Nashville: Embracing Country Music
Nashville: Embracing Country Music
The CMA Music Festival, hosted by the Country Music Association (CMA), encompasses four days of country music concerts, as well as musician and fan interactions. Despite its emphasis on country music and country music artists, the festival also showcases selected artists in other musical genres. In 2007, rock ‘n’ roll revivalists Los Lonely Boys and ‘70s heavy rock legends Lynyrd Skynyrd made appearances.
Over 200 artists attend the event each year to hold up to 30 hours of autograph sessions and “meet-and-greet” sessions with their fans at the Nashville Convention Center. Many artist fan clubs also hold gatherings in the area during the festival. The festival usually begins the day after the Tnn/CMT Country Music Award show, the only fan-voted country music awards. During the festival, attendees can choose from the 100 hours of concerts that are offered on stages at Riverfront Park and LP Field.
Up until 2001, the evening concerts were organized by record labels, with each label choosing which of their artists would be able to perform, and for how long. However, beginning with Fan Fair 2001, these main concerts were grouped instead by record distribution group. This allowed for four main concerts, for Sony, WEA/EMI, UNI, and BMG.
Artists are held to very strict timeframes for their performances, with Martina McBride noting in 2007 that she was expected to be on stage for exactly 34 minutes. The artists are not paid to attend the festival or for their performances during the festival.
Half of the proceeds from the festival each year (estimated at US0,000 in 2001) are donated to charity, while the other half is earmarked by the CMA for “the advancement of country music”.
The inaugural Fan Fair was held in April 1972 in Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium, and 5000 fans attended. The following year, the event was moved to June in the hope of finding better weather conditions, and attendance doubled to 10000 fans. In the third year, the first non-country musician, Paul McCartney, was invited to perform, and Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner performed a duet for the last time.
In 1991, singer Kathy Mattea attended Fan Fair despite being under doctor’s orders not to speak so that her injured vocal cords could heal. She used a computer to type messages for her fans to read as she held “conversations” with them. Two years later, Shania Twain met her future husband, producer Mutt Lange, at the festival.
Fan Fair underwent large changes in 2001. For the first time, the event was held over a long weekend instead of during the week. At the same time, the festival moved from its long-time home at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds to several sites clustered in downtown Nashville. In 2004, CMA renamed the festival the CMA Music Festival in order to change negative perceptions, embrace the CMA brand and to expand the appeal of the event.
In 2008, the CMA Music Festival will take place from the 5th to the 8th of June, and tickets are available now. Hotels in Nashville are expected to get booked up quickly, so if you’re keen to get you dose of country, make sure you book ahead.
Andrew Regan is an online, freelance author from Scotland. He is a keen rugby player and enjoys travelling.
Categories: Concert Nashville Tags: Country, Embracing, Music, Nashville
Country Throwdown Tickets – Country Music’s Touring Festival
Country Throwdown Tickets – Country Music’s Touring Festival
For 23 dates this year, country music is taking on a whole new role in North America as Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town and Jack Ingram take on Southern, Midwestern and West Coast states during their Country Throwdown Tour. Recently confirming the final dates for May and June, the groups headlining this traveling country music festival are sure to get tons of promotion in the coming months as they roll out the main stage.
In addition to the four headlining money makers, the Lost Trailers, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, the Eli Young Band, Eric Church, Heidi Newfield, Jonathan Singleton & the Grove and Emily West will all add to the traveling festival effect, performing on the smaller side stages. Meanwhile, http://www.stubhub.com customers can get ready for the action, as <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/country-throwdown-tickets/”>Country Throwdown tickets</a> are now available.
For many, this traveling music festival is an opportunity of a lifetime. The Eli Young Band, still relatively new to the country music scene, couldn’t be more excited about jetting out on the road with veteran performers like Montgomery Gentry. “Being part of this tour is a very exciting prospect for us,” Mike Eli of the Eli Young Band said in a press release. “It brings together a group of similar-minded artists. And the organizers have done some impressive things with other tours in the past, and from what we’ve seen, we’re excited about what they’re going to do with country music!”
In partnership with Bluebird Café, the Nashville-based music venue that has been recognized for starting the careers of Garth Brooks, Faith Hill, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban and others, performers have been opening up their vocals chords at the concert hall. Everyone is getting ready for the spring jaunt (Troy Olsen has schedule dates confirmed for the summer, as reported by Country Throwdown’s website). In addition, all of the performers have been welcoming the new commercial support system that the festival brings, as each act has its own set of tunes to promote.
