Image Courtesy Broken Bow RecordsThe lineup for the 2015 CMA Music Festival concerts at Nashville’s LP Field has been announced. The performers include Jason Aldean, Sam Hunt, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson, Zac Brown Band, Eric Church, Brett Eldredge, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Wynonna, Cole Swindell, Keith Urban, Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley, Thomas Rhett, Little Big Town, The Band Perry, and many more.
The CMA Music Festival runs June 11 through 14 in Nashville. It is sold out.
Proceeds from the CMA Music Festival go to the CMA Foundation’s efforts to fund music education programs. Thomas Rhett was on hand for a performance of the Nashville Children’s Theatre’s production of the musical, Jack’s Tale. After introducing the play and interacting with some of the students in the audience, Thomas reflected on his experience playing Scrooge in his school’s production of A Christmas Carol. That early exposure to live performance gave him a taste of what it’s like to connect with a crowd through music.
Thomas tells ABC Radio, “I remember from the time I was four-years-old, dad was always filming me singing ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ and ‘Boot Scootin’ Boogie,’ and so when it got to a point where I could actually be in front of a lot of people doing anything that had any sort of entertainment value to it — I tried out for the “Scrooge” part.”
He adds, “It definitely opened me up to what that rush felt like to getting out in front of people and kinda just pursuing your talents.”
It means a lot for Thomas to be able to help raise money for kids to be exposed to the arts at a young age.
“One of those kids I talked to today may have just been slightly inspired and maybe wanted to sing country music or maybe wanted to sing rock music or pop music,” Thomas says. “Watching these guys up on stage doing this play today, maybe it’ll inspire them to want to start writing songs or get into acting themselves.”
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