Daily Coverage and Photos by CSO
Contributing Journalists Christy Cowan-Baker, Helen Peterson and
Leah Anderson
CMA Fest/Fan Fair a Look Back
2006
By Helen Peterson, Staff Journalist/Photographer
This is always one of
my favorite, and easiest to write, CMA Fest/Fan Fair
features. We are so busy each day while we are in Nashville
so it isn’t until we get home that we really get a chance to
unwind, reflect, and share our stories with family and friends and
boy oh boy do we have stories to share this year. It is difficult to
relate in just a few words what touched us the most, made us laugh
the hardest and caused us to do a double take; but I’ll try.
We had a ball sitting in a club on Broadway
and eavesdropping on the interaction of the patrons and passers by.
We also had a lot of fun with our impromptu selection process of the
person we felt committed the most obvious fashion faux pas. And
attending the Joe Nichols fan club party, once again, gave us
a chance to witness his off-the-wall antics and quick wit. After
all, he sang a duet with his long time friend and guitar player Brian
Spradlin. Nothing unusual about that, right? How about the fact
that it was a cover of the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill hit "It’s
Your Love"? Take it from us, Nichols is not just another
pretty face; the guy is a hoot and a half! He also happens to be one
of our favorite baritones.
The humorous moments
also included witnessing a tour bus being towed away from Daniel
Lee Martin’s fan club party (see "Day Two" coverage
below), getting caught in the infamous round-about on Music Row,
not knowing which street we should exit on, and laughing along with Rockie
Lynne at the excitement he displayed during our interview. And
now that we have returned to cooler country, we can also laugh about
the sweat running down our backs as we, not always willingly, basked
in the sun and heat of Nashville. The blisters on my feet aren’t
funny yet… but once they have healed, I am sure I can even make
that into a funny story.
Another favorite thing about this event is the
chance to catch up with the artists we have adopted and supported
over the years. Our list gets longer each year. It started with our
discovery of Joe Nichols whose current hit "Size Matters"
is steadily moving up the charts. We knew in 1997 that
Nichols was going to be a superstar (and we loudly and fearlessly
predicted that correctly). Then we discovered the always charming
Daniel Lee Martin who continues to make his way as an independent
artist. In recent years we added the dynamic Chris Young, who
went on to win the 2006Nashville Star,and looked right at home on the Opry
stage on Day five. There are the five extraordinary musician/singers
of Cowboy Crush who are taking on Europe this summer, and the
incredibly beautiful and talented Kelly Lang who is not only
a great singer but has been busy writing a number of songs with the
incomparable Lorrie Morgan for her next CD that will be
released this fall. This year, we are adding Rockie Lynne to
our list of people we predict will achieve great success. We realize
that we are cheating a bit on that one because Lynne is well on his
way already with his recently released debut album from Universal
South; but we’re adding him to list of personally selected
superstars anyway.
It is always a great week and I can never say
enough about what a fantastic job the CMA does providing a
number of options for everyone in attendance. The variety is
incredible, the shows are out of this world, but for me it is, and
always has been, the memories. The memories I can’t get anywhere
except in Nashville during the first week in June each year. No
where else can you see so many remarkably talented artists in one place
and this unique event is an affirmation that country music artists
really do appreciate their fans.
So, once again, I want to encourage each of you
to take the opportunity to attend the CMA Music Festival. Don’t
miss the opportunity to gather up your own funny stories, create
your own unique memories and discover your own next big superstar.
If you attended the 2006 CMA Fest, send your
stories and pictures into CountryStarsOnline.com so we can share
them with our readers and if you go next year; look for us, we’ll
be there... making new memories, filling up new scrapbooks and
sharing the best of everything with you.
Day 5
Saturday: the last day we will
be covering the CMA Music Festival. Despite the intense
heat and the hard earned blisters on our feet, we are still having
a blast. Our plan for the day was to relax on the banks of the
Cumberland River and enjoy the artists performing on the River
Front Stage. The first show, called the Country Jamboree
Show began our day at 10am. Andy Griggs was the first
artist to take the stage and he was followed by a stellar lineup
that included Katrina Elam, Daryl Dodd, Ty
Herndon, Rodney Atkins and Pam Tillis. We had an
interview scheduled with Herndon after his part in the show. We
always enjoy catching up with him and this year he had a lot of
good news and was eager to tell us all about the new album.
