CMA Fest Adds Stages to Highlight Classic Acts, Up-and-Comers
Fans headed to the annual CMA Music Festival have something new to be excited for this year: In addition to the return of the festival's Music City Stage, which features rising country acts, the Country Music Association has added a stage to highlight classic country artists, dubbed the Forever Country Park Stage.
As reported by Music Row, the Forever Country Park Stage -- which will be located in the park area behind Ascend Amphitheater -- will play host to country names from the 1980s, '90s and '00s, including the likes of Jeff Bates, the Bellamy Brothers and John Berry. Mark Chesnutt, Confederate Railroad, George Ducas, Emerson Drive, Ty Herndon, Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers, Lonestar, Jamie O’Neal, Trick Pony, Restless Heart, Ray Scott, Shenandoah and Darryl Worley, among others, will also take the Forever Country Park Stage throughout the 2017 CMA Music Festival.
The Music City Stage, meanwhile, returns to CMA Fest for the second year in 2017. Located in the Nashville Visitor Center at Bridgestone Arena, the stage will welcome some of the newest names in country music: Jimmie Allen, Sammy Arriaga, Maggie Baugh, Brennley Brown, Dallas Caroline, Jessie Chris, Julia Cole, Dalton & the Sheriffs, Shelly Fairchild, Livy Jeanne, Jessie Key, Tristan McIntosh, Camille Rae, Zach Seabaugh, CJ Solar, Scott Stevens, Mitchell Tenpenny and James Robert Webb, among others. Not only is the indoor Music City Stage a great place to catch new country acts, it is the only free, air-conditioned stage at the CMA Music Festival.
Plenty of other free performances have already been announced for the 2017 CMA Music Festival. Throughout the annual festival, which takes place around Nashville, Brandy Clark, Canaan Smith, Drake White and the Big Fire, Craig Wayne Boyd, Chris Bandi, Ashley Campbell, Carly Pearce, Drew Baldridge, Jackie Lee and many, many more will perform on the Riverfront Stage, the Broadway Stage and the Park Stage.
CMA Fest also hosts nightly ticketed concerts at Nissan Stadium. Country stars scheduled to take the stage during those shows in 2017 include Maren Morris, Chris Stapleton, Blake Shelton, Cole Swindell, Eric Church, Kelsea Ballerini, Kenny Rogers, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Sam Hunt, Trace Adkins and more.
The 2017 CMA Music Festival is scheduled to run June 8-11 in Nashville. For more information on tickets and performers at CMA Fest 2017, visit the CMA Music Festival’s official website.
(Some of) CMA Fest 2016 in Pictures