The Sound of Music, Tennessee-Style
Tom Adkinson
June 04, 2010
If the lights occasionally dim in mid-June in Nashville, Manchester and Chattanooga, Tenn., residents donīt start wondering about the weather. They just assume the amplifiers and sound systems at three gigantic music festivals are straining the power grid.
Thereīs non-stop music for ten days when you string together the Country Music Association Music Festival in Nashville and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester (both June 10-13) with the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga (June 11-19).
If there ever was a time to don your festival clothes, slather on the sunscreen and grab your camera, itīs this stretch of June in Tennessee.
The granddaddy of the trio is Nashvilleīs CMA Music Festival, which started in 1972. Veterans still call it by its original name Fan Fair.
Itīs a love fest between country music fans and artists, with daytime concerts at Riverfront Park, nightly concerts at LP Field (otherwise home to the NFLīs Tennessee Titans) and autograph sessions in the Nashville Convention Center.
A little mother-daughter act known as The Judds gets things started. After them come Trace Adkins, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kellie Pickler, Rascal Flatts, Patty Loveless, Diamond Rio, the Bellamy Brothers and scores more. The father-daughter combo of Mel Tillis and Pam Tillis also is involved.
The CMA normally donates half of the eventīs net proceeds to music education in Nashville, but itīs doing even more this year. The other half will go to flood relief in the aftermath of Music Cityīs hardship in May.
Just about an hour down I-24, Bonnaroo in Manchester starts the same day as the country music extravaganza in Nashville. It runs through June 13.
Bonnaroo is a cultural phenomenon. Itīs a real mash-up part Woodstock, part rock īnī roll jam, part comedy concert, part film festival and more. It describes itself as a "four-day, multi-stage camping festival on a 700-acre farm." Rolling Stone called it "the American rock festival to end all festivals."
Just consider a tiny portion of the 2010 lineup: The Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, They Might Be Giants and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Then add Conan OīBrien, Aziz Ansari from "Parks and Recreation" and Steve Martin. Martin will be there not for comedy, but to play the banjo with the Steep Canyon Rangers.
One of the hits in 2009 was a three-hour set from Bruce Springsteen during which he acquiesced to a request and belted out "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."
Another hour down I-24 in Chattanooga is the nine-day Riverbend Festival, which cranks up June 11. It offers five stages and more than a hundred bands classic rock, country, urban, bluegrass and even classical, because the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra is part of the mix.
It began in 1981 as a city revitalization project called Five Nights in Chattanooga, but it has almost doubled in length and now boasts a cumulative attendance of 650,000. The biggest nights top 100,000.
Itīs difficult to get your head around its lineup. Hereīs just a portion: Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, Darius Rucker, funkmeister George Clinton, Ray Wylie Hubbard (of "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" fame), the Charlie Daniels Band, British rockers Uriah Heep, Joan Osborne (yep, right there in Chattanooga) and the Choo Choo Chicks (a local jazz and blues group).
In the midst of all this are the June 14 Bessie Smith Strut, a totally free blues festival, and the June 19 Riverbend Run, offering 10K and 5K routes through downtown Chattanooga.
Check these links for festival details:
CMA Music Festival: www.cmafest.com and www.visitmusiccity.com
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival: www.Bonnaroo.com and www.macoc.org
Riverbend Festival: www.riverbendfestival.com and www.chattanoogafun.com
To help plan other trips in the Southeast, check www.EscapeToTheSoutheast.com.
Thereīs non-stop music for ten days when you string together the Country Music Association Music Festival in Nashville and the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester (both June 10-13) with the Riverbend Festival in Chattanooga (June 11-19).
If there ever was a time to don your festival clothes, slather on the sunscreen and grab your camera, itīs this stretch of June in Tennessee.
The granddaddy of the trio is Nashvilleīs CMA Music Festival, which started in 1972. Veterans still call it by its original name Fan Fair.
Itīs a love fest between country music fans and artists, with daytime concerts at Riverfront Park, nightly concerts at LP Field (otherwise home to the NFLīs Tennessee Titans) and autograph sessions in the Nashville Convention Center.
A little mother-daughter act known as The Judds gets things started. After them come Trace Adkins, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, Kellie Pickler, Rascal Flatts, Patty Loveless, Diamond Rio, the Bellamy Brothers and scores more. The father-daughter combo of Mel Tillis and Pam Tillis also is involved.
The CMA normally donates half of the eventīs net proceeds to music education in Nashville, but itīs doing even more this year. The other half will go to flood relief in the aftermath of Music Cityīs hardship in May.
Just about an hour down I-24, Bonnaroo in Manchester starts the same day as the country music extravaganza in Nashville. It runs through June 13.
Bonnaroo is a cultural phenomenon. Itīs a real mash-up part Woodstock, part rock īnī roll jam, part comedy concert, part film festival and more. It describes itself as a "four-day, multi-stage camping festival on a 700-acre farm." Rolling Stone called it "the American rock festival to end all festivals."
Just consider a tiny portion of the 2010 lineup: The Dave Matthews Band, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, John Fogerty, Kris Kristofferson, They Might Be Giants and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Then add Conan OīBrien, Aziz Ansari from "Parks and Recreation" and Steve Martin. Martin will be there not for comedy, but to play the banjo with the Steep Canyon Rangers.
One of the hits in 2009 was a three-hour set from Bruce Springsteen during which he acquiesced to a request and belted out "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."
Another hour down I-24 in Chattanooga is the nine-day Riverbend Festival, which cranks up June 11. It offers five stages and more than a hundred bands classic rock, country, urban, bluegrass and even classical, because the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra is part of the mix.
It began in 1981 as a city revitalization project called Five Nights in Chattanooga, but it has almost doubled in length and now boasts a cumulative attendance of 650,000. The biggest nights top 100,000.
Itīs difficult to get your head around its lineup. Hereīs just a portion: Alison Krauss, Sheryl Crow, Darius Rucker, funkmeister George Clinton, Ray Wylie Hubbard (of "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother" fame), the Charlie Daniels Band, British rockers Uriah Heep, Joan Osborne (yep, right there in Chattanooga) and the Choo Choo Chicks (a local jazz and blues group).
In the midst of all this are the June 14 Bessie Smith Strut, a totally free blues festival, and the June 19 Riverbend Run, offering 10K and 5K routes through downtown Chattanooga.
Check these links for festival details:
CMA Music Festival: www.cmafest.com and www.visitmusiccity.com
Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival: www.Bonnaroo.com and www.macoc.org
Riverbend Festival: www.riverbendfestival.com and www.chattanoogafun.com
To help plan other trips in the Southeast, check www.EscapeToTheSoutheast.com.
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