The second show that ran from
noon until 2pm was an eclectic array comprised of talent that
spanned decades; the always delightful Mel Tillis, Jessi
Alexander, Jon Randall, Erika Jo, Brian
McComas and John Corbett. McComas is another artist who
was able to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule to sit
down and talk to us. His interview and Herndon’s will be up on
CSO in the next few days.
After almost four hours in the
sun, we decided a break was well deserved and what better way to
relax than to go shopping. Since we had planned to enjoy the show
at the Grand Ole Opry, we decided it was logical to check
out the stores at the Opry Mills Mall, located next door to
the Opry. We weren’t the only ones enjoying the air
conditioning. It was great. We were able to sit down, relax and
take part in one of our favorite past times; people watching. Oh
yes, and we eavesdropped on a number of interesting conversations
about the weeks events; it’s not like we really tried, people
just talk so loud that you can’t help but hear what they’re
saying.
We ended our day in first class
style with the second show at the Grand Ole Opry. What a great
lineup at this historical and magical venue. The part of the show
that we saw included, among others, the legendary Little Jimmie
Dickens, the always colorful Porter Wagner, the
electrifying Montgomery Gentry, the incomparable Dr.
Ralph Stanley and ended with the artist who has captured the
heart of the entire continent, Chris Young. We cannot tell
a lie. They were all wonderful but, this year, Chris Young was the
reason we stayed the extra day to include the Opry in our
schedule. We’ve been saying for over two years that he was born
to be on the Opry stage and last night, he proved it.
Before the applause even died
down, we were headed for the parking lot and home. It has been a
jam packed week, truly an exhausting week but as always, an
experience beyond compare. During our fourteen hour drive home, we
reflected on the 2006 CMA Music Festival. As always,
we felt we had seen so much but there was also so much we just
didn’t have time to see. There really are so many things to do
and so many things happening simultaneously. The CMA does a
fantastic job of providing a lot of variety. The only complaint
anyone could legitimately make about the festival is that there
are simply never enough hours in a day.
We still have interviews, photos
and special features that we will be turning in all this next
week. If you saw us at the Fest and just want say “hey”, you
have something you want to add to what we’ve written about, or
you have something you feel deserves a mention and we didn’t
mention it; send it along to the RPR (Real People Review)
Editor. Photos too; if you have a great shot of you with your
favorite artist, send it to the Brush with Fame Editor. We
really do care what you think. Our number one priority is to give
country music fans the features and photos they want.
It has been a hectic, but
exciting, week. Before we call it a day, we have just one thing
left to say; our hats off to the artists, their publicists and
their management teams for providing us with the interview
opportunities and to Jim Weaver (producer/webmaster) and Cheryl
Hill (acting editor) at Country Stars Online who worked hard to
get our daily wrap up online and of course to the CMA for giving
us the opportunity to enjoy the best country music festival in the
US.
Day Four:
Before
the stars had faded from the night before we were up and getting
ready to attend the early morning fan club party for our favorite,
and now the nation’s favorite; the 2006 Nashville Star, Chris
Young. Young’s party was held at the Global Café in
downtown Nashville. When we arrived, he was busy signing autographs
with each fan club member in attendance. While waiting for everyone
to get through the line, the crowd was serenaded by a very special
guest, Young’s grandfather, who family members credit for
inspiring Young with his own love of music and his singing ability.
Young had to watch the clock due to his scheduled
appearance on the River Front Stage and so did we since we
haddecided to spend a little time catching some of the acts
appearing there this morning. One of the first artists to take the
stage was Neal McCoy singing some of his new songs and a few
crowd favorites. McCoy has always been a crowd pleaser and it was
obvious he had every intention of continuing that tradition. The
group of people who normally just sit on the banks of the Cumberland
River enjoying the show were on their feet dancing to McCoy’s
music. After McCoy, Carolina Rain took the stage and sang
songs from their new album, followed by Chris Young on the
center stage. The fans were definitely enjoying Young’s music, and
many had signs to hold up that they had made earlier at the fan club
party. Danielle Peck followed Chris but we weren’t able to
stay as we had other appointments to keep; however, we enjoyed what
we did hear and the audience gave her a warm reception. We will
confess that we were momentarily sidetracked at the Fun Zone.
That is a hard area to pass up.
The Wild Horse Saloon was our choice to
cool off from the hot Nashville sun. While eating our lunch, we
enjoyed watching a group getting line dance lessons. Once again,
another unexpected surprise that makes this vacation so much fun.
Our advice to everyone is to enjoy everything and every minute
during this festival. You can uncover so many treasures without even
searching.
