Ride the Road to CMA Music Festival
By Maria Eckhardt
© 2008 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
Fans of CMA Music Festival, taking place June 5-8 in Downtown Nashville, know the event is just around the bend when the "Road to the CMA Music Festival" launches in their hometown. This program brings talent directly to the people through a concert tour that's guaranteed to build enthusiasm for the Festival.
This year's "Road to CMA Music Festival Presented by Tetley Iced Tea" shows feature a double bill, with Jennifer Hanson opening for Darryl Worley. Presenting sponsor Tetley Iced Tea and secondary sponsor Greased Lightning Cleaning Products will offer samples at each performance, and sponsor Chevy will display one of its vehicles at the venues. Additionally, promotional events are planned, with local radio remotes and giveaways at a grocery retailer during the day of each concert.
"Tetley has been making iced tea for more than 50 years," said Clive Rowlandson, VP, Marketing, Tetley Iced Tea. "We know our product is about more than refreshment, it's about sharing good times with family and friends. That's what this tour is all about too, a great way to kick back and have fun this summer. We think Tetley Iced Tea and Country Music is a perfect partnership."
"I'm very excited about going on the road with Jennifer Hanson. She is such a great talent," exclaimed Worley. "I look forward to new relationships with Tetley Iced Tea and Greased Lightning. This will be a terrific way to lead up to the CMA Music Festival and hopefully this tour will increase the excitement."
"The CMA Music Festival is one of my absolute favorite events of the year," said Hanson. "When I was a little girl, I spent many of my summer vacations in Nashville with my dad, attending the shows and getting autographs. But not everyone gets to come to Nashville and experience Music Festival in Music City. It's great that CMA and Tetley Iced Tea are sponsoring a tour that takes a little slice of the excitement that is Music Festival out on the road."
Date City Venue
APRIL
17 Houston, Texas Firehouse Saloon
18 San Antonio, Texas Cowboys Red River
19 Fort Worth/Dallas, Texas Billy Bob's Texas
24 Orlando, Fla. Cheyenne Saloon
25 Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla. Jannus Landing Courtyard
26 Charlotte, N.C. Coyote Joe's
30 Birmingham, Ala. Zydeco
MAY
1 Jacksonville, Fla. Mavericks at the Landing
2 Atlanta, Ga. Wild Bill's
4 Raleigh, N.C. Longbranch Saloon
Visit www.CMAfest.com for information on how to purchase tickets to the "Road to CMA Music Festival Presented by Tetley Iced Tea." To order CMA Music Festival tickets, call 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378); visit www.CMAfest.com to download an order form to fax or mail; visit www.ticketmaster.com to buy online or charge-by-phone at (615) 255-9600. Four-day ticket package categories correspond to different levels of seating at LP Field for the Nightly Concerts. Children 3 years and younger are admitted FREE. For up-to-the-minute information about tickets, travel information, schedules, artist appearances, and more, visit www.CMAfest.com and sign up for CMA Exclusive e-news.
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Tetley Iced Tea Presents Road to CMA Music Festival logo |
Darryl Worley; photo: Jeremy Cowart |
Jennifer Hanson; photo: Juan Pont Lezica |
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Country Music Drives Carl Black Chevrolet to Festival Success © 2008 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc. A Chevy can pack a lot of power as well as speed - but nothing on wheels was faster or stronger than P.D. Sumner's decision to sign Carl Black Chevrolet to a sponsorship agreement at CMA Music Festival, a four-day event held each June in Downtown Nashville. As VP of the Carl Black Automotive Group, the executive completed his move from the company headquarters to Nashville just two days before the Festival began in 2003. Even so, that was time enough for him to sense that his company was a perfect match for Country Music's most spectacular celebration. That's one reason why he responded instantly when Melony Wilson, Advertising Director for the new Nashville office, suggested he contact CMA even as the pace of opening the Nashville dealership was reaching its peak. "We went in with our hair on fire," he remembered, laughing. "It seemed like we were working 24 hours a day to make sure we were part of that year's Festival, although we didn't know if we were going to even live through it." On June 4, 2003, Carl Black Chevrolet, which had opened for business on June 2, debuted in the Family Zone, with a table, chairs and a brand new Silverado, which they unveiled and gave fans the opportunity to register to win. Since then, in addition to the Silverado, they've expanded to include a booth in which several guitars are offered in drawings each day of the Festival, with an artist dropping by at the end of each giveaway cycle to do autographs, sign the guitar and pose with its winner. Participating artists have included Trace Adkins, Big & Rich, Luke Bryan, Jason Michael Carroll, Eric Church, Cole Deggs and the Lonesome and Chris Young, among many others. Sumner knows that his company's sponsorship has been worth its investment. "We don't expect, when we have our drawings, that we're going to sell somebody a truck that day or even that week," he said. "For us, it's more about the residual effect: When people are in the market for a vehicle, they'll remember that great time they had in our booth and give us an opportunity. When they give us that mental shelf space, we know we've done our job." There are other perks too. Every day he's in his Nashville office, Sumner can look beyond his desk to walls festooned with memorabilia of the ties, personal and professional, he's built in Music City: autographed pictures and posters from Brooks & Dunn, Cowboy Troy, The Wreckers . and a CMA Awards poster, signifying the promotions they've run to bring customers from other markets to the annual broadcast and special activities, including a meet-and-greet last year with Van Zant.
