Since many of this week’s Country Radio Seminar attendees reside outside Tennessee, they received an experience that is essentially Nashville last night (Feb. 27)–attending the Grand Ole Opry. However, instead of taking everyone to the Opry House, they brought the Grand Ole Opry to the attendees at the Nashville Convention Center.
The NCC stage was set up with the Grand Ole Opry backdrop and lighting along with performances from several of the Opry’s members. The evening kicked off with a video introduction from Carrie Underwood, who gave an overview of the Grand Ole Opry’s history. Vince Gill, who served as host for the evening and who was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 1991, greeted the crowd with “Take Your Memory With You When You Go.” His sharp wit and dry sense of humor was on full display the entire evening. “That thunderous applause is overwhelming. Did you just eat?” he deadpanned after wrapping up “Take Your Memory…”
He brought out Little Big Town, who warmed up the crowd with “Tornado.” They then introduced another track from their Tornado album, the gorgeous ballad “Your Side of the Bed,” featuring a duet between Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook. “The one we are about to play is the one we are about to send you [country radio], so you can play it on the radio too if you want,” said Fairchild. They closed the trio of tunes with their summer No. 1 hit, “Pontoon.”
Next came a lineup of three of country’s traditional-leaning male singers–Dustin Lynch, Josh Turner and Greg Bates. Lynch performed his current single, “She Cranks My Tractor” before thanking radio for their support of his previous single, “Cowboys and Angels.”  Turner (who was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2007) treated the crowd to his deep register on the songs “Long Black Train” and “Deeper Than My Love.” “I never have to worry about Vince Gill cutting that song,” he said, referring to Gill’s high tenor. Bates offered his debut single, “Did It For The Girl” before performing his clever new single, “Fill In The Blank.”
Ashley Monroe injected some old-school country into the evening with her airy, lilting voice on “Like A Rose,” the title track of her upcoming album, with backing guitar and vocal work from Gill. Following Monroe were performances from Scotty McCreery, then Nashville‘s Clare Bowen and Sam Palladio, who were received enthusiastically by the radio crowd.
After a video clip of Darius Rucker‘s induction into the Grand Ole Opry last year, Rucker performed two of his signature tunes, “Alright” and “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” before lending his booming voice to a cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “Wagon Wheel” (also Rucker’s latest single).
The show hit a minor snag when host Gill mispronounced Kacey Musgraves’ name upon introducing her. The misstep became a running joke throughout the rest of the evening. Musgraves, who has a surging hit on the MusicRow CountryBreakout chart with “Merry Go Round,” charmed the crowd with her candor on “Step Off” and her aforementioned debut single.

The evening closed with an acoustic performance from Brad Paisley, who was inducted in 2001. He sang “This Is Country Music,” followed by “Southern Comfort Zone.” After joining in on the fun with a wisecrack about Gill’s age, Gill reminded him that many artists have had their names mispronounced during their debut performance including Martina McBride and Gill himself. “Thank you, Vern,” Paisley replied. The friends and fellow Opry members closed the show with “Mud On The Tires,” with Gill on background vocals and guitar.

CMA’s Music On The Move: Inside the Drive toward Mobile Music Consumption session during Country Radio Seminar brought in a live Nashville radio listener panel of eight men and women, ages 18-49, to the stage at the Nashville Convention Center. They were recruited from the local market and are avid Country Music consumers, who in addition to traditional radio, listen to music via online sources, including iheartradio, Pandora or radio station streaming.
Some key pieces of information from the panel include:

• Mobile technology is indeed helping listeners take their music everywhere as they listen at home, at work, on the job, and even in their cars.
• While not abandoning traditional radio, streaming and mobile apps deliver on key consumer requirements.
• While freedom of location is a key benefit, the panelists revealed a more engaging benefit is personalizing music to match their own preferences and variety. This personalization enables their listening to embrace a wider variety of songs and artists.
• Most panelists want a listening experience that spans the format from traditional, current, and rising Country artists. The panelists said they are not getting enough of the legacy and up-and-coming artists on traditional radio.
• With mobile apps and streaming, they can control what they listen to, not only where they listen.
• Common features of today’s apps such as “like” and tagging, along with pre-programmed playlists of similar artists and songs, seem to be strong aids in the discovery of new music with users.
• While mobile provides a unique method for music customization, it’s also supporting their listening of favorite Country stations when listeners leave the area. Now they take their favorite stations with them.

“Obviously the strength and vitality of Country radio has a direct influence on the industry,” said Steve Moore, CMA Chief Executive Officer. “Country radio stations and broadcast professionals do an outstanding job of broadening the scope of Country Music and presenting artists to their listeners–expanding the careers of established artists, creating and development awareness of new talent and delivering music directly to the fans that support our business.”