Nashville was named after Francis Nash, a Continental Army
general from North Carolina who was fatally wounded during the Revolutionary
War. So yes, before it became the city of cowboy boots, hot chicken, and people
casually being better singers than you at brunch, it was named for a war hero.
Back in 1779, the settlement started as a fortified outpost
on the Cumberland River called Fort Nashborough. By 1784, it had grown enough
to drop the “fort” and become Nashville, which feels like a glow-up in
city-name form.
These days, Nashville is a giant neon love letter to music, especially
country music, which is why it proudly answers to Music City. Coming from
Austin, the Live Music Capital of the World, I did not arrive neutral. I came
in fully prepared to love this place, and Nashville said, “Great, here are 850
guitars and zero moments of silence.”
Then there’s CMA Fest, which is basically what happens when
country music fans are not only invited to the party but handed the keys to the
entire city. It started in 1972 as “Fan Fair,” a four-day event with about
5,000 fans at Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. Now it pulls in roughly 95,000
people a day downtown, which means everywhere you turn there’s live music, a
crowd, and at least one person in fringe moving with purpose. The best part?
Free performances from artists you actually know, the kind you hear on the
radio and suddenly, somehow, standing ten feet in front of you. The lines were
outrageous, the sidewalks were chaos, and big stars like Luke Bryan and Kane
Brown apparently just pop into their bars and start singing like that’s a
totally normal thing to do. If you happen to be there when it happens,
congratulations: you’ve won Nashville.
Four days somehow felt like four minutes and four years at
the same time. I heard so many artists this weekend that my brain is now 60%
lyrics and 40% dehydration. The lineup of voices floating through my weekend
included Ashley Cooke, The Band Perry, Jon Pardi, Gretchen Wilson, Koe Wetzel,
Rodney Atkins, Tucker Wetmore, Jelly Roll, Vincent Mason, Ella Langley, Stella
Lefty, Willow Avalon, Deana Carter, Clint Black, Jo Dee Messina, Blake Shelton,
Scoot Teasley, Shaboozey, Maggie Antone, Red Clay Strays, Keith Urban, Cody
Johnson, Sara Evans, Carly Pearce, Riley Green, Caitlin Butts, Zach Top, Emily
Ann Roberts, Jordan Davis, Lainey Wilson, and Tim McGraw, Chase Mathew, Clay
Walker, Russel Dickerson, Kat Luna, Bailey Zimmerman, The Jack Wharff Band,
Riley Green, Laci Kaye Booth, HARDY, Steven Wilson Jr, and Luke Bryan. At some
point, I stopped trying to keep track and just accepted that Nashville was
going to keep casually delivering bucket-list moments like it was no big deal.
SiriusXM’s Music Row
Happy Hour is a live weekly country music broadcast hosted by Buzz Brainard
on SiriusXM’s The Highway, and during CMA Fest it expands into a
full-day spectacle from 12 to 7 PM inside the Neon Steeple at Eric Church’s
Chief’s. Thursday and Sunday offered successful entry; the other days treated
the door like a velvet-rope audition with a firm “not today.” The SiriusXM crew
remained a highlight, even if parts of the crowd were serving more attitude
than southern hospitality. Seeing Ania Hammar and Macie Banks was a bright
spot, and Buzz and Nick continue to feel less like hosts and more like
permanent fixtures of a very entertaining Nashville universe.
By the end of it, my feet were tired, my voice was questionable, and my ability to hear anything above a mild ring had completely left the building. But honestly? I’d do it all again in a heartbeat. Nashville has a way of making you feel like music isn’t just playing in the background, it’s running the whole town. During CMA Fest, it absolutely is. So, if you ever get the chance to go, go. Wear comfortable shoes, drink more water than you think you need, and accept in advance that you may leave with your phone storage full of pictures and videos, a happy heart, and a completely unrealistic expectation that every city should come with a surprise Zach Top sighting.
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