As soon as we could tear ourselves away from
watching the line dancing, we took a nice walk to the Convention
Center to see who might be hanging out today. Artists that we
saw signing autographs while we were there included, Trace Adkins,
Leann Rimes, Cowboy Crush, Mark Wills, Rhett Akins,
Ty England, and the Nashville Stars Finalists Casey Rivers,
Matt Mason and Nicole Jamrose.
From there, we went downtown to Legends, a
club on Broadway. It is always entertaining to watch the crowd and
to take in the live music. As we walked back to the car, we saw Josh
Gracin, 2004 American Idol finalist, entering the famous Ryman
Auditorium. We were off to The Longhorn steakhouse for
supper. We recommend this to anyone who has not experienced it –
we are talking about the best steak in town! The Longhorn is also
known for many artist sightings, and the signed items on the walls
inside from previous famous diners.
We are headed back downtown to enjoy the scene.
Tomorrow we will be returning to the River Front Stage, the
Convention Center and capping the day and our trip with the show at
the Grand Ole Opry. This Opry will be a special one for a lot
folks; including us. We met Chris Young at the CMA Fest a couple of
years ago and our entire staff has been predicting big things for
him ever since. Tomorrow night he makes his Opry debut and the
timing is perfect since he celebrates his birthday this week. Talk
about an extra special birthday; this is certain to be one of his
and we’re pleased that we’ll be there to witness such a
memorable occasion.
Day Three:
Well,
it is now Thursday, we think. The only thing we know for certain at
this point in time is that we have now officially hit our annual Fan
Fair Fried status because we have lost track of which day of the
week it is, had to look at our room key to remember where we were,
had to ask someone else on our crew if we’ve eaten yet today and
even they can’t recall if it was lunch or dinner. Yep –
certifiable Fan Fair Fried; this is a phrase we coined about a
decade ago and it has become our official paean to this event. Yes,
yes, we know, to be politically correct it should now be CMA Music
Festival Fried, but you have to admit, that just doesn’t have the
same ring to it and just try saying that three times fast!
Today we took a deep
breath and started at the Wrangler Exhibit Hall (other wise
known as the Convention Center). The long line of fans lined up
outside the building was misleading; since there were already many,
many people inside meandering through the air conditioned building.
This has always been one of our favorite facets of this unique
festival. If you have never been to the CMA Fest, you might
not understand the draw to the Wrangler Exhibit Hall. It is one of
the things that sets this event apart from any other country music
festival anywhere in the world and it gives the fans the rare
opportunity to actually meet and be photographed with the artists.
The Exhibit Hall
contains row after row after row of uniquely decorated booths. Most
of the booths have a theme reflecting the music or passions of an
individual artist while others, such as Country Weekly or Nashville
Star, will have several artists appearing and signing throughout
the day.
A few of the artists
we saw signing autographs and chatting with fans in their own booths
as we made our way through the venue were John Michael Montgomery,
Chris Young, Darryl Worley, Brad Cotter, Donna
Fargo and Bryan White. By the time we wound our way
through a sea of fans, around the corner and up and down other
aisles, we found Chris Young signing in the Nashville Star
booth. Judging by the line of fans waiting to get an autograph,
Young is definitely one of the hottest, and most popular, new stars
in Nashville this year.
The acoustic stage in
the Convention Center is not only one of the few places you can
actually sit down at this event but it is also a great place to
discover new talent and touch base with some long time favorites. We
got there just in time to see Daniel Lee Martin perform and
later in the day, while we were relaxing, we watched the Well
Hungarians perform. They definitely get our vote for the most
unique, thought-provoking and outrageous name.
Later in the
afternoon we ventured across the river to the Coliseum parking lot
to witness the 5th Annual Andy Griggs
Archery Tournament. This years tournament had a stellar line up
of participants that included Tracy Byrd, Blake Shelton,
Kix Brooks, John Michael Montgomery, Aaron Tippin,
Neal Thrasher, Daniel Lee Martin, Bryan White, Rusty
Tabor, and Rhett Akins. As expected, the competition was
intense, especially between Andy Griggs and Blake Shelton – all in
good fun of course! Griggs and Shelton were definitely trying to
outshine each other. The sportsmanship award went to Bryan White for
displaying the willingness to compete even though he came into the
event lacking any experience at all and without the benefit of using
his own bow like many of the other participants. For those of you
who aren’t knowledgeable about this sport, it is a definite
advantage to have your own bow since it is set to your strength and
sighted for your preference. White didn’t do well in the
competition but he was a hit with all the fans that were there just
to get autographs.
