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Record crowds helped CMA Music Festival to its first-ever sellouts, packing Nashville's LP Field football stadium to capacity, swelling downtown sidewalks with eager country fans and generally wiping away any concerns lingering about the city's ability to recover from last month's flood. "Give yourselves a round of applause," Brad Paisley said to almost 50,000 fans as he closed out the final show Sunday night (6/13). "You're not only having a good time tonight, you're doing the right thing." All proceeds from this year's event will be split between local music education and flood relief efforts. ABC-TV's Country's Night To Rock special will bring all the action to national television when it airs Wednesday, Sept. 1. But you don't have to wait that long to hear about the highlights. Read on.
The Oak Ridge Boys sang The National Anthem, Alan Jackson played portions of 10 songs interspersed with narrative spanning his 20-year career, and Tim McGraw made his long-awaited CMA Fest return Thursday night (6/10). (More on McGraw below.) Jason Aldean got the crowd to sing loudly to "Big Green Tractor" and, amid dozens of beach balls bouncing around, thanked the crowd for his "best year ever." Lady Antebellum delivered a compact set, and expressed their appreciation to the audience for "changing our lives with this song" as they began "Need You Now."
Carrie Underwood closed the show, bringing Aldean out for a cover of Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City." The evening's show-stopper was an in-song segue from "Jesus Take The Wheel" to a soaring rendition of "How Great Thou Art" that brought a thunderous ovation. 
The YWCA Celebrity Auction with Martina McBride drew $103,000 in bids, a 30% increase. Two framed, hand-written lyric sheets to "She's A Butterfly" written and autographed by songwriter Big Kenny Alphin went for $11,000 each. 
"You drive around downtown and there's people everywhere. It just shows that we are playing on. I know that happens to be my album title and it's Nashville's theme right now. Coincidence? I think not." -Carrie Underwood 
Tim McGraw ended almost a decade absence from the 2010 CMA Music Festival when he took the stage Thursday (6/10). McGraw told press backstage that family time and other projects kept him from the playing the event until now. "With kids and family [along with] the way records and tours have fallen, when this time always showed up either I was right in the middle of doing something or I'd been doing so much I just needed the time off," McGraw said. "It just never lined up right for us. And this year it did. Plus, I've got one album left and then I'm [leaving] my label. So there's sort of a new freshness going on in my career." A sold-out crowd welcomed McGraw back with open arms as he performed between Alan Jackson and Jason Aldean.
Jamey Johnson, Miranda Lambert and the Zac Brown Band bridged the CMA Fest/Bonnaroo divide, bringing a touch of Nashville to the wide-ranging neo-hippie gathering 90-minutes to the south. ZBB and Lambert played simultaneously - the former on the main stage and Miranda in That Tent. "She had the place packed," our insider tells us. "Lots of young girls and women. She opened with 'Kerosene' and closed with 'Only Prettier.'" During Johnson's performance, our correspondent marveled at how well-versed in country the fans were. "The entire audience sang every word to 'In Color' and 'High Cost of Living,'" he says. "You don't expect that at Bonnaroo." He adds, "There weren't nearly as many joints being fired up at those shows, either."
Saturday Night Live's Kenan Thompson's impression of Reba didn't sit well with her when she first saw the skit on the late-night show. The real Reba was actually "very offended" when she first started receiving emails about the bit. "I didn't like it at all," Reba told press backstage at the CMA Music Festival Friday (6/11). "Then I kept watching it, and he was making fun of himself. There were parts that were very funny and imitation is a form of flattery so I thought it was all done in fun." When the two collaborated at the 2010 CMT Music Awards last Wednesday (6/9), Reba thought he was a "sweetheart of a guy." "I really enjoyed getting to work with him," she said. There is also a Facebook campaign to get Reba on SNL this year. So far, the page has more than 2,000 supporters. Details 
Has Kid Rock been praying for Jaron & The Long Road To Love and the rising hit "Pray For You"? "[Kid Rock] couldn't have been more complimentary or nicer," Jaron says of meeting the Detroit rocker backstage at the 2009 CMT Music Awards. "He said he'd bet anything I was gonna be a big star. It was incredibly flattering, but I also chalked most of that up to that fact that we had been drinking." Fast forward a year to last week's CMT Awards, and who does Jaron see backstage? "I walked up to [him] and before I could say a word he said with a huge grin, 'Was I right?'" Jaron says. "He said he had been looking forward to seeing me tonight so that he could tell me how happy he was for me. I couldn't believe that one of the biggest stars in the world even knew who I was, let alone wanted to congratulate me."
Country stars often add a local touch to their concerts, but Jewel is taking it a step further on her current Star Light Café Tour. "It's been such a fun experience seeing all the different places on my tour, and I wanted to do something special for my fans so I have been surprising them with a song about each city," she explains. "I usually end up writing the song hours before the show. It's so nice to jump off the tour bus and just see the sights and what makes each city unique. We usually end up snapping some pictures and run them during the song later on that evening." The big questions remains: What rhymes with Yakima?
Jimmy Wayne's Project Meet Me Halfway has caught the attention of several artists and celebrities including LeAnn Rimes, Oprah Winfrey's O Magazine and celebrity chef Paula Deen. When asked about MMH backstage at Wednesday's (6/9) 2010 CMT Music Awards, Deen identified with his mission: "I was not born with any silver spoons in any orifices, and it's wonderful to be in a position to give back to things I believe in," she said. When we spoke with Wayne Friday (6/11), he was elated by her support. "It feels like there's been a jolt of MMH love recently with radio stations reaching out and O Magazine following me on Twitter. [Oprah] is so powerful so why not go to the most powerful people to try and get their help? You don't even have to have me on your show. Just talk about it." Wayne is also featured in the current People magazine. He's currently three days from the Arizona state line, but has to take two weeks off from his walk for some concerts. Learn more 
It's almost time for Carrie Underwood to walk down the aisle. She's putting the finishing touches on her upcoming nuptials, but she's staying mum on the actual wedding date. For her honeymoon, Underwood's completely in the dark - thanks to fiancé Mike Fisher. "I don't know where it is; it's a surprise," Underwood told press backstage at Thursday night's (6/10) CMA Music Festival press conference. "That was Mike's project, and I have no clue where we're going, which is nice. I know it will be warm, but that's about it."
Our condolences are extended to family and friends of new Country Music Hall of Fame member Jimmy Dean, who died Sunday evening at his home near Richmond, VA. He was 81. Known equally for his musical career ("Big Bad John," "P.T. 109") and the sausage company he founded that bears his name, Dean was to be celebrated at his Hall of Fame induction Medallion Ceremony in October.
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