Print ArticleDowntown Nashville buzzed during the 2007 CMA Music Festival - not just the honky tonks up and down Broadway and the restaurants and clubs along Second Avenue, but also the stores whose wares have little to do with Country Music.
A visit to Tattoo, for instance, the body-art shop in the historic building at 301 Broadway, would have revealed 10 artists working full-time to leave indelible Festival impressions. Actually, the impressions were mutual: Patrons walked away with visible memories of their visit, and Tattoo Owner Billy Joe Warren went home with bulging pockets, having collected about six times his usual weekly receipts.
There were some times when we were piled six to seven customers deep per artist," he said. "We had their telephone numbers so that they could go out and do their thing, and then we would call them when they were 10 minutes out from getting their tattoo. So that's [a waiting list of] 60 people deep during the course of that week."
This kind of success was hardly unique to Tattoo. Area restaurants were packed well before and after the typical rush hour. Seventeen clubs involved in the CMA Music Festival After HoursT program kept the party going long after midnight. During the afternoons, the sidewalks were packed so tightly that many who wanted photos of all the excitement at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge could only lift their cameras above the throngs at the door, click and hope for the best.
Add to that the money spent for hotels, transportation, food and souvenirs, and CMA Music Festival generated a record-setting $21 million in direct visitor spending for Music City, according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The clubs had record weeks, just sales through the roof," observed Butch Spyridon, NCVB President. "The hotels that offered 2008 packages have sold out next year already. They're getting four-night minimums and premium rates, and the fans are not complaining. They want the convenience, they want the logistics, they want the experience. What used to be more of a camping audience is now a Downtown hotel-stay audience."
One example of this new-breed customer would be Tattoo customer Maria Tooma of North Arlington, N.J., who has made a ritual out of getting a new tattoo inked at the Festival each year. During this year's Sunday-to-Sunday visit, she took in the CMA Music Festival Kick-Off Parade, the Chevy Music Tour shows outside the Sommet Center, the Nightly Concerts at LP Field, the Grand Ole Opry's Tuesday night show and one of the "CMA Celebrity Close Up" interview tapings presented by GAC at the Ryman Auditorium. By her estimation, she spent $2,500 on Festival-related activities, which included about $400 in cab fare to get her from the Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Nashville to malls and the Opryland Hotel in the days before the Festival began. It also included dinners, most often at The Palm on Fifth Avenue in Downtown.
As Tooma saw it, the atmosphere of the Festival resembles that of the neighborhood that surrounds another favorite destination, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. "This stretch of Broadway reminds me of Main Street in Cooperstown," she said. "A few blocks away, you wouldn't know it was a baseball town."
So it was with Lower Broadway during the Festival. The area is already a tourist destination, so the presence of people sporting lime-green CMT tote bags, cameras and Festival lanyards was to be expected. Still, longtime Nashville residents expressed surprise at the number of 20-somethings attending this year's event.
It was a much younger crowd this year than I've ever seen," noted Hardy Ross, Owner of Rippy's and the Broadway Brewhouse, where tables were completely filled during the brief rains that fell on Friday during the Festival. "It was a much more sophisticated crowd, a crowd on a higher economic scale.
The economic impact Downtown has gone through the roof with this thing," he continued. "Now you're seeing it broadcast on television. That only adds to the mystique. People see that: 'Wow, next year I'm going to that, because I know for four days, I can see anybody I want to see!' It's a great environment, a fun town, hotels everywhere, a beautiful area. Moving it to Downtown was the best thing that could have happened."
Ross has the numbers to prove it, as the Brewhouse tripled its typical weekly revenue during the Festival, while Rippy's did four or five times its usual business.
Likewise, Joe's Crab Shack, located a block off of Broadway on Second Avenue, did $120,000 worth of business during the Festival - double its usual income for the period.
We run with approximately 20 to 25 servers, but during that week we'll have anywhere from 35 to 40 servers, so we hire, hire, hire," said Kojo Asanta, Assistant GM, Joe's Crab Shack. "You don't necessarily worry about the cost, so to speak. You worry about taking care of the guests and making sure everything goes really smooth. The money's going to come in, so you don't worry about spending it."
Employees, as well as business owners, benefit during the Festival. Most servers bring in from $200 to $300 per night in tips during the week, Asante noted, which suggests Country Music fans can be generous tippers.
In earlier decades, when the event was still called Fan Fair, Nashvillians weren't always this happy to see the tourists streaming into town. Traffic jams often resulted, and with visitors spending their time at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, they were less apt to spend money on the local economy.