Headlining the event, however, is classic country duo Montgomery Gentry, comprised of Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry. Montgomery Gentry first formed in 1999 and is currently promoting the duo’s seventh studio set. Though For Our Heroes, released in 2009, was a Cracker Barrel exclusive, the album broke all record sales as the best selling opening day release for the national company and helped the philanthropic event it was tied to – the Wounded Warrior Project. The 12-track set features the latest single “Something to Be Proud Of,” which debuted at the top of Billboard’s Country Singles chart.
Their tunes have stuck to the chords of country music fans from way back, without all the pop and mainstream exposure that today’s newer country acts are aspiring toward, and Montgomery Gentry keeps things plain and simple. “We’ve never sold out to anybody,” Montgomery said on the band’s website. “What you see with us is what you get.” As Country Throwdown’s headliners are set in their classic country, don’t expect too much glitz and glamour that has appeared with more recent country tunes, but rather the true country hymns longtime fans have come to expect with Montgomery Gentry and others.
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Mike Eli, of the Eli Young Band performing his acoustic series at the Jolly Fox on Wednesday, April 22, 2009. For more exclusive concert footage, please subscribe to thejollyfoxtv on youtube. Also to purchase concert tickets or more info about the Jolly Fox, log on to www.jollyfoxclub.com the premier Texas Country Music stage.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Randy Travis Tickets – Finding Commercial Success With Country Starlet
Randy Travis Tickets – Finding Commercial Success With Country Starlet
Though Randy Travis hasn’t really ever stopped recording, he’s gained more notoriety recently thanks to a little collaboration with country star Carrie Underwood. The two recorded Travis’ “I Told You So” last year and have been receiving accolades ever since – at this year’s Grammy Awards ceremonies the two picked up Best Country Collaboration, and are nominated for the 45th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards Vocal Event of the Year.
Travis wasn’t able to attend the Grammy Awards ceremonies in Los Angeles due to the weather, adding on his website, “This is the first time I was not able to be on hand to accept a Grammy. If it wasn’t for the weather I would have thanked all the people who voted for us. A BIG thank you to Carrie for asking me to be part of this recording. She is an amazing talent and I am honored to win this with her.” If you don’t want to miss this award-winning single as well as Travis’ other Grammy wins, get <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/randy-travis-tickets/”>Randy Travis tickets</a> today, only from http://www.stubhub.com.
Apart from seeing promotion in his 1988 hit “I Told You So,” which was covered by Carrie Underwood for her 2007 album Carnival Ride and re-recorded in February 2009, Travis has been touring in support of 2008′s Around the Bend. The album saw promotions in early March and will continue through early June, as Travis hits up North American cities like Indianapolis, Tacoma, Lancaster, Fort Worth, Winnipeg and more.
Around the Bend was his first non-secular album in a decade, as the North Carolinian took to Christian music during the first part of the ’90s, a division that had always remained true to the heart. As part of Travis’ legendary status, he seamlessly travels through all types of genres – from country to rock and Christian – easily transitioning with his musical prowess. The July release from Warner Bros. was a true country album, featuring classic covers (including Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”), ballads and honky-tonk.
It isn’t surprising that Travis returned to his country roots, as country boots and belt buckles had been ingrained in his system since youth. His father pushed the industry on Randy and his five siblings from an early age, forming the group the Traywick Brothers (Travis was born Randy Bruce Traywick) early on. Eventually Travis took with his brother Ricky, though after dropping out of school at just 13, for a while his life took a dark turn. He ultimately headed to Nashville, where he started performing regularly and found a manager and record deal.
He signed with Warner Bros. in 1985 and changed his name from Randy Ray, his previous stage name, to release Rustler’s Rhapsody soundtrack’s single “Prairie Rose.” It wasn’t long before Travis’ true country blood emerged on the mainstream market, allowing him to nationally tour. By the end of the decade he had a total of 13 million records sold. He has continued to remain in the spotlight with his awards, chart-topping hits and a handful of albums, making the work with Underwood just one more commercial moment of many.
This article is sponsored by StubHub.com and was written by Meaghan Clark. StubHub.com is a leader in the business of selling <a rel=”nofollow” onclick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=”http://www.stubhub.com/randy-travis-tickets/”>Randy Travis tickets</a>, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and special events tickets.
Legacy Music performing artist Krystal Lupo set to open for Randy Travis Sunday, July 15th at Castine Center in Mandeville, La. Tickets available through www.cornerstonecares.com or www.ticketweb.com or by calling (866) 468-7630.
Video Rating: 3 / 5
Categories: Randy Travis Concert Ticket Tags: Commercial, Country, Finding, Randy, Starlet, Success, Tickets, tot, Travis
