CMALittle Big Town returns for a third turn as hosts of ABC’s CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock, airing Tuesday night at 8 ET. The group taped the special in early June during CMA Music Festival in Nashville, and LBT’s Jimi Westbrook says they’ve come a long way since they first hosted the show.
“We were a little shaky and nervous the first year, but now we feel really comfortable, and it’s been a blast,” Jimi says. “It’s such a cool thing ’cause we’re here for the entire thing. We get to see everybody that’s here and hang out with them and listen to them play. It’s just a great experience.”
For Jason Aldean, taking part in CMA Music Festival gives him a chance to interact with his fans in an intimate setting. You can see a bit of what he’s talking about on the ABC special.
Jason says, “[We] get a chance to let them experience something they don’t get a chance to experience on a tour stop or something, where they get a chance to sit in a room with you that’s this big and sit down and sort of have one-on-one conversation time with you.”
Jason also realizes attending CMA Music Festival doubles as a summer vacation for some fans. Knowing they spent that money to come to Nashville is definitely on Jason’s mind when he plays the stadium shows at CMA Music Festival.
He adds, “We want to go out and give ’em the best show we can — make it worth their trip.”
Dierks Bentley echoes Jason’s thoughts and says you can feel the excitement from the CMA Music Fest crowd. That makes Dierks and his fellow country stars want to give the audience something to talk about when they go back home.
Dierks says, “You walk out onstage already on a 12, just pumped up. You know everyone’s just having a great time. They’re hearing their favorite acts sing their top-five biggest songs.”
Kenny Chesney thinks viewers of the CMA Music Festival special will get a taste of why the country format is different than any other genre of music.
He says, “There are a lot of festivals out there. There’s a lot of things people can go to, but this is very much about just a love letter to the fans, in my opinion, and saying thank you.”
Little Big Town, Jason, Dierks and Kenny are all appearing on the CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock special Tuesday night at 8 ET on ABC. Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Florida Georgia Line, Eric Church, Thomas Rhett, Lady Antebellum and Keith Urban are among the other stars performing on the three-hour broadcast.
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