CMT announces a weeklong salute to America with “Red, White and Blue Week” – a variety of popular and patriotic programming surrounding Independence Day. The week will feature movie and TV series marathons of all-time American favorites; a one-hour special featuring country stars and military families in “CMT Hometown Heroes;” and “CMT Let Freedom Sing!” – a live broadcast from downtown Nashville, featuring a concert by country artist Brett Eldredge. The concert will be immediately followed by a commercial-free presentation of one of the largest fireworks displays in the country, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp’s (NCVC) live Fourth of July fireworks display, accompanied by the Nashville Symphony. “CMT Let Freedom Sing!” is hosted by CMT’s Cody Alan.
Original programming kicks off on Wednesday, July 3 at 10 pm ET/9 pm CT with “CMT Hometown Heroes”- a one-hour, three-part special featuring heartwarming stories honoring military families. The special begins with the story of an Army Master Sergeant who was injured while serving, and has returned home to his family in Adairsville, Georgia. Faced with a home needing extensive repairs, Operation Homefront, with support of The Home Depot Foundation and ACM award winner Chris Janson, treat the family to a home-makeover and a special acoustic performance of Janson’s unreleased song, “Everybody’s Going Through Something.”
Next, Operation Homefront visits Nashville to join the Nashville Predators Foundation as they host a Star-Spangled baby shower for nearby expectant military wives. ACM New Female Vocalist Nominee RaeLynn, who is also a military wife, surprises the moms-to-be with a heartfelt performance of “Camo,” her poignant penned song that speaks to the often difficult and lonely time spent apart from loved ones while they serve our country.
Rounding out “CMT Hometown Heroes” is the story of Jaxson Jordan, a young 13-year old in Jacksonville, N.C. who, despite his health challenges, spends most of his free time helping his community. In recognition of his service, Jaxson was selected as Operation Homefront’s 2019 Military Child of the Year® for the Marine Corps. As the teen prepares to travel to Washington, D.C. for the awards ceremony, he and his siblings receive a surprise visit from their dad, Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeant Christopher Jordan, who returns home from deployment just in time to join the family on their trip. Impressed by Jaxson’s dedication to service, country rocker, Brantley Gilbert, makes an unannounced visit to Jaxson’s hometown to perform for military families in the community and gives the family the opportunity of a lifetime.
“Red, White and Blue Week” continues with the exclusive 90-minute special, “CMT Let Freedom Sing!” on Wednesday, July 4 at 10 pm ET/9 pm CT. Fans are treated to a front row seat to one of the biggest Independence Day celebrations in the country, and a concert by hit-maker Brett Eldredge. Eldredge, who recently celebrated his seventh #1 single, kicks off the live event with a one-hour musical set, which is followed by a half-hour, commercial free presentation of the NCVC’s Fourth of July fireworks presentation. The entire 90-minute program will encore immediately following the premiere telecast.
“Let Freedom Sing!”is produced by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp for the city of Nashville. This is the 15th annual celebration produced by the NCVC and the 35th in the city. For more information on this fireworks spectacular, visit https://www.visitmusiccity.com/media/press-release/2019/july4th-funfacts.
Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th presented by Dr Pepper featured a stage located on Broadway in the heart of downtown Nashville amongst the historic honky tonks with GRAMMY-winning trio Lady Antebellum headlining, one of the largest fireworks shows in the country, and the Wyler’s Light® Family Fun Zone that started at noon located in the beautiful Music City Walk of Fame Park just a short walking distance from the main stage.
Wyler’s Light booth at the Family Fun Zone during the day.
Nashville’s July 4th event is free and family-friendly, showcasing the music of the GRAMMY-winning Nashville Symphony synchronized to the pyrotechnics show at the conclusion of the day like the cherry on top of a perfect day celebrating our country and freedom.
Also on the lineup for the nighttime concert were newly inducted Grand Ole Opry member Chris Janson, whose hits include “Buy Me a Boat” and “Fix a Drink;” pop artist Lucie Silvas; and R&B producer, musician and artist Shannon Sanders. New this year, live music started at noon on the the main stage located on Broadway & 5th Avenue in front of the Bridgestone Arena featuring performances by Andrew Combs, Jason Eskridge, Katie Schecter and Kid Politics.
Mayor Briley welcomed the crowd along with the mascots from the Titans and Predators making a special announcement that the Predators new title sponsor is Dr. Pepper. I believe that would also mean the arena will be known as Dr. Pepper Arena now.
Shannon Sanders, a GRAMMY, Emmy and Dove award-winning producer who’s worked with artists like John Legend, India Arie, Jonny Lang, Robert Randolph and P!nk sang an incredible rendition of the National Anthem followed by a stellar performance of his original music.
