CMA FEST: Day 2 - June 10, 2022

I’d be lying if I said that starting the second day of the festival on the late side didn’t grind my gears. I already missed the first day of the festivities so the FOMO was weighing heavily on me. For weeks, I eagerly awaited catching Kelsea Ballerini’s CMA Close-up at 11:00AM this morning. Yet, she made it onto the list of folks I so badly wanted to see but missed (which includes Thursday’s lineup: Runaway June, Lindsay Ell, Raleigh Keegan, Jordan Fletcher, Kidd G, and Lainey Wilson.)

As Aubrey Graham once said, “Better Late Than Never, but Never Late Is Better.”

After a quick visit to the Music City Center, I booked it over to the Chevy Riverfront Stage to catch a vibe with Niko Moon… and Boy does he deliver! Everything from his stage presence to his outfit exuded beach party. The singer-songwriter behind hit songs cut by Dierks Bentley, Morgan Wallen, and Zac Brown Band knew exactly what the people came here for with his setlist which included, ‘PARADISE TO ME,’ ‘Easy Tonight,’ and ‘Coastin’ off his new EP, which dropped today.

The Georgia native wrapped up his set by sharing with us the story behind ‘Good Time’, a song he wrote about two years ago with his wife. He recorded the vocals in their laundry room that has since been transformed into a booth. Needless to say, the crowd gave Niko his flowers with an ovation as he closed out his performance for showing us a good time.

Sitting put on the lawn of the Riverfront, the crowds quickly dispersed only to be replaced with a new set of fans setting up shop for the next performer. In this case, it was none other than thee Chris Lane.

Even though we all had the schedule lineup, you could see the excited smiles of many female festival goers on the screen. Whether they were happy to see him or happy for the happily married man; they were more than happy to sing along to every song including ‘Big, Big Plans,’ the song he proposed to his now wife with.

Not only did Mr. Lane bless us with his hit ‘Take Back Home Girl’, he also surprised the audience with a cover of early 2000’s bop, ‘Let Me Love You’ by Mario. In the middle of all this, I realized I had to run back to the Music City Center for my next move. As I made my way through the crowd, my glance caught whom I thought was a familiar pretty face. Right there on the big screen, I realized Lauren Alaina had just made her way onto the stage. Of course, on my way out is when they bestow onto the masses their new single, ‘Dancin’ In The Moonlight.’ Anyways, Congratulations to Chris Lane and his wife whom are expecting their 2nd child.

Once I made it back to Fan Fair in the Music City Center, I made my way up to see ERNEST. The line at the Musicares booth wrapped all the way around to the back. Honestly, I expected nothing less. He is a super star! Even though I didn’t get the chance to meet the hitmaker, as a huge fan, this all made me more excited for his performance later that day.

As I walked around, I happen to stumble across none other than Carly Pearce’s CMA Close-up. She discussed being a woman in a man-lead industry, let alone genre. An audience member also shared that she was the aunt to a little girl that was being bullied by her peers in school for wearing glasses. She wanted to thank Carly for acknowledging her story and for standing up for her niece. The backstory is that this was brought up to Ms. Pearce’s attention on TikTok. The Country Music star responded on the platform with a message to the bullies: Glasses are for Cool Girls.

This is why we stand with the Queen, Ms. Carly Pearce.

She concluded the close-up with ‘Never Wanted To Be That Girl.’ and ‘What He Didn’t Do.’

Aside from being fortunate to catch the Country Music icon sing a tune or two, I also had the privilege of attending her temporary pop-up shop benefitting the Music Health Alliance. Naturally, her wardrobe was just as fabulous as she is.

While I thoroughly enjoyed browsing through all the pieces of clothing, I knew I couldn’t spend too much time there. ERNEST was about to make his first CMA Fest debut and I wasn’t about to miss it.

Luckily, my next move was just up the street.

I made it to the Chevy Riverfront Stage with fifteen minutes to spare. I was amazed at how fast I was able to find a seat. My only explanation was that the sun is what drove the heavy crowds from the morning away? who knows. All I know is I was just happy to be there and in my spot.

Right on time, without a minute more or less: ERNEST hit the stage. The singer-songwriter started his set by sharing with the audience how CMA fest has come full circle for him. As a Nashville, TN native, the heavy hitter went from scouting tickets to now gracing the stages of CMA fest.

His setlist of various fan favorites included ‘Sucker For Small Towns,’ ‘Tennessee Queen,’ ‘Cheers,’ ‘Feet Wanna Run,’ and ‘Did It With You.’ It was through the performance of the song he wrote for Morgan Wallen, ‘Wasted On You’ that I picked up on the Eminem influences he has previously said to have when it comes to his craft.

ERNEST was sure to not only play one of his early bops, ‘Sugar’ but to also closeout with his recent radio hit, ’Flower Shops.’

CMA Fest Day 2 (to you but Day 1 for me) was everything I wanted it to be. Tune in tomorrow for Saturday’s festivities.