CMA Fest/Day 2/Sugarland. Also, Heather Gets a New Name

Friday of CMA Fest was very exciting for me. Sugarland was performing that night, and I was hoping to meet some fellow Sugarland fans that day. Apparently I was so excited I forgot to take pictures. I do have this one, however:

We started off with our free breakfast. Our waiter was telling us that he was working security at LP Field. He showed us his schedule, and my daughter (who from now on shall be named “Eagle Eye”) noticed that Sugarland was rehearsing during the day. The people at the next table asked to see the schedule, and then my daughter asked for it back and confirmed that Sugarland was indeed rehearsing at 1:30 PM. She and I decided to go. I texted the 4 Sugarland friends I had contact info for, to let them know the scoop.

We headed down to Broadway. Eagle Eye had seen a girl in a T-Shirt the day before that said “I <3 Country Music”. Apparently they were free at the Guildan booth, so we were off to claim our own. There was also free ice cream and Ocean Spray Drinks (I recommend the cranberry cocktail with lime, yum, yum).  There was a singer I didn’t know signing autographs at the Guildan booth, so it was a little crazy. We just had to fill out a form with our e-mail and turn it in to get our t-shirts. Eagle Eye got a pink women’s cut shirt that said “I Heart Country Music” and I got a blue one with a horse that said “Born Country”. We liked this booth because they had all sizes and would give you the size you asked for.

We saw people walking around with Pedigree bags and figured they must be giving away dog treats. Eagle Eye asked where they were from-the Pedigree booth was in the Family Zone. So we headed over there. Not only did they have treats, they had puppies! There were puppies from a shelter that were looking for homes. They were just being brought out of the car. There was a brother and a sister, and the people from the shelter decided to name them Blake and Miranda. There was also a little black and brown female puppy, and names were being discussed. Someone suggested “Reba”. I said “Jennifer Nettles”. The folks from the shelter liked “Nettles”, and decided to give her that name! Pedigree also had very cute shirts for sale that said “Country Rocks/Dogs Rule”. Eagle Eye and I really wanted one, but decided we needed more shirts like we needed holes in our heads.

Around 1 pm, we left the guys and headed over to LP field. Deb, a fellow Sugar Fan, was planning to meet us over there. When we got there, Keith Urban was rehearsing. There were about 10 people standing outside the gates. You couldn’t see anything, but you could hear perfectly. He sang a couple of songs and also talked …he said something about “Jake”. We decided Jake Owen must be performing with him. We were “in” on the surprise!

Keith finished and everyone left except Eagle Eye and me. Deb hadn’t arrived yet, but soon called to find our exact location. We had chatted several times online-it was so fun to finally meet her! She is very sweet and a diehard Sugarland Fan.

We could hear Sugarland’s band setting up and noodling around on their instruments. Why was Brandon playing the intro to Shania Twain’s “Man, I Feel Like a Woman” over and over? It was so annoying! And what was Travis up to? Crazy drummers-there was a marching cadence going on-I felt like I was back in my college marching band.

While we were waiting for them to actually play a song, an idea dawned on us. What if Shania was going to sing with Sugarland? That would be epic!

They finally rehearsed “Find the Beat Again”, and we could hear some discussion. We heard Jennifer say that she couldn’t hear very well; she could only hear herself.  “We need to check our ears on something besides ‘Glue’,” she said.  So they sang “Settlin’”, and when they were finished she exclaimed “So fun!” (Have I mentioned I love these people? Clearly she enjoyed rehearsal!! Who does that?) Then there was Shania’s intro one more time, and they were done. What an amazing experience. It was like we had our own private sound check.

We headed back across the bridge and found the guys at a bar.  It was time again for a little snick-snack, so we ordered some nachos, and we girls also got drinks. The guys had spent the entire time searching for a place for dinner. Yes, if you hadn’t noticed by now, food is very important to us.

We wandered around some more, and watched a dog jumping competition (where dogs jump into the water and try for distance). We were ready to head back to the hotel and regroup before dinner.  However, I noticed I had a text from another sugar fan stating that several of them were at Big Shotz. Deb and I decided to meet up with them, so I left my family and we walked over-scoring a backpack with a Bridgestone logo on it on the way. At Big Shotz , I got to meet Maria and Sara, and say hello again to Joe and Jen. J

Deb headed home, as she had to work. And I met back up with the family. The guys had scoped out “The Best Thai Food in Nashville”, which was at a place called Thai Phoo Ket, (which cracks me up because it's actually spelled 'Phuket') a double-wide trailer across from the stadium. Actually, the food was good and reasonably priced-not the best Thai food I’ve ever eaten, but it was tasty and got the job done.

