Michael Carroll perform at the Bud Light Bridgestone stage. I had a hard time keeping up with him on stage with my camera because he moves so much! Love his voice and he puts on a great show!
Followed by Mandy Barnett at the same stage. Mandy’s both an incredible vocalist and a class act all around. Very gracious and down-to-Earth.
Kip Moore
Then I was off to see Jana Kramer perform a full band show at the Riverfront stage. Jana’s both sassy and classy! Such a sweet person and dynamic performer. Only wish great things for her!
Well, that is a wrap for me! I ended up letting Courtney, who you’ll be hearing from on here, use my nightly LP stadium passes. She got some great shots and since she was gracious enough to help us out for the week, thought she’d enjoy them. Me? I was WORN after those long, hot days! So, you’ll be hearing more about those nightly shows and seeing some great shots soon! Plus, I’ll be putting together a little video of highlights from the week for you all to enjoy and post more pictures. Now, I guess I’m still recovering from all the fun of CMA Music Festival! WHEW!
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In the midst of CMA Music Fest, Musicians Corner continues to thrive. Another beautiful day in Centennial Park led to another packed house (lawn) as Carter’s Chord, Lighter Ray, The Henningsens and Bo Bice graced the stage. To compliment our country line up was Ryan Griffin, Brinley Addington, and Channing Wilson on the Lightning 100 Acoustic Stage.
