Luke Bryan Recalls His First CMA Fest
Luke Bryan rarely misses the chance to play on the big CMA stage in Nashville each year. This year, he’ll take the stage at Nissan Stadium at CMA Fest on Friday night (6/7).
Luke told us, “It’s been a minute since I missed a year, so when I get the call on that, it’s something that historically I’ve always done.”
Bryan recalls the first time he played the festival, “CMA Fest is going from the start of your career from playing River Stages to the other side. My first time, I took my guitar. At the time, there would be downtime between the headliner’s performances, so in the interim, they would have new artists come out and play one song acoustically, and I think that was the first thing I did.”
He added, “I remember being just as nervous as you could be about any performance.”
“To go to the first time where I actually did a full band, yeah, it was amazing. Artists, many times first stadium performance is CMA Fest, and it’s always packed to the rim. So, you’re already really, really nervous about the enormity of it.”
The festival has grown even since the country star first played it. He recalled, “I remember the days when the CMA thought the stadium was going to be too big and it wasn’t going to work, and now they have essentially outgrown the stadium because it’s grown to be that big and so important to the world of Nashville and country music.”
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Bryan recently revealed what he’s most proud of in our interview, and it’s not what some may think. While he is proud of his musical accomplishments, what is close to home makes him most proud.
Luke told us, “I am happy through all this. I have enjoyed it, and I’ve enjoyed it with everybody who’s been in the circle of it, including my wife and kids.”
The country superstar continued, “Being able to navigate all this and have a home that feels like home and that’s a real home. To have all American boys doing all American things. I am leaving here (Nashville interview studio) and rushing down to Columbia, Tennessee, to watch baseball games.”
He added with a smile, “I’ve been able to be a big celebrity and live the celebrity life, but I’ve also been able to live as a real human, too, and not have to sacrifice a lot of stuff because I was a celebrity.”
“I didn’t hide in the house and not leave the house because I’m so worried that someone’s gonna want a picture while I’m eating dinner.”
