iReports: Best of the Fest

Tuesday, June 9

CMA Global Artist Showcase Opens Festival Week

CMA Music Festival draws Country Music lovers to Nashville from throughout the world. But on Monday before the Festival officially opens, Country artists from beyond the borders of the United States repay the favor by playing at the CMA Global Artist Party for an audience that includes local as well as international fans, all admitted free of charge.

The program, scheduled for The Stage on Broadway, opened with a surprise presentation by Jim Cressman, 1st Vice Chair of the CCMA Board of Directors. After thanking CMA for its assistance and support on a variety of initiatives, Cressman called CMA CEO Tammy Genovese to the stage to accept CCMA’s Leonard T. Rambeau International Award, noting that on behalf of CMA she had "welcomed us with open arms" into the Nashville Country music community.

"To be given an honor for such a giant in our industry is amazing," said Genovese, referring to the late Canadian artist manager for whom the award is named. "And getting it from the Canadian Country Music Association is even more of an honor because it extends our music into their market – and that’s our goal too."

The music that followed demonstrated how far Country Music continues to expand its reach. Lucy Silvas of the United Kingdom opened the evening with a set of original tunes that demonstrated both her strong writing facility and interpretive sensitivity as a vocalist; high points included a power ballad, "Have No Fear," whose arrangement unfolded inventively over an understated rhythm bed, and "Place to Hide," which Silvas ended with a vocal flourish that drew as much from R&B as Country.

Protesting playfully that she didn’t have a pet kangaroo, Australia’s Kirsty Lee Akers projected a sassy stage presence while performing her songs, whose subjects ranged from the dangers of domestic life ("White Picket Fence Girl") to getting even with so-called friends "who weren’t that nice to me" ("I Sleep at Night").

From Ireland but currently living in Nashville, Colm Kirwan cut a handsome presence but impressed especially with his ability to write and sing heartfelt ballads. Standing still but reflecting the emotion of his lyrics with slow, sweeping gestures, he touched on classic Western American imagery in "My Small Town" and "The Grass Is Always Greener," which was enhanced by a beautiful fiddle solo by Megan Lynch, who with other members of Pam Tillis’ band provided backup for most of artists throughout the night.

The first New Zealander ever to participate in the Global Artist Showcase, Ashley Cooper proved a riveting entertainer. A rock-inflected feel powered her up-tempo tunes, all of which set up an unexpected and dramatic transition a more intimate ballad mood at the end of her set.

Like Kirwan, Victoria Banks of Canada spends a lot of time in Nashville, where other artists have begun discovering and recording her songs. With two backup vocalists providing harmony, she sang some of her more familiar tunes, closing with "Saints and Angels," a hit for Sara Evans, and her co-write with Jessica Simpson, the No. 1 smash "Come On Over."

Just 19 years old, Peter McWhirter of Australia charmed the audience with "Not Gonna Happen," a flat-out rocker dedicated to his parents. His blend of edge and youthfulness became even more evident on a tune whose title said all that needed to be said about what he described as a favorite pastime: "Chasing Girls."

A spectacular impression was made as soon as another Australian act took to the stage. The McClymonts are three sisters – bassist Sam, mandolinist Molly and guitarist Brooke – who sing with extraordinary synchronicity while putting on an exuberant, all-stops-out show. Their costumes glittered but their music gleamed throughout a rousing sequence that closed with some impressive a cappella riffing over a simple beat on "This Is My Life Again."

The night came to an end with former "Nashville Star" contestant George Canyon, whose square-jawed good looks, candor and self-deprecating humor made a positive impression before he played his first note. Backed by his own band, Canyon celebrated his family on "I Believe in Angels" and even his mother-in-law’s kitchen wizardry on the cleverly worded "Betty’s Buns."

Jace Everett reprised his role as emcee from previous Global Artist Parties, not only through consistently amusing ad libs but also through performances of two originals that have helped raise his profile in recent years, the Josh Turner hit "Your Man" and "Bad Things," the theme to the HBO series "True Blood."

-- Bob Doerschuk