"It's a blast to be part of something
this big, to see this much talent in one place at one time," he
admitted. "We're Country Music fans. And anytime you can be part of
something that you enjoy, you're going to succeed." |
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Trace Adkins in the Carl Black booth at CMA Music Festival. photo courtesy of Carl Black |
Chris Young in Carl Black Booth; photo courtesy of Carl Black |
Blue County in a Carl Black vehicle during the CMA Music Festival Kick-off Parade. |
Trent Tomlinson greets fans in the Carl Black Booth. photo courtesy of Carl Black |
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International Performers Gather at CMA Global Artist Party © 2008 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc. On Monday, June 2, a few days before the four-day CMA Music Festival launches on June 5 in Downtown Nashville, a chorus of accents from far beyond Music Row will make their own kind of music at The Stage, on Lower Broadway, as fans from around the world gather to welcome their hometown artists to Music City for the CMA Global Artist Party. Now rockin' for its fifth consecutive year, this special event showcases some of the hottest new international talent. Scheduled to begin at 6 PM, the festivities will include performers from Australia (Troy Cassar-Daley, Shea Fisher, Jasmine Rae), Belgium (Kat'Lee Jones), Canada (Jessie Farrell, Johnny Reid), Ireland (The Murphy Band) and The Netherlands (Wim van de Vliert). Admission is FREE and open to the public, with preference given to those with a four-day CMA Music Festival laminate and/or a CMA Global Artist Party pass. To order CMA Music Festival tickets, call 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378); visit www.CMAfest.com to download an order form to fax or mail; visit www.ticketmaster.com to buy online or charge-by-phone at (615) 255-9600. Four-day ticket package categories correspond to different levels of seating at LP Field for the Nightly Concerts. Children 3 years and younger are admitted FREE. For up-to-the-minute information about tickets, travel information, schedules, artist appearances, and more, visit www.CMAfest.com and sign up for CMA Exclusive e-news. |
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Jessie Farrell; photo: Ivan Otis |
Katlee Jones; photo: Luc De Decker |
Troy Cassar-Daley |
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Just Who are Those Fun Team Volunteers? © 2008 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc. You know who we mean: those upbeat folks who roam the CMA Music Festival each June in Downtown Nashville, bearing free gifts and lifting spirits through games, sing-alongs and whatever other antics come to mind. These sunny youngsters are mainly students or recent graduates from Gallatin High School, just outside of Nashville. Brian Hoover, a faculty member at Gallatin, picked up experience as a talent escort at the CMA Awards, so when word went around that volunteer opportunities were opening up at the Festival, Hoover recruited candidates from among his students. One of those opportunities involved gathering people who enjoyed entertaining, had a quick sense of humor and were willing to spread cheer among Festival attendees who were waiting in line for autographs, products or admission to shows. Four Gallatin students fit that bill for the first Fun Team in 2002. Membership has risen since then to nine, but responsibilities haven't changed. The Team gathers each morning of the Festival to pick up their days' worth of CDs, T-shirts, battery-powered mini-fans and other items to hand out on behalf of sponsoring organizations. Then they split into groups and, from the start of each day's activities until the last of the crowd files past them into LP Field at night, distribute these souvenirs, lead trivia contests, set up footraces, point passers-by toward the next big show or celebrity appearance - in other words, live up to their mission as well as their name. One veteran Fun Team member, Kurt Peladeau, has graduated from Gallatin and begun pursuing a marketing and advertising degree at East Tennessee University in Johnson City. Yet he promises to be back for his third Fun Team run in June. "It's a blast," he explained. "We're here to have a great time and make sure you do too. The Fun Team is a great group of kids." Well, great, yes, but not necessarily all kids: For the third consecutive year, Randy Burse, 38, who teaches drama at Gallatin, will don the Fun Team T-shirt along with some of his students and their classmates. "It's great to meet people from all around the world at the Festival. And besides," he added, "when you hand out free stuff, you're very popular." To order CMA Music Festival tickets, call 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378); visit www.CMAfest.com to download an order form to fax or mail; visit www.ticketmaster.com to buy online or charge-by-phone at (615) 255-9600. Four-day ticket package categories correspond to different levels of seating at LP Field for the Nightly Concerts. Children 3 years and younger are admitted FREE. For up-to-the-minute information about tickets, travel information, schedules, artist appearances, and more, visit www.CMAfest.com and sign up for CMA Exclusive e-news. |
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CMA Music Festival Fun Team member hands out samples. |
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Looking Good with CMA Music Festival Gear © 2008 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc. If you're finding it difficult to wait until June 5 when the four-day CMA Music Festival launches to dress the part of the ultimate Country Music fan, CMA Music Festival merchandise is available for purchase now. Ladies can pick up a heather-blue T-shirt ($20) adorned with a color guitar illustration (available in seven sizes: 0-16). Festival-themed cactus green T-shirt ($20) featuring a guitar line drawing (sizes: small - 2XL) and an asphalt-colored zip-up hoody ($40) with multi-colored scroll art (sizes: small - 2XL), for men and women, are also ready to order. To go stylish with this year's attire, visit the online store at www.CMAfest.com. Check back for updates as more products become offered. CMA Music Festival attendees can come dressed to impress with clothing that captures the spirit and style of the event. The complete apparel line, which will be sold onsite during the Festival at five locations, is designed and produced by Music City Merchandise, CMA's merchandise partner for the past 14 years. To order CMA Music Festival tickets, call 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378); visit www.CMAfest.com to download an order form to fax or mail; visit www.ticketmaster.com to buy online or charge-by-phone at (615) 255-9600. Four-day ticket package categories correspond to different levels of seating at LP Field for the Nightly Concerts. Children 3 years and younger are admitted FREE. For up-to-the-minute information about tickets, travel information, schedules, artist appearances, and more, visit www.CMAfest.com and sign up for CMA Exclusive e-news. |
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CMA Music Festival Hoodie |
CMA Music Festival T-shirts |
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