Concert time! Ashton Shepherd was up first. She has really improved since I saw her open for Sugarland-was that 3 years ago? She was quite sassy when singing “Look It Up”. She made me think of Jennifer without thinking she was copying Jennifer. I realized later in the week-there is a big difference between the 2. Then Dierks Bentley performed-I love him!  After him was Lady Antebellum. There’s going to be a TV special of the CMT Fest, so after Lady A performed, they tried to tape Lady A announcing the show. They were in the middle of the audience. They tried a couple of times, but it wasn’t perfect, and the crowd was getting restless.

Finally it was time for Sugarland!!! They were announced and Brandon played the intro to “Man, I Feel Like a Woman”. Shania came out, but instead of singing with them, she just introduced Sugarland. Sugarland performed “Stuck Like Glue”, “All I Want To Do”, "Tonight", and “Everyday America” with the remix. Then the drum cadence started and a drum line came out on stage and performed “Find the Beat Again” with Sugarland! Wow! They finished the set with “Something More”. Then it was announced that they were going to do “Beat” again-for the TV show. An extra Sugarland performance? Yes, Please! It was absolutely perfect except for the 2 annoying women farther down the row who went in and out several times each night, and felt it necessary to walk by me right at “TWO STUCK TOGETHER FROM THE ATL”! How rude!

I would also like to mention that Ms. Nettles was wearing red pants-which might be categorized in the more outlandish fashion choices category. However, I would like to point out, that even in our decent seats, the stage was far away and it was kind of hard to follow the performers (thank goodness for the big screen), but Jennifer was easy to spot, due to her wardrobe choice. Well played, Ms. Nettles.

The night finished with Keith Urban, who brought Jake Owen out, and they sang one of Jake’s songs together, and Reba. I thought they were great, especially Keith. So many people left before or during Reba’s set…and Randy fell asleep, haha. What a lightweight.

Favorite performance of the night-Sugarland-and everyone around me thought so, too, so even though I’m biased, many agreed with my opinion. However, Dierks, Lady A, and Keith are all favorites of mine, so the whole night was absolutely fabulous.

Coming up-day 3: Beer and Popsicles

CMA Fest/Day 1/Grand Ole Opry

Thursday morning started off with a free breakfast at our hotel. Our breakfast was free because my husband is a triple-platinum quintuple-diamond member of the Hilton Honors program, so the hotel gave us free breakfast. Then we set out for our adventures-CMA Fest was on!




having a bath

We headed down to the Riverfront Stage, as concerts were starting there. It’s GA and open to the public, and I heard it could be quite crazy down there, so I didn’t quite know what to expect. I didn’t realize there would be all kinds of activities and promotions set up. As we were walking towards the riverfront, we saw the Budweiser Clydesdales! And they were getting their baths! Then we came to an Outdoor Zone, where we tried shooting air rifles and hunting bows. Randy and Nick also did minnow races. We played some games and the guys both won T-shirts. We were very entertained. We didn’t make it to the Riverfront Stage, but we could hear Craig Morgan, and then Jake Owen performing.



trying out the hunting bow



We then went down to the riverfront area, and it was really crowded. I couldn’t even see over the people to see how many folks were in front of the stage. Not fun. So we wandered around Broadway, and checked out other exhibits, tried samples, listened to music, etc. Chevy had a game where you did half of it by the river, and the other half in another area off Broadway. If you completed it, you got a free shirt. Heather and I decided to do it, and got shirts, but they only had XL, so we gave ‘em to the boys.  Jack Daniel’s had a trailer set up with a “tour” of the distillery, so we went in there. (We had planned to go to the actual distillery, but it was a long way away).