That antagonism is pretty much a thing of the past. "There's definitely more local support from the average citizen and the business community, and that support is an appreciation of the event," said Spyridon. "CMA has worked extremely hard on that side. They've had a group of people meet regularly to brainstorm how we can communicate it better to the local community and have the community embrace it, both in attendance and value. I think that's beginning to take hold."
That local support is evident in the 14 percent increase in single-concert ticket sales and more than 191,000 aggregate attendance at this year's Festival. It's evident from the positive vibes of the Downtown merchants. And it reflects CMA's efforts at plowing half of the receipts back into the community, represented by CMA donating $1,053,856 (to date) for music education in Nashville Public Schools through "Keep the Music Playing," as well as the stamp of importance lent to the event by ABC-TV's special, "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock."
CMA Music Festival has done as much or more for Downtown Nashville than any sports team has," Ross emphasized. "It is wonderful to see Nashville embrace what makes them unique from any other town in America. The city's musical heritage makes us different. We need to glorify it, hold it out, cherish it and embrace it."
CMA Music Festival is a showcase for Nashville that drives tourism, generates a strong base of local revenue and contributes needed funds for music education in our public schools," said CMA Chief Operating Officer Tammy Genovese. "This is Nashville's signature musical event and our success and continued growth would not be possible without the support of Mayor Bill Purcell, the mayor's office and the city, Metro Council, Butch Spyridon and the NCVB, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, the business community and local residents. What makes this event special is that everyone benefits as the Festival continues to achieve new heights generating additional income for the community and money for music education."
CMA Music Festival is an unparalleled music experience celebrating America's music. The event brings the community together with fans from around the world. Now in its 37th year, CMA Music Festival will be held on Thursday through Sunday, June 5-8, in Downtown Nashville. Dubbed the "crown jewel of Country Music Festivals" by USA Today and winner of the International Entertainment Buyers Association's 2004 and 2006 LIVE! Award for Festival of the Year, the event features four jam-packed days of music with more than 400 artists and celebrities, 90 hours of concerts, 30 hours of autograph signings, family activities, celebrity sports competitions and more.
Tickets for 2008 CMA Music Festival are available now. To order, call 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378); visit www.CMAfest.com to download an order form to fax or mail; visit www.ticketmaster.com to buy online or charge-by-phone at (615) 255-9600. Prices do not include applicable handling fees. Ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All sales are final and non-refundable.
For up-to-the-minute information about tickets, travel information, schedules, artist appearances, and more, visit www.CMAfest.com and sign up for the CMA Exclusive e-news.
2007 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc.
A visit to Tattoo, for instance, the body-art shop in the historic building at 301 Broadway, would have revealed 10 artists working full-time to leave indelible Festival impressions. Actually, the impressions were mutual: Patrons walked away with visible memories of their visit, and Tattoo Owner Billy Joe Warren went home with bulging pockets, having collected about six times his usual weekly receipts.
There were some times when we were piled six to seven customers deep per artist," he said. "We had their telephone numbers so that they could go out and do their thing, and then we would call them when they were 10 minutes out from getting their tattoo. So that's [a waiting list of] 60 people deep during the course of that week."
This kind of success was hardly unique to Tattoo. Area restaurants were packed well before and after the typical rush hour. Seventeen clubs involved in the CMA Music Festival After HoursT program kept the party going long after midnight. During the afternoons, the sidewalks were packed so tightly that many who wanted photos of all the excitement at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge could only lift their cameras above the throngs at the door, click and hope for the best.
Add to that the money spent for hotels, transportation, food and souvenirs, and CMA Music Festival generated a record-setting $21 million in direct visitor spending for Music City, according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau.
The clubs had record weeks, just sales through the roof," observed Butch Spyridon, NCVB President. "The hotels that offered 2008 packages have sold out next year already. They're getting four-night minimums and premium rates, and the fans are not complaining. They want the convenience, they want the logistics, they want the experience. What used to be more of a camping audience is now a Downtown hotel-stay audience."
One example of this new-breed customer would be Tattoo customer Maria Tooma of North Arlington, N.J., who has made a ritual out of getting a new tattoo inked at the Festival each year. During this year's Sunday-to-Sunday visit, she took in the CMA Music Festival Kick-Off Parade, the Chevy Music Tour shows outside the Sommet Center, the Nightly Concerts at LP Field, the Grand Ole Opry's Tuesday night show and one of the "CMA Celebrity Close Up" interview tapings presented by GAC at the Ryman Auditorium. By her estimation, she spent $2,500 on Festival-related activities, which included about $400 in cab fare to get her from the Renaissance Hotel in Downtown Nashville to malls and the Opryland Hotel in the days before the Festival began. It also included dinners, most often at The Palm on Fifth Avenue in Downtown.
