The Best Concert I've Ever Been To

I don't remember what year it was now, but I clearly remember the concert and the venue. It was on a warm, Swedish summer night at the Scandinavian Country Music Festival outside of Gävle on the east coast of Sweden..

The performer was the one and only Billy Joe Shaver. He had an all acoustic line up where even the bass player played an acoustic bass (they were all plugged in, though!). Billy Joe was preaching from the stage. Not the kind of preaching you hear in churches, this was more subtle, but you could still feel it. Yes, he and the band performed "I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be A Diamond Someday)",  "Live Forever" and other hit songs. He spoke about his late son and pleaded in a nice way to everyone in the audience to stay away from trouble. His song about his song brought tears to more eyes than mine. It was a magical night with a sacred feeling. The closest I've been to being in a church without being in a church. It inspired me to write "Eddy's Song (Everybody Needs Someone)" "Eddy's Song (Everybody Needs Someone)" by Kriz Rogers


Here's the one and only Billy Joe Shaver performing at Billy Bob's in Texas::

Post CMA Fest Thoughts

So, now I can say "been there - done that" to the CMA Fest experience. I felt the happy vibes from thousands and thousands of people enjoying themselves, heard the water bottle vendors shout out to our need for replenishing our fluids and heard music everywhere. I can clearly see why it is a great fan fest - the laid back and intimate feel there is to it for artists and fans to connect at different levels. A very interesting part to watch is the movement of 60,000 people walking over the bridge to LP field. If someone could put all that combined energy into use, it might power Nashville for a year. Or maybe that's exactly what it does (I know there is more to it than that of course, it's just figuratively speaking).

The artists play for free and it benefits the CMA Foundation's Keep The Music Playing.

http://www.cmaworld.com/cma-music-festival/

http://www.cmaworld.com/initiatives/cma-foundation/

LP Field filling up with guests ...