Tens of thousands of country music fans descended on Nashville this past week for the annual CMA Fest, which ran from June 4-7 in downtown Nashville, with hundreds of artists performing across multiple stages. The fest included not only superstars headlining the nightly Nissan Stadium shows but also rising and established artists playing many daytime sets, bringing in sounds including rap-infused country, swirls of bluegrass, classic country, Americana-tilted sounds and more. Over at Fan Fair X, fans also watched as the careers of artists including Ashley McBryde, Randy Travis, Shaboozey and more were celebrated. CMA Fest began in 1972 (then known as Fan Fair) and has grown from an estimated 5,000 attendees in its first year to approximately 95,000 daily attendees in recent years. Along the way, the fest has moved from Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium to the Nashville fairgrounds to now dominating Nissan Stadium and spreading across the city. Each year, ...