As Tooma saw it, the atmosphere of the Festival resembles that of the neighborhood that surrounds another favorite destination, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. "This stretch of Broadway reminds me of Main Street in Cooperstown," she said. "A few blocks away, you wouldn't know it was a baseball town."
So it was with Lower Broadway during the Festival. The area is already a tourist destination, so the presence of people sporting lime-green CMT tote bags, cameras and Festival lanyards was to be expected. Still, longtime Nashville residents expressed surprise at the number of 20-somethings attending this year's event.
It was a much younger crowd this year than I've ever seen," noted Hardy Ross, Owner of Rippy's and the Broadway Brewhouse, where tables were completely filled during the brief rains that fell on Friday during the Festival. "It was a much more sophisticated crowd, a crowd on a higher economic scale.
The economic impact Downtown has gone through the roof with this thing," he continued. "Now you're seeing it broadcast on television. That only adds to the mystique. People see that: 'Wow, next year I'm going to that, because I know for four days, I can see anybody I want to see!' It's a great environment, a fun town, hotels everywhere, a beautiful area. Moving it to Downtown was the best thing that could have happened."
Ross has the numbers to prove it, as the Brewhouse tripled its typical weekly revenue during the Festival, while Rippy's did four or five times its usual business.
Likewise, Joe's Crab Shack, located a block off of Broadway on Second Avenue, did $120,000 worth of business during the Festival - double its usual income for the period.
We run with approximately 20 to 25 servers, but during that week we'll have anywhere from 35 to 40 servers, so we hire, hire, hire," said Kojo Asanta, Assistant GM, Joe's Crab Shack. "You don't necessarily worry about the cost, so to speak. You worry about taking care of the guests and making sure everything goes really smooth. The money's going to come in, so you don't worry about spending it."
Employees, as well as business owners, benefit during the Festival. Most servers bring in from $200 to $300 per night in tips during the week, Asante noted, which suggests Country Music fans can be generous tippers.
In earlier decades, when the event was still called Fan Fair, Nashvillians weren't always this happy to see the tourists streaming into town. Traffic jams often resulted, and with visitors spending their time at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds, they were less apt to spend money on the local economy.
That antagonism is pretty much a thing of the past. "There's definitely more local support from the average citizen and the business community, and that support is an appreciation of the event," said Spyridon. "CMA has worked extremely hard on that side. They've had a group of people meet regularly to brainstorm how we can communicate it better to the local community and have the community embrace it, both in attendance and value. I think that's beginning to take hold."
That local support is evident in the 14 percent increase in single-concert ticket sales and more than 191,000 aggregate attendance at this year's Festival. It's evident from the positive vibes of the Downtown merchants. And it reflects CMA's efforts at plowing half of the receipts back into the community, represented by CMA donating $1,053,856 (to date) for music education in Nashville Public Schools through "Keep the Music Playing," as well as the stamp of importance lent to the event by ABC-TV's special, "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock."
CMA Music Festival has done as much or more for Downtown Nashville than any sports team has," Ross emphasized. "It is wonderful to see Nashville embrace what makes them unique from any other town in America. The city's musical heritage makes us different. We need to glorify it, hold it out, cherish it and embrace it."
CMA Music Festival is a showcase for Nashville that drives tourism, generates a strong base of local revenue and contributes needed funds for music education in our public schools," said CMA Chief Operating Officer Tammy Genovese. "This is Nashville's signature musical event and our success and continued growth would not be possible without the support of Mayor Bill Purcell, the mayor's office and the city, Metro Council, Butch Spyridon and the NCVB, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, the business community and local residents. What makes this event special is that everyone benefits as the Festival continues to achieve new heights generating additional income for the community and money for music education."
CMA Music Festival is an unparalleled music experience celebrating America's music. The event brings the community together with fans from around the world. Now in its 37th year, CMA Music Festival will be held on Thursday through Sunday, June 5-8, in Downtown Nashville. Dubbed the "crown jewel of Country Music Festivals" by USA Today and winner of the International Entertainment Buyers Association's 2004 and 2006 LIVE! Award for Festival of the Year, the event features four jam-packed days of music with more than 400 artists and celebrities, 90 hours of concerts, 30 hours of autograph signings, family activities, celebrity sports competitions and more.
Tickets for 2008 CMA Music Festival are available now. To order, call 1-800-CMA-FEST (262-3378); visit www.CMAfest.com to download an order form to fax or mail; visit www.ticketmaster.com to buy online or charge-by-phone at (615) 255-9600. Prices do not include applicable handling fees. Ticket prices are subject to change without notice. All sales are final and non-refundable.
For up-to-the-minute information about tickets, travel information, schedules, artist appearances, and more, visit www.CMAfest.com and sign up for the CMA Exclusive e-news.
2007 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc.
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