CMA Fest: Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett, Jason Aldean on What Makes the Festival Different From Other Events
The 2022 CMA Music Festival was held from June 9 to June 12. A broadcast of the festival will air on Aug. 3, giving country music fans a chance to watch numerous performances by their favorite country singers. Leading up to the broadcast of CMA Fest 2022, Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett, Jason Aldean, and Darius Rucker shared what sets the festival apart from other events of its nature.
Keith Urban thinks CMA Fest has an ‘intense energy’
On Aug. 2, Yahoo! Entertainment published a video featuring Aldean, Urban, Rucker, and Rhett. In his interview, Urban shared that he thinks what sets CMA Fest apart from other festivals is its “energy.”
“Oh the energy of the audience, it’s so alive. I mean, we do a lot of outdoor concerts, of course, various festivals. But there’s a certain intense energy that’s always been that way at CMA Fest,” Urban said.
The country singer also shared that because the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic kept the festival from happening for two years, fans were even more excited for CMA Fest to happen.
“It’s just — and this year I think that it’s amplified by the fact that it hasn’t been here in two years. And it feels like everybody’s been dying to get back into this environment and get that feeling back again,” Urban added.
Thomas Rhett called the music festival ‘surreal’
Speaking on CMA Fest, Rhett called the festival “one of the most surreal experiences.” The country singer also praised the event for its accessibility.
“I do think it’s cool that you can stream it because obviously if you can’t make it here, you can still watch it. But there is nothing like being here,” Rhett said according to Yahoo! Entertainment.
He continued, “You know, like being in the stadium, whether you’re in the front row or the nosebleeds, like, it’s one of the most surreal experiences in the world to see, like, literally everybody in our genre coming together, seeing each other again for the first time in a while.”
What Jason Aldean and Darius Rucker think about CMA Fest
When asked about CMA Fest, Aldean credited the music festival’s success to the fans that attend each year.
“You know, you got fans from all over the world coming into this thing. And, you know, that’s it. Like, they never know who they’re going to see that maybe they’re not expecting to see. So, I think that’s part of the fun. And as an artist, you like kind of having those surprise moments for them,” said Aldean.
For Rucker, he appreciates being able to perform with and hang out with his “friends” in the country music industry.
“That was always one of the cool things about CMA Fest is you see your friends. And so I just saw Dierks and stuff. And you know, you’re holding everybody up because you just want to sit there and talk to each other, but you can’t. But it’s just fun to be back doing this,” he said according to Yahoo! Entertainment.
How to watch CMA Fest 2022
This year’s CMA Fest was held in Nashville, Tennessee, at Nissan Stadium. In a three-hour televised event, CMA Fest 2022 will air on ABC at 8 p.m./7 p.m. Central on Aug. 3.
On Aug. 4, the concert special will be available to stream on Hulu.
More information about watching CMA Fest 2022 can be found here.
