The ACM New Artist show spotlights the nine artists/duos/groups that are nominated in the New Artist categories for that year. The show is also a benefit to raise money for the ACMs charity, which helps to keep music in schools. Between the artist performances, auctions were held for concert tickets, including meet & greets, and some of them included transportation, and more. A lot of money was raised for a great cause.
First to perform was Little Big Town. I love all the artists that performed at this show, and actually am a member of many of their fan clubs. They started off the show with "Good As Gone," moving into their current single, "Little More You," and finished with the crowd favorite, "Boondocks." Awesome, as usual.
Kellie Pickler is such a sweetheart. I had never seen her perform, other than on TV, and really was impressed with her show. She started her set with her hit, "Red High Heels," then "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You," ending with her current single, "I Wonder." Before singing "I Wonder," she told the story of being at a radio station show in Wisconsin, and meeting a woman who told her that she has four children, and was in a bad marriage. She finally just told her husband, he can keep the kids, and that she was leaving him, and she got in the car and left. As she had the radio on, she heard Kellie's song, "I Wonder," and she turned back around and said she couldn't do it. She said she couldn't stand it if her children would feel like Kellie did in her song. Kellie was crying, as were many of the audience members, at hearing this story. Wow!
Craig Morgan was third to perform. Love the new flat-ironed hairstyle. He looks so different. One word for Craig would be "energy." He's all over the stage when he performs. His three song set included "A Little Bit of Life," his current single, "Tough," and ended with "International Harvester." During the final song, he jumped from the stage into the audience. Now, mind you, I was in the photo pit, which is next to the stage. The pit is about seven feet wide from the stage to the barrier separating it from the audience seats. Craig jumped completely over the pit and the barrier into the audience. I guess it helped being a paratrouper, when he was in the military. Amazing! He went all through the audience as he sang, then got back on the stage, all without missing a single word or note. That's Craig.
Heartland is another group I've wanted to see live, and I was really impressed with them as well. For fans that know them from their huge hit, "I Loved Her First," may think this is a little ballad band. Very wrong assumption. They are very much a rockin' country band. One of lead singer Jason Albert's influences is Garth Brooks, so you know that influenced his stage show. They started their set with "Freebird in a Firebird," then moved on to "I Loved Her First," and ended with the fun "Let's Get Dirty." I'm definitely gonna have to make a point of seeing these guys if they ever come out my way.
Taylor Swift was next to perform. I'll be seeing her show later this month, and look forward to more than just three songs from her. She started with "Our Song," moving to her current single, "Teardrops on My Guitar," and finally ending with "Picture to Burn." In the intro to the final song, she explained that she tries to be a nice person, but if you break her heart, she's gonna write a song about you.