It’s CMA Music Festival time–where the music stars celebrate the fans and get up close and personal with them…

  Brad Paisley just says what we all know. (:12)
“Country music is unique to every other kind of music, and the family nature of it. The fact that we tell our own stories and then our stories intertwine.”

  Brad Paisley talks about the passion of the fans attending the CMA Music Festival. (:24)
“You’re talkin’ about your most intense fan base and group of people being in the same place at one time once a year. They plan their vacation around that festival. These people, they know every word, they want to hear certain songs, they want to meet you, they want access, and they get it at this. And it’s really a great thing to be a part of.”

  Maren Morris explains why she loves the CMA Music Festival. (:12)
“The music fest is such a great place for fans all across the country, all across the world that come and see their favorite acts, and it’s a chance for us as the artist to really connect with them.”

  Maren Morris loves playing music festivals. (:21)
“Well in Texas, I grew up going to a lot of Texas music festivals…doing the whole camping thing with my parents. I grew up doing that for years. I’ve always enjoyed festivals because you get to, in a very short span of time, see so much music, and I think that’s just one of the coolest things about going as a fan.”

  Jake Owen talks about the importance of staying in touch with fans all the time–not just during CMA Music Fest week. (:45)
“I think the best compliment I ever got was in a restaurant one night, and a guy came over to the table and he said, ‘I just want you to know, man, I follow you on Twitter, but,’ he said, ‘it’s kind of weird ’cause I don’t know you at all, but I feel like I know you, just from followin’ you on Twitter. I feel like we’re friends.’ And to me, that was the greatest compliment ever because I really work hard to maintain that connection between myself and my fans, whether they’re here in Nashville or whether they’re, you know, all over the country — or overseas, really. I think by followin’ me on Twitter, you get a really good picture of who I am as a person, what I believe in, the kind of things that I’m proud of, and it’s nice to know that people out there that maybe I’ve never met before feel like they’re on a friend level with me just because I keep in contact with them personally through social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter.”

  Jake Owen takes his responsibility of making sure fans have a good time at his concerts very seriously. (:23)
“It’s important for me, when you put a show on…like, people come out. They took time out of their life, they bought parking, you know, they went out to dinner, and whatever they did, they came out to have a good time. And that’s all I’m responsible for! I like that responsibility! I like being responsible for showing up and making sure that these folks know that I’m there to make sure they have one heck of a time, because that’s what I’m there for.”

  Cam loves performing for her fans. (:12)
“Performing, hearing people cheer, is so exciting, and I think country fans try and sing along, even when they’ve never heard it before, they get so excited, or at least they do with this song, and they start singin’ along. It’s so great.”

  Chris Young still can’t believe that he’s a part of the CMA Music Festival as a performer. (:11)
“It’s a little strange if you think back to the fact that I was walkin’ around gettin’ autographs from other people. So it’s a little bit different knowin’ that now I’ve got people bringin’ stuff up to me, but it’s a good feeling.”

  Chris Young talks about the strangest thing he’s ever been asked to autograph. (:11)
“Weirdest thing I’ve ever signed…I actually had a lady get me to sign a pack of Depends for her husband’s 75th birthday. That probably is the weirdest at this point.”

  Miranda Lambert recalls the time she lost her cool meeting “Angels in Waiting” singer Tammy Cochran. (:24)
“I completely mobbed Tammy Cochran…randomly, for no reason, and was freakin’ out…it was during Fan Fair week. And I was up here with my parents, and I just completely, was the biggest gherm, groupie, fan ever and would not shut up, and she probably hates me to this day. (laughs) She doesn’t know it’s me, though! She doesn’t know it was me. I’m sure she doesn’t remember, so, yeah, that was probably my stupidest moment.” (laughs)

  Kane Brown says it’s crucial to have fan input on his music. (:19)
“It’s an important part to my strategy of social media, because people try to put albums up without showing anybody, nobody knows what songs on there. They click preview on iTunes. Mine I put it on Facebook. I let my fans decide if they like it or not before we put it on the album, so if they like it that’s what gets to album,if they don’t like it then it doesn’t make the cut.”

  Brandon Lancaster from LANCO talks about the importance of their relationship with their fans. (:36)
“I think from day one we never really set out to have fans, we more just thought of having these people that come to our shows that we connect with, that we have a relationship with, so, that’s been really cool. It’s really cool when you see some of the same faces at different shows because you do have a relationship with them you know. We understand our music, obviously, we create our music, but if there’s anyone that understands our music as much as we do it’s the people that you see in multiple times and listen to a lot and have really connected to it enough to see multiple shows…so that’s really fun for us because it’s a, there’s just a loyalty there, and it feels like we have a relationship with that person.”

  Luke Combs credits his fans with helping spread the word about his music. (:39)
“Since I was not even writing my own music, It was just . . . They would say ‘Man, I showed you to everybody and I brought ten people to the show tonight.’  Or they say ‘I’ve bought all your music and sometimes twice.’ They’re just so enthusiastic and it’s such a help to have people who believe in you that much because it’s easy when you got . . . You know, they become a salesman for your music and for your brand and stuff. They’ll go out and they’ll play your music when anybody gets in the truck. They say ‘You heard this guy’s song?’ And they play it and that person falls in love with you and they show somebody else and it’s just kinda a snowball effect. Such a cool thing.”

  Kenny Chesney talks about the connection fans have to his music, and why they come to see him live. (:42)
“I think one of the reasons that people come to the shows, and are so there…is that they’ve lived with this music and there’s a lot of layers to the music that we’ve created and put out there. Some of them are nostalgic, some more escapism, and some are just about being in the moment, and I think that it’s the beauty of songs. You never know how it’s going to touch someone, but they have came year after year and built what we have out there because they cared about these songs and the music and I believe that a lot of these songs somehow on some level have reached in there and touched their life. And that doesn’t happen with every song, but when it does its really great.”