Early evening found
us at 3rd and Lindsley where the
very beautiful and talented singer/song writer Kelly Lang wasperforming. As an unexpected bonus we ran into the newly married
drummer from Cowboy Crush, Darla Rae, whose husband
was playing in Lang’s band this night and the very handsome,
amiable T.G. Sheppard. After the performance we had a chance
to sit down with Lang and ask her a few questions. That interview
and a review of her outstanding show will be included in our final
coverage. For now, we are off and running again with plans to see
what all the hoopla is about in the Nashville After Hours. We
will try to get a little sleep since we start off early tomorrow
morning by covering Chris Young’s fan club breakfast party
before we head over to the River Front Stage and then we will
be back at the Convention Center to interview some of the
most important participants of this entire event, the fans.
Day 2:
Wednesday
morning we went out looking for first class honky-tonk rock-n-roll
country kind of music and we found just what we were looking for at
the Trick Pony fan club party. The fans awarded Trick Pony
with a special plaque that said that this dynamic trio was their
choice for the Hot Band of the Decade 1996 – 2006. This is
the third time that we have attended their annual fan club party and
they never fail to put on a great show for the fans. Ira’s
neighbor, the legendary Mel Tillis, was in the crowd and
signed autographs while they continued to play. Heidi is
always unbelievable on the harmonica and Ira is awesome on
the stand up bass. Not to sell Keith short; he plays a mean
guitar and he gets our vote just for lookin’ good (he also has
“the stand” down pat – more about that in our final CMA Fest
wrap up).
Since the party was
at The Nashville Palace, we stopped in at the nearby Ernest
Tubb Record Shop. The walls are covered with memorabilia and the
bins are filled with country music, both old and new. The old Ernest
Tubb tour bus is right in the building and visitors are welcome to
climb on board and take a look. This is a “must see” stop for
tourists but we never tire of visiting there and you never know who
you will run into on the little stage in back. About a decade ago
there was a handsome young man playing a wicked banjo entertaining
on their small stage; we had never heard of Keith Urban
before that encounter.
We swung by the CMA
building to pick up our media credentials and CMA Fest
information packet on our way to the Universal South Recording
Label Building where we interviewed Rockie Lynne. We are
so thankful that we were able to meet such an incredible human
being. Aside from being an extremely talented artist and songwriter,
he is a caring and genuine humanitarian. Each year he organizes a
motorcycle ride to honor the men and women who have lost their lives
for our country. We will have our full interview for you soon, so be
sure to check back. We are confident you will enjoy learning a
little more about him; we certainly did.
Our evening ended
with a fan club gathering at Judge Roy Bean’s restaurant. Jason
Meadows pulled together a group of artists that included Curtis
Allenand Trickle Down, Kyle Jennings, Jay
Teter, Jason Meadows and our favorite Daniel Lee
Martin. The show started with Curtis Allen and Trickle Down
singing several songs, then Jennings, Teter, Meadows and Martin took
turns singing in the round.
An artist’s biggest
fear has to be having a room empty mid way through their set and,
worse, seeing the audience’s backs as they are running to the door
but that is exactly what happened at this show. When an announcement
came over the loud speaker saying that Daniel Lee Martin’s tour
bus was being towed along with a number of other vehicles for
illegal parking, the audience sprang to their feet and ran for the
exits. Martin leapt from the stage and was one of the first to hit
the door. He returned a few minutes later smiling because he had
saved the bus from being towed. As a safety precaution, he left his
beautiful wife, Kristina, guarding the bus to protect it from
further jeopardy while he came back to finish the show. We know
there just has to be a song in that one, somewhere…how about “Sitting
on a stool / strumming my guitar / my wife hasn’t left me / but
they towed my car.” (Be kind, after all, bus just doesn’t
rhyme with “guitar”.) Ok, so we might not make it as songwriters
but we will be totally surprised if one of the enterprising,
talented singer/songwriters who were in attendance when this
incident took place, wasn’t inspired by the evening’s events
enough to write a song about it.
Day three of the CMA
Music Festival for us will begin with a stop at the Convention
Center to check out all of the booths and the Wrangler
Acoustic Corner Stage. The 5thAndy Griggs
Celebrity Archery Tournament is in the afternoon and Kelly
Lang is performing at 3rd and
Lindsley this evening.
