CMA After Party

Last November, I attended the CMA Awards as one of my first outings as a true Nashvillian. And while I had a great time, I also kinda summed it up as a been there, done that event that is a lot of money to see a show that is not optimized for a live audience. Way better shows and concerts to attend in this town.

So this year, I opted instead on a rainy Wednesday to hang out with some coworkers at "Losers" - a tiny, dingy, low-ceiling dive bar, located right next to a similar bar aptly named "Winners". So we were drinking $2 PBR and playing shuffleboard in the back room when the security guy walked in and said we needed to leave to the main bar because someone was coming in the back. He wouldn't tell us who, and we were pretty confident it would be a C-lister country musician. But it wasn't. It was Zac Brown Band and Dave Grohl (the drummer from Nirvana and lead vocalist of the Foo Fighters, in case you needed that description. As I may have. Don't hate me - I was busy listening to the Wicked soundtrack in the 90s). Anyway, since we were there so early we were literally right ON the stage for them to come out and play a full set. And maybe snap a couple pictures as they walked by...

Here's a short video of ZBB and Dave jamming (video credit to Stephanie)

My new buddy Dave and I. He loved this. As you can tell.

After the party, and the after party, and the after-after party at Santa's Pub, was my highlight of the night - getting my first CMA Award! My friend's friend Jake won the CMA award for major market radio station of the year! Congrats Jake and 98.7 the Bull!

I think it fits

Yes, I tried to steal it. Yes, they noticed. And in case you were wondering? Nashville airport security sees them all the time. So no "blunt object" confiscation risks to worry about when carrying on your massive hunk of crystal.