Nashville, TN. (Top40 Charts/ GAC) - Great American Country network, where country music lives all the time, helps country music fans get fired up for the annual CMA
Music Festival with a FanTastic week of special programming designed to appeal to a wide variety of music lovers. GAC's annual FanTastic Week starts with a bang on June 5 at 9 p.m. ET, with a unique Tuesday evening LIVE concert featuring Carrie Underwood,
Rodney Atkins and
Sugarland on a special edition of GAC's Grand Ole Opry Live.
CMA Music Festival, which runs June 7-10 in Nashville, annually draws more than 160,000 fans to Music City to mix and mingle with their favorite artists. For both fans visiting Nashville and those who can't make it, GAC promises a memorable week of television programming with the fan in mind.
GAC's FanTastic Week opens with a live country music concert featuring three of country music's hottest acts on one stage. Multi-platinum artist Carrie Underwood joins Rodney Atkins, recently named Top New Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music, and dynamic country duo Sugarland for a rare Tuesday night edition of GAC's Grand Ole Opry Live.
"This is a special opportunity for GAC viewers to catch a live country music concert during primetime on a weeknight, and you could not ask for a hotter lineup of performers any more popular with today's country music fans," says Sarah Trahern, senior vice president of programming for GAC.
The Tuesday night live Opry telecast is preceded at 8 p.m. by part-two of GAC's exclusive two-hour special Kenny Chesney: The Making of the Flip Flop Summer Tour , a music intensive program that focuses on the country music superstar as her puts the finishing touches on his record-setting 2007 tour.
GAC's special programming continues on Wednesday, (June 6) with an encore presentation of GAC's 2007 ACM Pre-Awards Special , captured live from the Orange Carpet in Las Vegas as country music's glitterati arrive for the annual ACM Awards gala. Following the ACM Pre-Awards Special, GAC presents and exclusive encore telecast of the 42nd Annual ACM Awards, hosted by Reba McEntire and featuring performances by Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, George Strait, Sugarland, Rodney Atkins, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean.
On Thursday, GAC brings one of country music's top performers back to the screen with the one-hour concert special Keith Urban: Inside These Walls . The GAC special features concert footage of Urban's rendition of the up-tempo record breaking single Once In A Lifetime from his latest LP Love, Pain and the whole crazy thing. In addition, the GAC special includes Urban's single "Stupid Boy," from the same album as well as past No. 1 hits Days Go By, Better Life, Raining On Sunday, You'll Think Of Me and Somebody Like You, from previous albums Be Here and Golden Road.
Then, on Friday, GAC really gets into the swing of the annual CMA Music Festival with a one-hour special, Inside CMA Music Fest, followed by the weekly GAC Top 20 Country Countdown , featuring members of the popular country music group Lonestar.
While GAC viewers enjoy the music throughout the week, GAC hosts and camera crews will be busy in Nashville gearing up for the next round of great programming from CMA Music Festival.
GAC will again sponsor two CMA Celebrity Close Up specials, hosted by GAC's own Lorianne Crook. Featured artists will include Trace Adkins, Terri Clark, Josh Turner, Neal McCoy and Charley Pride. These intimate interviews, recorded on the stage of the legendary Ryman Auditorium, will air in July on GAC.
GAC crews will cover music festival events all week, including daily concerts at Nashville's Riverfront Park, where GAC's Suzanne Alexander will anchor special coverage for the primetime program GAC Nights. GAC will also produce a 13-part concert series to premiere in August. Among the artists scheduled to perform on the Riverfront stages are Craig Morgan, Terri Clark, Jamie O'Neal, Eric Church, John Anderson, Darryl Worly, Josh Gracin, Angela Hacker, Flynnville Train, Sarah Buxton, Poverty Neck Hillbillies and Luke Bryan.
"The annual CMA Music Festival marks a high point of the year for thousands of country music fans. GAC will right in the middle of things all week long," Trahern says.
Schedule of CMA Music Festival and related programming on GAC (all times ET):
June 5, 9 p.m. - Special Tuesday edition of GAC's Grand Ole Opry Live featuring Carrie Underwood, Rodney Atkins and Sugarland
June 6, 7 p.m. - Encore presentation of GAC's exclusive 2007 ACM Pre-Awards Special, recorded LIVE from the Orange Carpet in Las Vegas
June 6, 8 p.m. - GAC presents an encore presentation of the 42nd Annual ACM Awards from Las Vegas, hosted by Reba McEntire
June 7, 8 p.m. - Keith Urban: Inside These Walls concert special, captured live at the Fox Theater in Atlanta
June 8, 8 p.m. - GAC special Inside CMA Music Festival
June 8, 9 p.m. - GAC Top 20 Country Countdown
Check in with GACTV.com for the latest information on CMA Music Fest programming.
