Spotify Celebrates the Best of Country Music at CMA Fest 2019
The Country Music Association’s CMA Fest in Nashville, TN, is country music’s biggest annual gathering. This past weekend, Spotify returned to Ole Red in Nashville for the second consecutive year to celebrate at CMA Fest with “Spotify House.” The weekend was jam-packed with country music, good food, drinks, and much more. Surprise performances, podcast announcements, and even a boxing class made the gathering truly unforgettable. Check out the highlights below.
Day 1: Brunch, Midland Podcast + “Old Town Road”
Day 1 at CMA Fest opened with a welcome brunch and panel discussion featuring Spotify’s Head of Artist & Label Marketing, Nashville, Brittany Schaffer, Spotify’s Global Head of Communications, Dustee Jenkins, and country trio Midland. Trisha Yearwood, Little Big Town and Rascal Flatts joined in on the fun with surprise performances, followed by a set from newcomer-turned-country-star Lil Nas X. Plus, Spotify announced an exclusive new podcast with Midland.
The new podcast is “a discovery and an adventure, jump on board… but get life insurance first.” —Midland Lead singer Mark Wystrach
Day 2: Rockin’ Around the Clock + A Night of Covers
We kept up the energy on day two with a stellar lineup of performances from opening act Brandon Ratcliff to sets from Ingrid Andress, Willie Jones, and Tegan Marie. At night, Old Dominion, James Barker Band, Brantley Gilbert, and others took the stage. NBC’s The Voice winner Danielle Bradbery rocked out to her own songs, along with covers of “Shallow” from A Star is Born and Carrie Underwood’s hit, “Last Name.” Morgan Evans performed a mashup of WALK THE MOON’s “Shut up and Dance,” and Andy Grammer’s “Honey, I’m Good.” Filmore covered “Mr. Brightside,” by The Killers.
Day 3 – Country Music + Boxing class
Spotify House started day three off right, with an early morning Spotify Workout Class led by Lindsay Ell. After that, she then headed to Ole Red to perform an acoustic set of her hits. High Valley lead singer Brad Rempel and Carly Pearce continued to rock the house throughout the day. Eventually the afternoon came to a close, but not until after country music icon Tanya Tucker, Grammy-nominated artist Chris Young, and “The Git Up” sensation Blanco Brown played into the night with unparalleled performances.
“The beauty of what we do all day is to take our heartache, take some gold string, and thread it together to share it with y’all.” —Caylee Hammack
Day 4 – Closing Time + Final Surprise Performance
Lady Antebellum joined their fans at CMA fest to close out the weekend with a final surprise performance.
Get more of CMA Fest around the clock with Spotify’s Hot Country playlist.