We were getting a little peckish, but we had a nice, early dinner planned. We just needed a little snack. Every place on Broadway was packed. We had visited the bank the day before, and the teller recommended places to eat in the arcade across the street. It was away from the main section of town, and it wasn’t crowded. There wasn’t a huge selection of places to go, but we ended up at a place called Maggie’s. It was just a place where you ordered at the counter with sandwiches and stuff. I wasn’t expecting too much. Randy and I split a chicken salad plate and it turned out to be perfect. What a surprise! When I opened the white styrofoam container, there was a scoop of chicken salad on a beautiful green lettuce leaf, some watermelon and orange wedges, and whole grain crackers. Just the right amount to take the edge off my hunger.




In the afternoon, we drove out to the Grand Ole Opry and took a tour. If you go to Nashville, I recommend doing this. I loved it. It was interesting to hear how people become members. They have to apply, and they have to show that they want to uphold the tradition of country music. I don’t think Sugarland will ever apply for membership.

We went to dinner at the Capitol Grille at the Hermitage Hotel, which a friend at church had recommended to us. It was very good, but expensive. The cocktails, the Brussels sprouts and the onion soup were fabulous. Randy’s pot roast and Heather’s filet were to die for. I didn’t really like the lamb I got. Sad face.

After dinner, we walked to LP Field. I was ready for my first night of concerts! Zac Brown Band opened with a lot of guests: Alan Jackson, Randy Travis, Amos Lee, Sonia Lee. Then Easton Corbin played-his eyebrows are out of control! He was followed by Sara Evans, who I enjoyed even though she seemed a little nervous. Then Jason Aldean performed with Kelly Clarkson, and Brad Paisley closed out the night with Alabama. We decided being the 3^rd or 4^th performer of the night is the best spot. The concerts went on until midnight or later, and a lot of people left before the last performance or two.

Favorite performance of the night: Jason Aldean



Coming up tomorrow-our Friday adventures. They might be Sugarland-tastic.







CMA Fest/Nashville, TN/Day 0

June 8, 2011. Randy and I left for Nashville. Travel was super easy and problem-free. In fact, it was probably the easiest drive I’ve ever had to JFK airport, which is weird, because we left at 7 AM and one would think we would have hit rush hour traffic.

We arrived in Nashville, took a cab to our hotel, and checked in. They had warm chocolate chip cookies in the lobby, which was great, because it was 3 PM and all we had eaten was an apple and coffee. I don’t do well when I’m hungry.

We went up to our room, got settled, and Randy checked in with what was happening at work. I finally dragged him away from it, and we went out to get the lay of the land. We went down to Bridgestone Arena to see what was going on with the CMT awards. I didn’t bother to buy tickets to this, as before we got to Nashville, I wasn’t really interested in going. But now that it was actually happening, I wished I was going. Note to self for next time-get CMT Awards tickets.

Randy noticed a group of people congregating on a corner. We went down to see what was happening. About a block up the street, people were being dropped off for the CMT awards. We saw a lot of unidentifiable men in cowboy hats. We also think we saw Little Big Town, JaneDear Girls, Trace Adkins, Sugarland’s tour manager, Hellen, with food (for Sugarland?), and others that I thought I wrote down, but apparently didn’t, and can’t remember now.

I had maneuvered my way up near the front, but was getting hungry and a little bored-since we couldn’t always be sure who we were seeing…we decided to head to the Wildhorse Saloon, since they were having a CMT viewing party that night. I figured we should get there early as it would probably be crowded. 

We had no problem getting a table near the front, and we ate and drank slowly so it wasn’t a problem to stay. But I think we could have gotten there a little later and still been ok. It was a big place and there really was plenty of room. We had BBQ and fried pickles. The baked potato salad was really good.

We watched the CMT awards, and I cheered extra loud for Sugarland. My husband booed a certain artist he doesn’t particularly care for. Oops.

They raised the TV screen, and it looked like the stage was set up for a live band. The people at the next table confirmed that Jerrod Neiman was having his fan club party that night. Meanwhile, Heather and Nick had arrived and were trying to decide to come in-there was a $10 cover, the line was long, they had no cash, and they didn’t want to pay if we were gonna leave. After some intense texting, they decided to come in. Our waitress graciously let us keep our table and we got another round of drinks.

We waited about an hour and a half, and then Jerrod Neiman came out.  Lee Brice and Jake Owen also joined him during the performance. It was really enjoyable as it was such a casual atmosphere and a laid-back music set.

It was over at about 12:30 (1:30 for us East Coasters), and we headed back to our hotel, excited for what the next day would bring.