Some actual country music at CMA Fest.
If you followed along with this year’s CMA Fest, which just wrapped up after four days here in Nashville, you’ll see that there were a lot of people who weren’t happy with the…well, lack of country music during some of the performances.
I mean, the C in CMA Fest does stand for “country” after all, which may come as a surprise when we’re seeing performances from MGK and Post Malone.
But there was no lack of country music at Ascend Amphitheater on Saturday night. In fact, as soon as this year’s schedule was released, I had this show circled on my calendar, and it didn’t disappoint.
Tracy Lawrence took over Ascend for a special “Tracy Lawrence & Friends” show, featuring names like Chris Young, Lee Greenwood, Randy Houser, Maddie & Tae, Priscilla Block. While all of the friends performed one or two of their own songs, they also joined Tracy to perform some of his biggest hits, making for some incredible moments for not only the crowd but also the performers who were clearly honored to be sharing the stage with the country music legend.
And one of the highlights of the night was when Tracy teamed up with his friend Riley Green to perform his 1996 classic “Time Marches On.”
The song remains one of the biggest hits of Tracy’s career, and was recently introduced to an entirely new generation when it went viral on TikTok awhile back.
And it may have just been the most stone-cold country performance of the entire festival. (Riley also indisputably had the best mustache of the entire festival, but that’s a different story).
@whiskeyriff Riley Green & Tracy Lawrence performing “Time Marches On.” // whiskeyriff.com #whiskeyriff #rileygreen #tracylawrence ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff
Of the three shows at Ascend Amphitheater for this year’s CMA Fest, this one sold out almost immediately, which should be a pretty good indication that people are still coming to CMA Fest looking for good country music.
And they definitely got it on Saturday night, thanks to guys like Tracy Lawrence and Riley Green.
Just good ol’ country music at CMA Fest. What a concept.