Day 1: It’s Tuesday June
6th and we arrived here in Nashville this afternoon for
the 2006 CMA Music Festival. Even on the way here, we were
still trying to figure out how to squeeze more events into our
schedule so we can bring you the best coverage on the net; there
just aren’t enough hours in the day.
The official start
of the CMA Fest isn’t until Thursday but we are in town early to
attend some of the fan club parties going on around town. Today we
attended the parties for Gary Allen and Joe Nichols
fans. What a contrast between the two; but they both are so
incredibly talented.
We want to send big
kudos to the fan club president for both of these artists, Sharon
Eaves. Boy oh boy, does she know how to throw a party. If you
don’t know who Sharon is, check out her website at www.fan-clubhouse.com.
You may be surprised to see the number of artists that trust
Sharon with their most valuable assets – their fans.
When we arrived at
Gary Allen’s party, he had already taken the stage. The lights
were low, the music was rockin’, and the fans were on their
feet. The party was available at no cost to the first six hundred
fans. Although Allen was not able to do a meet and greet with all
of the fans, he did provide them with over an hour of great
entertainment. Look for him to be touring with Rascal Flatts
in the coming year.
Following that
party, we grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the same venue
for Nichols’ party. The fans were all waiting patiently at the
doors and the merchandise table was buzzing. Since the 2005 CMA
Fest, Nichols third CD was released which includes his latest #1
hit Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off. The CD went gold
and continues to produce more hits including Size Matters.
There was definitely a wealth of humor on the stage especially
during the hilarious duet for the finale when Nichols and long
time friend and guitarist Brian Spradlin performed the Tim
McGraw and Faith Hill song, It’s Your Love.
There were
questions from the crowd and many song requests. One fan commented
that she thought the day Joe Nichols was created; God must have
been in a real good mood. He responded by thanking her and saying
that he thought God must have been in a funny mood – we’ve
known Joe for years so we think they are both right!
Our plans for
tomorrow include an interview at Universal South with Rockie
Lynne and fan club parties for Trick Pony and Daniel
Lee Martin. Who knows what else we may add to the agenda; we
have a lot of options and will be doing our best to fit as much as
possible into our schedule.
Just wanted to mention that while at Keith Anderson's Fan party at the bar across the street from Judge Beans place, I had my car towed also. I was parked in a lot that had no signs saying that you could not park there. Apparently the owner of Judge Beans didn't want anyone to park anywhere and had a lot of cars towed. He also tried to have Keith's bus towed. With this exception, Fan Fair was a wonderful experience as always for me. Just a little upset that one person could be so hateful at such a wonderful time. Does not speak well of him and I for one would never go to his place of business. And a lot of other people won't also. Don't know him, and don't want to. Everyone else at Fan Fair treated us so well and were so accommodating and nice. Cost me $80.00 plus cab fair to get my car back. I will send a letter to the Chamber of Commerce about this. Won't solve my problem, but think they should know. Other than that it was a wonderful week and will be back next year.
This is always one of
my favorite, and easiest to write, CMA Fest/Fan Fair
features. We are so busy each day while we are in Nashville
so it isn’t until we get home that we really get a chance to
unwind, reflect, and share our stories with family and friends and
boy oh boy do we have stories to share this year. It is difficult to
relate in just a few words what touched us the most, made us laugh
the hardest and caused us to do a double take; but I’ll try.
The humorous moments
also included witnessing a tour bus being towed away from Daniel
Lee Martin’s fan club party (see "Day Two" coverage
below), getting caught in the infamous round-about on Music Row,
not knowing which street we should exit on, and laughing along with Rockie
Lynne at the excitement he displayed during our interview. And
now that we have returned to cooler country, we can also laugh about
the sweat running down our backs as we, not always willingly, basked
in the sun and heat of Nashville. The blisters on my feet aren’t
funny yet… but once they have healed, I am sure I can even make
that into a funny story.
on to win the 2006
Nashville Star, and looked right at home on the Opry
stage on Day five. There are the five extraordinary musician/singers
of Cowboy Crush who are taking on Europe this summer, and the
incredibly beautiful and talented Kelly Lang who is not only
a great singer but has been busy writing a number of songs with the
incomparable Lorrie Morgan for her next CD that will be
released this fall. This year, we are adding Rockie Lynne to
our list of people we predict will achieve great success. We realize
that we are cheating a bit on that one because Lynne is well on his
way already with his recently released debut album from Universal
South; but we’re adding him to list of personally selected
superstars anyway.
artists in one place
and this unique event is an affirmation that country music artists
really do appreciate their fans.
