May 30, 2017, Issue 552
Hockey Country Put To The Test
For those who don’t follow hockey or Carrie Underwood’s Instagram, the Nashville Predators are in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time, losing last night’s first in a bestof-seven series to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Beyond the action on the ice, the faceoff between the Preds’ ever-growing fan footprint and next week’s CMA Music Festival (June 8-11) is quite the challenge. CMA CEO Sarah Trahern and her team are ready, however, as she tells Country Aircheck. “The tricky piece has been that there were Sarah Trahern so many scenarios for awhile,” Trahern says. “Starting a few weeks ago, CMT made their decision to move the CMT Music Awards to the Music City Center (CAT 5/9). And now we see that was a very wise decision. We started meeting with them first, coordinating loading docks and logistics to make their experience smooth, since we have that big Fan Fair activation [in the same building]. As a community, we’ve been meeting with the Mayor’s office, the CVC, the Predators, CMT and Music City Gives Back.” Trahern sings the praises of CMA Sr. Dir./Live Events Chris Crawford. “Chris and his team were already so buttoned up on Music Fest, we had the bandwidth to deal with these additional logistical challenges that have come with adding other events.” While there’s no way to predict the future, here’s how the Predators’ schedule could play out: May 31, game two in Pittsburgh, a “Preds Party in the Park” viewing will be held at downtown Nashville’s Music City Walk of Fame Park; June 3 and 5, games three and four in Nashville, will have expanded outdoor viewing parties on 5th and Broadway entitled “Broadway Smash: Preds Party with a Purpose” (more here); June 8, if necessary, will be game five in Pittsburgh, with game six potentially falling on Sunday, June 11 in Nashville. That’s the final day of the festival, and likely the highest degree of difficulty for organizers in both camps. “We were really fortunate in the way the games fell out,” says Trahern. “The initial games will be away. Then we have games on (continued on page 8)
Speak Easy: Capitol’s Lady Antebellum open Club Labellum backstage on their new tour. Pictured (l-r) are Lady A’s Dave Haywood, KRTY/San Jose’s Nate Deaton, the band’s Hillary Scott, Nate’s wife Judy Deaton and Lady A’s Charles Kelley.
Golden State Horned In
The You Look Good Tour with Lady Antebellum, Kelsea Ballerini and Brett Young looked good to California radio pros in its first weekend. Our assemblage of “beat reporters” were eager to see the headliners after some time off the road, and came away impressed. “When Lady A announced they were going to take a break from recording and touring in August 2015, I thought we had heard their last,” admits KRTY/San Jose PD/morning show co-host Julie Stevens. “After Saturday night’s show at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, I am happy to report Lady A is baaaaack and better than they’ve ever been.” But first, a word on the openers. Native Californian Young took the Lady Antebellum stage in a Sacramento Kings Jersey
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