The highlight of this year’s festival was Reba McIntire’s performance on 7th June at LP Field.  The new stage layout meant that my 4th row seat was right in front of the stage giving me some great views of the numerous acts that I saw during the four day event.  Other great acts included Brad Paisley, Sara Evans, Martina McBride and Alan Jackson to name but a few.

This was the first year that I didn’t visit the autograph booths, instead I spent each and every day down at the Riverfront Park, listening to lots of live music.  After the shows at LP Field there are lots of bars to choose from… but my favourite is Roberts Western World, made famous by the band BR-549.

Anyone considering visiting for the CMA Music Festival should also get tickets for Marty Stuart’s Late Night Party at the legendary Ryman Auditorium.  This show starts the day before the Festival and this year lasted a full 4 hours!  Ending at 2am in the morning.  Of the many acts Raul Marlo of Mavericks fame was especially good.

My visit to Nashville this year was preceeded by a few days down in Memphis.  I won’t be back at the Music Festival in 2008 but maybe in 2009… until then take a look at this selection of just a few of the artists I saw in 2007.  CMA Music Festival 2007 Photos

Prior to visiting Nashville I spent a few days in Memphis, TN, click here to read about Memphis.

Two of Memphis’ most famous landmarks amongst Rock n Roll fans are Sun Studios and Graceland.  Sun Studios has been remarkably well preserved and a short informative guided tour explains the history of the studio and the record label. A short drive outside of downtown Memphis is Elvis Presley’s Graceland.  The legendary Stax recording studios have been recreated and features an excellent museum charting the development of Soul music, the history of the recording studio and Memphis in general, as well as the artists made famous by Stax.

Beale Street, provides a lively mix of blues, soul, R&B, and even Jazz. Rum Boogie Café and Alfred’s were my two favourite hangouts. With the latter providing excellent views overlooking Beale Street from its 1st floor patio. Live music can be found in the numerous bars, as well as in the park and on the street everyday of the week, but Saturday night was busy but fun experience.

Mud Island with its scale model of the Mississippi River was a nice interesting and relaxing walk in the warm sun. The various parks and streets lined with historic building also made for pleasant walks.

The Rock & Soul museum is also worth a visit as it charts the development of Blues and Country music through Rock n Roll, Soul and R&B. Just over the road is the Gibson guitar factory which offers tours throughout the day, this experience inspired me to try and learn to play the guitar (again – last time was when I was still at school!).

The drive from Memphis to Nashville was pleasant, with a tree lined highway for most of the route. I took a brief stop for Lunch at Natchez Trace State Park, which was a nice scenic recreation area not far from the main highway.

My hotel was located on the main street in Pigeon Forge which is lined by a mix of discount stores, outlet malls and various themed restaurants and attractions.  In short, not somewhere I would return to!  Next time I’d stay in nearby Gatlinburg.

Dollywood was not quite what I was expecting.  There were some good country themed shows and some good bluegrass musicians.  However, most of the theme park was aimed at very young children – so I didn’t really fit in.  There were however some very good Dolly Parton museums, that showed where and how she grew up as well as a collection of memorabilia and awards.

The Smoky Mountain National Park was much more interesting with some great scenery and nice leisurely drives including Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and Cades Cove Loop Road.  Roaring Fork was very quiet and peaceful with few visitors which made for a very relaxing Sunday morning visiting some of the old farm buildings left by early settlers to the area.

Cades Cove is one of the most popular tours so was a little busier but was still very good.  The highlight of the drive was seeing a bear with cubs in a field.  I only had a compact camera with me so the photos are not great but can be found in the gallery below: