CMA Fest reaches finale highlighted by classic vibes and new future

The 49th Country Music Association (CMA) Fest opened three days ago, audaciously attempting to declare country music back open as a communal experience. The event also wanted to celebrate how the genre had finally adjusted itself to match America's post-COVID lockdown social evolution.

It took the genre 72 hours to hit the ground and reacclimate to its core business goals of drinking a beer, scootin' a boot, waving a flag and adoring the old rugged cross.

Here are five artists' performances that define how, in one day, CMA Fest 2022 introduced how country music can evolve. 

Blanco Brown's unprecedented dance party

Blanco Brown doesn't perform "country music." Instead, he empathetically performs essential American classics with the unique ability to make Sam Cooke and George Jones feel related by how their catalogs are universally beloved.

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He opened his CMA Fest set with "A Change Is Gonna Come," blending into "Tennessee Whiskey." Following it up with trap-country ballad "Georgia Power" drives home the point even further.

Clad in a combination of classic mid-80s throwback Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros jerseys, he gives off the vibe of "cool pre-teen prayer camp counselor DJing the the all-camp dance party" more than "soulful hip-hop performer."

This is the first set in CMA Fest history to take 60 seconds to seamlessly blend sounds by hip-hop legends Fatman Scoop (via a sample of his club-familiar track "Be Faithful"), Chubb Rock (via his 1990 rap classic "Treat Em Right" and Kid-N-Play (via their kick-step dance with his DJ, DJ Brab).

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As the DJ dropped Johnny Cash's "Walk The Line" and followed it with "9 to 5," the crowd felt comfortable. Then, Brown's DJ played Outkast's "Ms. Jackson," and alchemy occurred. First, the crowd paused. Then, they exalted. A packed crowd singalong of Outkast's 2003 single "Hey Ya" followed.

He then broke into his anthemic 2021 single "Nobody's More Country."

He found no disagreement as the crowd double-time clapped while sweating ever more profusely than ever.

Blend Brown's artistic intentions erring towards "purpose over prosperity" with a peak-hour hip-hop DJ's desire to play the hottest 90 seconds of a track. The 45-minute, 18-song set he helmed at the CMA Fest's Riverside Stage was astonishing, unprecedented and fun.

Lady A delivers a crowd-rousing performance

Hillary Scott's renowned lead vocal kicked off Lady A's 2014 single "Bartender" at the start of their Nissan Stadium set. On Sunday, the crowd -- as opposed to the other three nights -- arrived ready for a singing and dancing party. Scott's sultry, soulful performance got the venue's highly packed lower bowl and field levels to their feet.

Lady A wrote their new single "Summer State of Mind" mere months ago. They told The Tennessean they wanted to get a jump on viral popularity by releasing it without an album. "You're the ice; I'm the Yeti," they sang. 

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Two months ago, Charles Kelley appeared at BRELAND's "Breland and Friends" event at the Ryman Auditorium. During their mini-set, their duet on Lady A's signature power-pop ballad "Need You Now" was an unlikely, almost show-stealer. During Nissan Stadium's fourth night, the tandem reprised the duet, but BRELAND joined Kelley, Hillary Scott, and Dave Haywood onstage. 

In exclusive news, Lady A noted they have a collaboration with BRELAND planned for an album BRELAND says is coming "in the fall," they told The Tennessean in a press room interview. 

Hillary Scott's been at it as a top-tier vocalist in Nashville for two decades. Hearing her work -- alongside the stellar work horn section -- on tracks like reggae-tinged "Champagne," raucous party elevator "You Look Good," and the previously-mentioned "Need You Now" really highlighted the breadth of her talent.

It was one of the weekend's most comprehensively excellent outings as a start-to-finish performance.

BRELAND's star-to-superstar evolution is complete

BRELAND's a ubiquitous presence in country music at present because he is a humble servant to the will of a song to serve the listener's needs more than to satisfy his own artistic desires. 

Moreover, his "cross country" genre-agnostic musical movement wholly represents the needs of country music's rabid fanbase in recording studios in a manner as pure as rock and roll's energy colliding with standards in the 1950s. This combination yields amazingly connective music that never fails to inspire joy in country music's fanbase.

"You can't cheat the grind," noted BRELAND in a pre-show conversation with The Tennessean. The 26-year-old's growth into a country star involved singing R & B songs on TikTok, having unexpected success, and then spending 2020 working with artists including Dierks Bentley and HARDY, Keith Urban and disco legend Nile Rodgers, plus more. 

However, this weekend, he showed a new level of tireless dedication.

BRELAND performed at Spotify House, made appearances for festival advertiser Busch Beer, sweated through a spirited set on the banks of the Cumberland River, and made multiple appearances around the festival, plus on its main stage on consecutive nights.

The young singer/songwriter/producer's happiness about his moment is infectious. On Saturday afternoon, he skipped around on the Riverfront Stage while singing "Praise The Lord," his new single. Singing with Lady A on Sunday night, his harmonizing with Hillary Scott was note-perfect. 

If there was a "most valuable player" for CMA Fest 2022, saying it was BRELAND would undercut Darius Rucker's triumphant career victory lap, Wynonna Judd's Friday night appearance, Carrie Underwood, Blanco Brown invoking hip-hop culture's most country beloved highlights, ERNEST, Elle King, and several other strong moments.

However, by not cheating his grind, BRELAND cut through the dense humidity and impressive collection of top-tier talent to complete his star-to-superstar evolution on the weekend that country music, in full, returned to its commercial home environs.

Dierks Bentley celebrates country music's legacy

2003-released "What Was I Thinking's" bluegrass banjos and rock guitar licks ringing out throughout Nissan Stadium welcomed Dierks Bentley to the stage for the 49th CMA Fest's final headlining set of the weekend.

Bentley, the August 3 CMA Fest ABC special's host, then noted that he drove the 28-year-old truck he owned when he arrived in Nashville in 1994 to Nissan Stadium to play at the festival. This banter logically led to a spirited and crowd assistance-aided "I Hold On." 

Sweat-drenched Bentley's workmanlike stylings highlighted something notable about the country music industry's aesthetic moving forward. However, it will take a blue-collar effort mixed with solid musicianship to allow country music's coming moment as a pop-cultural bellwether.

The tail end of his set included a duet cover of The Charlie Daniels Band's "Devil Went Down To Georgia" with TV event co-host Elle King, followed by their newly released duet "Worth A Shot." Then, following a successful marriage proposal by two front-row standing Bentley fans, he launched into his 2012-released rocker, "5-1-5-0," to close the night. The moments felt like the "greatest hits" of the country music, as a genre, the way its most diehard should best remember it rather than a Bentley set that was perhaps gone too long.

Dierks Bentley has nearly 20 country radio No. 1 singles that feature drums and every manner of guitar and guitar-style instrument. Notably, in an era where country music has graciously embraced every sonic and social inspiration, it is notable to hear the genre celebrate its hard rock core on its most celebrated commercial stage.

\Yet, for as much as country music welcomes difference, it will honor the best of what it was and what it is before it embraces and evolves into what it is to become.