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

Alan Jackson and the N.R.A.

Besides "U.S.A.," there are hardly 3 other letters that southerners whoop and hollar more than N.R.A. 

For those who are unaware, N.R.A. stands for the National Rifle Association. It is basically an organization of people who love the 2nd amendment and protecting what America has always stood for.

This weekend, the N.R.A. held their yearly convention in Nashville, so I decided to seize the day and go see what the convention was all about. 

Guns. 

Simply put, lots and lots and lots of guns.

I think my jaw dropped when I walked into the exhibitors hall.

Think of a room the size of a warehouse and then triple that and fill it with guns, knives, tactical gear, and fishing equiptment, from big names like Smith & Wesson and Glock to one man, small business stalls. That is what the N.R.A. Exhibitors hall held.

There were 9 acres of guns.

9 acres. 

It was absolutely insane.

Crazy.

Good crazy though.

In very few rooms have I felt as safe as I felt in that room.

Besides the exhibitors hall, there were leadership conferences featuring political leaders from all over the country such as Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin. There were also concerts appealing to N.R.A. members, AKA country and rock and roll music. On Friday night, Bocephus (or Hank Williams Jr.) preformed and on Saturday, Jeff Foxworthy and Alan Jackson preformed.

Sadly, I didn't get to see Hank Jr., but I did get to see Alan Jackson, who I could rave about for hours -- absolutely phenomenal.

(Side Note: We went to Ted's Montana Grill for dinner before the show, and now I'm curious why more resturants don't serve bison. Their naked bison burger is my recommendation. Simple but so good.)

After an introduction to the N.R.A. Board, the pledge, the National Anthem sung by a talented veteran, a prayer, and a segment honoring Jon Morris, Jeff Foxworthy kicked the night off.

Hilarious guy who is not afraid to embarrass himself. Slightly inappropriate at times, but flat out hilarious.

I don't think a smile left my face while he was on stage. Reliving a colonoscopy and demonstrating cat puke, Jeff was a great entertainer.

Then came Jon Pardi. I was not impressed sadly. I've listened to Jon for a few years now and I enjoy listening to most of his music, but live, I was just not impressed.

Vocally, his performance was below par. He blamed the pollen outside, so I'm giving little grace for the pollen count. Raspy, under pitch, and talkative is how I would describe Pardi. His struggle of reaching the notes caused the background vocalists' harmonies to sound off, too. His band wasn't bad at all though. Really good band, actually.

His sound was fine if you like no variation. I personally thought all his songs sounded the same. There were a few distinctions, but for the most part, they were the modern talk-sing that I do not favor. (Ironic that this style is paired with the classic Alan Jackson on tour?) The only song it felt like Bridgestone sang along with was "Missin You Crazy."

Being on stage, Jon did not look natural at all. He seemed as if he was trying to push himself with interaction between the   fans.

I've listened to Jon's album a few times and have a few of his songs on my regular playlist, but I was ultimately disappointed with the performance.

Alan Jackson on the other hand.....

The Man.

The Myth.

The Legend.

I absolutely loved his show. Alan's older style of stand and sing is my preferred show style. He was focused more on the music than on the crowd's reaction and interaction than his opener. For the most part, he stood in front of the mic stand and sang his heart out. If George Strait is the King, then AJ is the brother waiting for the throne.

Really, it was a great show. His band was on fire with a heavy steel guitar part and extremely talented fiddle player. His old music videos were the only enhancement to to the band, Alan brought Bridgestone alive.

Though many of the songs played were much older than I am, I still enjoyed the set of hits. I think my favorite song he sang live was "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" simply because of the audience's reactions. In the room filled with mostly N.R.A. members, the song caused tears in my neighbors eyes and salutes towards our military from those in front of me. To me, a quality performer must be able to deliver feel good tunes and the tear jerkers, which Jackson could definitely do. With those heartfelt tunes like "Remember When" and "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning" to party tunes like "Goodtime" and "Chattahoochee," Jackson had the entire audience was engaged and singing along. He also used his collaboration with the Zac Brown Band to bring the energy back up after the more emotional songs with a *guest appearance* by Zac Brown ('s hat). 

Fun show. Fun night.

As a whole, attending the N.R.A. Convention was super cool and if it ever comes back to Nashville, I'm definitely going. Lots of guns and country music made a happy girl.