As long as I have lived in Nashville, I can’t believe I have never attended our city’s 4th of July celebration in downtown Nashville. To be honest, I always try to avoid heat and huge crowds whenever I can, opting to watch the fireworks from the comfort of my air-conditioned home on my comfy couch each year. This year, I thought I would give it a try; after all, my favorite, Lady Antebellum, was headlining the day long concert.
Earlier in the day, we had an opportunity to talk with British pop artist Lucie Silvas, who is now a resident of Music City and married to Brothers Osborne’s John Osborne.
Lucie is an absolute doll with a powerhouse voice, and a great addition to our city. Thoroughly-enjoyed having a chance to meet and speak with her prior to her performance. Probably could have talked all day. She was so excited and honored to be invited to perform this year on the main stage. Although, she currently only holds a green card, she loves Nashville and our country hoping to become a citizen at some point and have dual citizenship from her home country, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Look for her new album due out August 24th entitled, “E.G.O.”. “It has been a while in the making” according to Silvas due to it’s been 3 years since her last album. It was a real challenge this time around because of being an independent artist without a record label to finance the album she wanted to make, but due to her being asked last year to go on tour with Chris Stapleton, she was able to finish her new album.
She is a dynamic performer and equally-talented songwriter who has enjoyed great success for several years in Europe and now bringing her music to the U.S. immersing herself into our wonderful creative community here in Nashville. “I move very quickly, and I try to be as present as possible” stated Silvas. She moved at a time in her career that “it took her years later to really realize how big the move was” because she had worked for years in the U.K. doing all sorts of things within the music world and had 2 record deals, but when she moved here, it’s like she had to start all over again establishing herself to the American audience after achieving a certain level of success in the U.K. and Europe.
Lucie Silvas is certainly a welcome addition to the already large talent pool of creatives here and carving out her own niche within it each passing day. Wishing her the best!
Country artist Chris Janson entertained the appreciative crowd with his high energy performance. He definitely earns the nickname “the human hummingbird” as co-host Storme Warren from SiriusXM’s The Highway likes to call him. I especially loved his performance of his newest single at country radio, “Drunk Girl”, a poignant song that he wrote with his sons in mind instructing them how to be a man and not a boy in how you treat a woman. You don’t take advantage of a drunk girl if you are a man. You “take a drunk girl home, let her sleep all alone”. Thank you for writing this one, Chris. It is an important message, especially in light of the #MeToo movement. Chris has always impressed me, not only because of his music, but because he is one of the most humble men I have ever met. He really appreciates every accolade he receives and is very deserving. This newest song, in my opinion will be his biggest hit to date and really define him as an artist for many years to come. He truly loves what he does and it shows in his live performance. He literally lights up the stage with his light that shines from within.
Lady Antebellum closed out the show with an hour long performance. I have to admit, they are one of my favorite groups and have been since they first start. Together they create magic. This was their first performance after several months off the road due to Hillary Scott having twins. Now they are prepared to head back on the road and couldn’t be happier. They sound just as great as ever and never cease to entertain with they incredible harmonies as they sing hit after hit from their large catalog of hits to chose from. Aside from their incredible music, these 3 are also some of the most humble and kindest people around. They are very special and I hope they will be around performing for many years to come.
According to Butch Spyridon, president and CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp: Event organizers and our security team estimate attendance at Let Freedom Sing! at 250,000 within a half-mile radius of the fireworks site. This would make the 2018 event the second-largest in the event’s history, behind the 284,000 in 2014.
WSMV’s Kelly Sutton co-hosted the day long event from Ascend Amphitheatre with our award-winning Nashville Symphony and spectacular fireworks show at the conclusion of the day.
Nashville’s 4th of July celebration gets bigger & better with each passing year. The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. truly outdo themselves year after year making Nashville one of the, if not THE, top places in the country to celebrate our great nation on Independence Day. All for free, and the whole event is spectacular.
Prepare to be hot and for a huge crowd. Nashville is hot & humid in the summer (it was sunny & a sweltering 98 degrees that day). As the day progressed the crowd size grew to over 250,000 people all within a 1/2 mile radius of the fireworks display over the Cumberland River, John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Street Bridge, and Ascend Amphitheatre. But, it is well worth enduring the high temperature, huge crowd, and traffic to enjoy a wonderful day filled with music, family-friendly fun, and an amazing fireworks show. I hope to do it all again next year!
Nashville: One of the Best Places to Visit in 2018 – Condé Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveller, Booking.com, Travelocity, HuffPost UK, The Telegraph, and TripAdvisor
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