CMA Fest

You can't live in Nashville and not know about CMA fest. But at the same time, you can't live in Nashville and want to go downtown filled with tourists.

But I do love country music enough to brave it, and let me tell you, it was SO worth it. 100%.

Side note: Kelsea had her own
Snapchat filter for the show,

I started off with seeing Kels at the Cannery Ballroom, and that was a blast. Being that the Cannery Ballroom is a 21+ venue, I had to be "X"ed and those sharpie Xs did not come off for 3 days...I got some weird looks at church for those. 

Seeing her live her dream, and be surrounded with a room full of her supporters was amazing. Not to mention, she had Hunter Hayes and Hillary Scott come out as guests, which was insane. My middle school me DIED inside when Hunt came out. I straight d i e d. I tell people that I don't like him anymore, but when he came out, my heart blew up into 1000 pieces. I would post my videos I took, but my singing is so bad that I'm actually saving you if I don't share them. You can see it here though!

Before Kelsea came out, newbie Levi Hummon and veteran Jon Pardi took the stage.

Levi was so cute. He wasn't always there vocally, but where he lacked vocals, he made up for in adorableness. I'm interested in what he'll bring in the next few years!

Jon Pardi on the other hand brought straight party. He got the crowd alive with his hits like Up All Night and Head Over Boots, but also with new songs from his latest album, California Sunrise. I saw him once before at the 2015 N.R.A. Convention and was not impressed in the least, but Jon rocked this baby venue. His guitarist looked like a poorly kept version of Billy Ray Cyrus and was so entertaining. While not strong in large venues, Jon is great in small ones, and most importantly, he stays true to country's roots. No pop remixes but steel guitars and fiddles. I loved it.

I also loved meeting Sadie Robertson on our way to Ascend Amphitheater. Like nbd. I just almost idolize you. It's casual.

At Ascend, we saw Chris Young and Old Dominion. Chris Young "kicked off CMA Fest" and conducted the ceremonial duties before singing. As always, Chris was phenomenal. Absolutely phenomenal. He could sing the phone book for his entire set and I'd be so content.

Old Dominion though....(I'm getting excited even just thinking about Old Dominion) Old Dominion was the real show stopper. I've been a fan of OD since my middle school days, and I have been digging Meat & Candy ever since it came out. I just had never had a chance to see them live, and they met and exceeded all expectations. They sounded good, they looked good, they were just so good. They also got their award for Meat & Candy going platinum, which was really cool to see their reactions to their records. I just love Old Dominion. Love. Love. Love.

Also during CMA Fest, I got a chance to be an extra for the CMT Awards.

It was an absolute BLAST. I saw all the big names in country up front and personal. Keith Urban, Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, Maren Morris, Cam, Thomas Rhett, Carrie Underwood, the list goes on. It was absolutely incredible. I really hope I get to do it again next year. Not only for the "be on TV" thing but more for the "free concert!" thing.

 I've put some of the pictures I took below for you to see just how close I was. (Update: I published some others on my VSCO from the homepage.) It was an absolutely awesome experience.

 Sometimes, it's worth braving the tourists...at least I think so.

xoxo,

Lauren

Kelsea Ballerini with CMT Next Women of Country

Friends and family always make comments to the parents of a baby about how they've grown since the last time they saw each other, and that is exactly how I felt on Tuesday night.

Tuesday night, Kelsea Ballerini, headlined her first show! Never the less, it was in Nashville, too!

After following Kelsea's career and getting to know her more and more over the past two years, I have seen the many ways that Kelsea has grown as both an artist and a person, and seeing her go from Soundcloud demos to artist parties to headlining her own show was so incredibly cool.

Right now, Kelsea is out with Jana Kramer on CMT's Next Women of Country Tour, an all women tour promoting the up and coming female talent in country music. 

At the Nashville show, Jana was not able to preform, but she did make an appearance when CMT's SVP of Muisc Strategy came out and announced the 2016 tour, which is including (L-R) Brook Eden, Cam, Clare Dunn, and Ruthie Collins. 

The show opened up with Carly Pearce and Hailey Steele, who both have loads of talent. Carly Pearce can belt like nobody's business and her rendition of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" was cute as can be. Check her out for yourself and see what you think. Here is her on Tuesday singing "Just Another Girl."

But finally, my girl took the stage.

With teal guitar in hand, she began to rock. She did crowd pleasers from her EP like "Dibs" and "Yeah Boy" to kick off the night but also sang from her new album, "The First Time," as well as two that aren't on the album, "High School" and "Graffiti." 

One of the other girls in the audience videoed them, so if you're curious, you can check out "High School" here and "Graffiti" here. 

High School always has been a personal favorite of mine, so seeing it live was more wonderful than words.

Turns out Kelsea had more than just the surprise of "High School" and "Graffiti" planned...Maddie and Tae came out and sang "There's Your Trouble" by the legendary Dixie Chicks. Purely acoustic and raw, Kelsea, Maddie, and Tae all proved their talent. 

In honor of her first album coming out this Monday, Kelsea had to do some from there like "XO," "Stilettos," and "Peter Pan." 

I can not tell you how excited I am for this album to come out. It is so Kelsea and so true to who she is. I can't wait to watch the world fall in love with her like I have.

"The First Time" is available starting May 18th on iTunes, and you're really missing out if you don't get it. It does have upbeat songs for jamming like "XO" and "Peter Pan," but it also has very vulnerable and relatable songs like "Secondhand Smoke" and "The First Time." 

To end the show, she sang "Love Me Like You Mean It" (which is currently #9 on the country charts!!) and the entire venue sang along. I had tears in my eyes as she stood on stage with tears in her eyes and listened to everyone sing it back.

Coolest moments ever.

Kelsea most definitely lived up to all expectations I had on stage, but she far surpassed all expectations off stage.

As soon as she came off, I was greeted with "Lauren, I'm so glad you're here! I love you a lot for coming!!" and a hug before I could even open my mouth. 

Kelsea is on her way to do great things, mark my words, friends. She's going big places and I'm so thankful to be along for the ride.

Be sure to follow her on Twitter, Insta, like her on Facebook, and download "The First Time!"