Highs and Lows of the 2009 CMA Music Festival

The Country Music Association boasts that its annual CMA Music Festival, aka, "Fan Fair," is "the ultimate fan experience." Last week annual gathering (June 11-14) featured some of the top names in country music. Here are some of the high points - and a few low points - from the festival as based on one persons impression.

Highs

Jamey Johnson. Country music's newest "overnight" sensation had already amassed a reputation as a gifted songwriter before venturing into the performing arena himself. His self-penned recording of "In Color" was a breath of fresh air for a country music industry that was suffering from stagnation. His performance on Friday night was simple, direct, and impressive.

The Judds. What a voice! Martina provided the best single performance at the festival, displaying her vocal strengths in a variety of new and old songs. It's just hard to imagine that anybody can sing any song any better - particularly her grand finale with "Independence Day."

Martina McBride. What a voice! Martina provided the best single performance at the festival, displaying her vocal strengths in a variety of new and old songs. It's just hard to imagine that anybody can sing any song any better - particularly her grand finale with "Independence Day."

Kenny Chesney. CMA's reigning Entertainer of the Year showed why he's so popular when he closed out the festival on Sunday night. He made no attempt to promote a new single or to sell a new album. He simply came on stage and sang his hits for 30 minutes - exactly what the fans wanted him to do.

Collin Ray and Restless Heart. Two acts from the past decided to team up for a single performance at Riverfront Park. They scored a home run with this set up. Ray was particularly impressive on his breakthrough hit, "Love, Me."

John Rich's Tribute to American Servicemen. Rich interrupted his Sunday night set to bring military veterans from five wars - World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Iraq - on stage. He followed with a moving tribute to them and other soldiers.

Riders in the Sky. It is called "Country Western" music, but traditional Western music often gets overlooked in today's Nashville Studios. The Riders provided an engaging reminder of the music's appeal with their Friday afternoon show at the Hard Rock Café Stage, closing with a classic rendition of "Ghost Riders in the Sky."

Lows

Thursday Night Rain. Opening act Jack Ingram performed a few songs, then Reba McEntire came out for a set. But, because of approaching thunderstorms, festival officials interrupted Reba's performance after just three songs and called on fans to seek cover while warning that the rains would hit nine minutes later. Apparently, the CMA doesn't have a good sense of time, since they missed on their estimate by about two hours. When the storm finally arrived and quickly passed, the show picked up again at 1:00 a.m. (with permission from the Mayor, who waived Nashville's late-night noise ordinance). However, by then, Reba had left the arena, as had Rascal Flatts and Julianne Hough.

Friday Night Station Management at LP Field. Did I mention that the CMA appears to have no sense of time? In an effort to avoid rains on Friday night, the start of the nightly concert was moved up from 8:00 to 7:30 p.m. As the afternoon activities wound down at Riverfront Park, the organizers announced the time change, adding that the gates of the stadium would open early, i.e., as soon as the Riverfront shows were completed (i.e., 6:00 p.m.). Thousands of fans rushed to the stadium only to be greeted by stadium workers who refused to let them enter. Most fans seemed to take the refusal in stride, just waiting for the regular 6:30 opening. But that didn't work either. Security personnel refused to allow any fans into the stadium until 6:45 - only 45 minutes before show time. After that, they tried valiantly to get all 40,000-plus fans into the stadium by the time the show started, but they didn't come close. Most seats were still empty when the first act took the stage.

Taylor Swift. Two years ago, a 17-year old Swift wowed the CMA audience by simply standing at a mike and singing her songs. This year, a 19-year-old Swift pranced around the stage, tossing her hair across her face in an apparent attempt to imitate Miranda Lambert's stage persona (Lambert had preceded Swift on stage). Her histrionics were cartoonish and distracting, so much so that emcee Melissa Peterman ("Barbara Jean," on TV's "Reba") poked fun at it after the segment. One fan near us said, "Somebody needs to knock her down a notch." Maybe she'll take care of that herself as she grows up. She obviously has the talent for a long career, if she can handle the growing pains of maturing. Her voice has gotten stronger over the past two years, but she is still at her best when standing at a mike and singing.

Introducing "Sugarland" as the reigning "Duo of the Year." Since the departure of Kristen Hall from the group, Sugarland has quickly morphed into a solo career for Jennifer Nettles. Kristian Bush has been reduced to a role of providing some guitar instrumentation and backup vocals. No doubt, Nettles has an amazing voice. But shouldn't they stop pretending to be a duo. The camera caught Bush only three times during their entire set, and one of those was because he was standing beside Nettles. And, as if to emphasize the growing solo nature of the group, Nettles and Hall didn't bother to sing "Baby Girl," their breakthrough hit from the trio days.

John Rich's Fur Coat. Rich strolled on stage wearing an atrocious full-length mink coat. In addition to its ostentatiousness, it was totally inappropriate for someone whose current hit addresses the plight of the working man. Fortunately, Sunday was a hot night. Rich tossed the coat after his first song - before he sang "Shuttin' Detroit Down."

A lot of highs. A few lows. Bottom line is that I'll probably go back next year.