CMA Music Festival: Another Perspective

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

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!