By Shanna McCarriston
The iHeartRadio Country Festival aired on May 27, 2015 in Austin, Texas and featured up and coming country artists as well as iconic country groups. Many celebrity guests where present and the crowd went wild for each live performance. The festival was a way to see a preview of the top selling country singers of today. Those in attendance were lucky enough to experience the music up close but those at home got a treat as well. NBC played the festival while also adding interviews with each singer and group who performed.
There was something for everyone in this broadcast with singers from Tim McGraw to Sam Hunt and groups from Rascal Flatts to The Band Perry. It was considered a celebration of music and was a way for the world to attend a concert without leaving their living room. Awards shows always feature performances from top artists but this event focuses solely on performances without handing out any awards.
One country fan Cassie Rodgers describes the event saying, “The festival really encompassed what I love about country. It was a bunch of people dedicated to the same thing and having a great time exploring their passions.”
Darius Rucker and Jennifer Nettles hosted but had Garth Brooks introduce Dierks Bentley via video. Bentley sang crowd pleaser and smash hit “Drunk on a Plane” and, after his performance, dropped the microphone and ran off stage as the fans went nuts.
Tim McGraw talked about his love of performing live saying there was nothing else he would want to do more in live. The relationship an artist creates with the fans while on stage was a highlight of having a career as a singer, McGraw says. McGraw performed his 2013 hit “Truck Yeah.”
The hosts kept the festival interesting by playing games like Truth or Darius that ended in Darius Rucker crowd surfing.
This is the second annual iHeartRadio Country Festival and, given its success, it will most likely not be the last.
