{"id":1704,"date":"2018-08-07T08:42:39","date_gmt":"2018-08-07T07:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/?p=1704"},"modified":"2018-08-07T08:43:12","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T07:43:12","slug":"1704","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/2018\/08\/07\/1704\/","title":{"rendered":"PHOTOS: Best Quotes from CMA Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nashville has become a must-see international destination because of groundbreaking shows like CMT\u2019s\u00a0Nashville<\/em>\u00a0and concert events like\u00a0CMA Fest. Everywhere downtown during the 47th annual event in June was packed with fans from all over the world including all 50 states and 36 foreign countries. Concert magic from the 2018 concerts will be showcased during a three-hour concert special airing Wednesday (Aug. 8) with hosts\u00a0Kelsea Ballerini\u00a0and\u00a0Thomas Rhett.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

The ABC television event will feature performances by 29 of country music\u2019s hottest acts including\u00a0Lauren Alaina,\u00a0Jason Aldean,\u00a0Dierks Bentley,\u00a0Kane Brown,\u00a0Brothers Osborne,\u00a0Luke Combs, Ballerini and Rhett. The night will also feature all-star collaborations by Alaina and Brown; Julia Michaels and\u00a0Keith Urban; Morgan Wallen and\u00a0Florida Georgia Line; and Bentley and\u00a0Dwight Yoakam.Performances by Brown, Combs, Charles Esten, Wallen, Michaels,\u00a0Midland\u00a0and\u00a0Carly Pearce\u00a0and the CMA\u2019s reigning new artist of the year Jon Pardi are their\u00a0CMA Fest<\/em>\u00a0stadium debuts.<\/p>\n

Since 2006, the CMA and the CMA Foundation have invested more than $21 million to sustainable music education initiatives throughout the U.S. thanks to the fans who attend CMA Fest and the artists who donate their time.<\/p>\n

CMT was backstage at the nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium. Enjoy some of our best quotes from their exclusive backstage interviews:<\/p>\n

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  1. \n
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    Jon Pardi<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Jason Kempin\/Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cI would say it\u2019s about time \u2018cause it\u2019s been a long time. But we\u2019re ready cause we\u2019ve been spoiled playing stadiums with Luke Bryan \u2026 It\u2019s crazy, but I got a couple under my belt, and it took the edge off playing a stadium. So, I\u2019m like, \u2018Alright. We got this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n
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    Lee Ann Womack<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Jason Kempin\/Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cThe diehard fans come to Nashville, and [we\u2019re] all in one place. So, we as artists can bop from one venue to the other and have so many opportunities to see people and see fans. That\u2019s what makes it really cool\u2026 [It\u2019s] a lot of energy, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n
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    Carly Pearce<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    \"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cI have been in the stadium as a fan for CMA Fest forever, and this is definitely my first time to step into a stadium and sing. It\u2019s going to be mind-blowing and one of the best things that\u2019s ever happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  4. \n
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    Charles Esten<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Jason Kempin\/Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cDeacon never got to play a stage this big. Rayna did and Luke Wheeler, and we shot scenes on the field. But I\u2019ve never been in here playing as me. So this is something way out there. I was fortunate enough to play [Nashville\u2019s] New Year\u2019s Eve, and there were 130,000 people there, I\u2019ve never done a stadium like this. My thoughts are all over the place, but the trick is to do what you do at any show and bring it as hard as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  5. \n
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    Lauren Alaina<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Jason Kempin\/Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cI got to play with Kane. And [it was] one of the best moments of my career. I love him so much, and it\u2019s just such a crazy moment. I\u2019ve known him forever, and that song obviously changed his career and mine. It was a huge song for both of us, and we just got to celebrate it with 50,000 people. So, that\u2019s pretty awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  6. \n
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    Midland\u2019s Jess Carson<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Terry Wyatt\/Getty Images for Spotify<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cThere\u2019s no one path for an artist trying to make it and come up. Everybody has to find their own path and niche. And it\u2019s a lot of work. You can\u2019t skip steps.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  7. \n
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    Dustin Lynch<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Jason Davis\/Getty Images for HGTV<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cWe\u2019ve met people from all over the world every year we\u2019ve done this, and that\u2019s really neat.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n

  8. \n
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    Keith Urban<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Jason Kempin\/Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cIt\u2019s always the fans, the electricity from them; especially in Nissan stadium. It\u2019s insane. You feel it from the top all the way down to the field, and it comes at you like a wave. It\u2019s amazing!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/section>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Nashville has become a must-see international destination because of groundbreaking shows like CMT\u2019s\u00a0Nashville\u00a0and concert events like\u00a0CMA Fest. Everywhere downtown during the 47th annual event in June was packed with fans from all over the world including all 50 states and 36 foreign countries. Concert magic from the 2018 concerts will be showcased during a three-hour […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1705,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[251,250,155,25,26,6,252],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/mgid_ao_image_cmt.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1704"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1707,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1704\/revisions\/1707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cmni.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}