CMA Fest 2023 takes place this week in Nashville, with the performers at the Nissan Stadium tonight (6/8) being Luke Combs, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Carly Pearce, and Tyler Hubbard.
Also, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Little Big Town, Luke Bryan, and many more superstars will perform on the Nissan Stadium stage this weekend.
As we get ready to see this year’s performers, we look back at what some of this year’s performers have said about the fans and the event over the years at CMA Fest.
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Miranda Lambert - CMA Fest 2008
Rick Diamond/Getty ImagesMiranda was presented with a gold record for her Crazy Ex-Girlfriend album just before she spoke to the press in 2008 at CMA Fest. She reacted, “The fans are what gives me a job. And besides a job, which I have a great job, they give me an album of the year (2008 ACM for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) and a gold record.”
Later in the same interview, Lambert said, “People want to know you, and they want to know what you’re about. I just really am who I am, and what you see is what you get, and I think that’s why I have such a good relationship with my fans and why they support me so much.”
Little Big Town - CMA Fest 2014
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In 2014, Little Big Town hosted CMA Fest for an ABC television special and had to interview fellow artists for the spcial. Backstage before they performed on the main stage that night, Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman said they got a little starry-eyed interviewing one artist in particular. Karen said, “They asked us to interview some of our friends, and Kimberly and I interviewed Tim McGraw, and we turned into two ten-year-old girls. It’s like we had never spoken to anyone before.” Kimberly added, “That was one of my most embarrassing moments. It was awful. I felt like an idiot.”
Tyler Hubbard as part of Florida Georgia Line - CMA Fest 2015
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Tyler Hubbard performs as a solo artist on the Nissan Stage tonight (6/8). In 2015, back when he was partnered with Brian Kelley in Florida Georgia Line, Tyler told us backstage before they performed, “Our fans are changing our life. They are very passionate and loyal, and on weeks like this, we get to give back. We are always going one hundred and ten miles an hour where we can’t spend time with them, so it’s a good week for us; we enjoy it for sure.”
Luke Bryan - CMA Fest 2016
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In 2016, before he performed on the main stage at LP Field (now called Nissan Stadium) at CMA Fest, Luke recalled his first days at CMA Fest and building his fan base. He said, “I always remember my first ones and starting out doing River Stages and always dreaming of coming over here and performing at LP Field and all of the stuff building the fan base early in the week. It’s an amazing week for Nashville.”
Keith Urban - CMA Fest 2018
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Keith told us why he loved CMA Fest so much in 2018 before he performed at Nissan Stadium. Urban said, “Well, number one for the fans who come from all over the world to be here, and it’s an amazing week for them. For me personally too, I love the work that all of the CMA board and all of the foundation do. They’ve been very good to me over the years, and it’s my tribe.”
