June 8, 2017
CMA Fest is an annual country music tradition in Nashville. This year, RFD-TV, invited classic country artists, rodeo stars, and up-and-comers musicians to sign autographs and meet fans at our booth.
Day one started with autograph signings from Camille Rea and Tony Jackson. Jackson has received recent attention for his George Jones tribute song, “The Grand Tour,” which has been topping the charts. Rea’s passioned single, “Shadows Dance Tonight,” hit No.55 on Nashville’s Music Row Chart and has received strong airplay across the United States and Canada.
The Bellamy Brothers, known for hits such as “Let Your Love Flow,” and “If I Said You Had a Beautiful Body” entertained fans with group photos, autographs, and a little humor.
“We’re old road dogs,” grinned Howard when asked about the motivation behind the brothers 200-plus concert dates each year. David added, “Our live draw is bigger than it was in the ‘80s.”
Up-and-comer Shane Owens, stopped by. Owens, who Rolling Stone touted as one of the top 10 newcomers, isn’t actually new to the business at all. “People may not realize it, but this is my third record deal,” Owens explained. “Some people portray me as a new artist, but truth be told, I’ve been doing this a long time and have had my share of lumps and pains in this business. It’s part of the process just like anything else. It’s going through those hard times that have really shaped me in to who I am today. I simply love what I do and I’ve learned in life you can’t quit, no matter how hard it is. I’ve come too far to throw in the towel now.”
Classic country artists Jimmy Fortune and T. Grahm Brown signed autographs and met with fans. Brown even felt compelled to visit a neighboring booth hosted by Hee Haw star, Lulu Roman.
RFD-TV rounded out the day with strong support for Western Sports. Country singers Mark Wills and Austin Wahlert, who both perform regularly at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Vegas, visited the booth. Then Flint Rasmussen, Amy Wilson, the PBR’s Matt West and Bull Rider Cooper Davis squeezed into the RFD-TV booth for autograph signings for rodeo fans.
This content is sponsored by Zylkene Equine and Tomlyn. Learn more at barnchats.com and tomlyn.com.
