CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock Airs Tonight On ABC

With a whole crew of country music's top superstars on this ticket, tonight's show on ABC will be a sure-fire entertaining watch. High voltage stage performances, along with revealing special segments about fan favorites, will mark the return of ABC's hottest music event this summer when CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock airs TONIGHT, Monday, August 31st on ABC Television Network. The annual music bash, expanding to three hours for the first time, will air in HD with 5.1-channel surround sound.

Scheduled to perform are Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley,Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney, Julianne Hough, Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Jake Owen, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, John Rich, Darius Rucker, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Zac Brown Band and others. In addition, Kid Rock performs his smash hit "Picture" with special surprise guest Martina McBride and Wynonna and The Judds reunite and perform together FOR THE FIRST TIME at the CMA Music Festival in six years.

We can't wait to see show highlights from the CMA Music Festival held June 11-14 in Nashville. On-and off-stage segments and day-in-the-life vignettes showcasing the personalities and lifestyles of fan favorites will be presented:

As one of the main attractions at CMA Music Festival, Jason Aldean's sky rocketing popularity is evident in his legions of female fans. Later, at his nightclub performance Aldean welcomes them--declaring "Ladies Night at the CMA Music Festival" and treats us all to a performance of his hit, "She's Country" that segues to a performance at LP field.

We also encounter Brad Paisley during a quiet moment alone on his tour bus speaking about his fans then encountering hundreds of them as they greet him outside his bus. His personal recollections then segue to Paisley and his band electrifying a standing-room-only crowd at Fuel club with his hit song, "Then" to LP Field where he sings "American Saturday Night."

Kellie Pickler's off-stage persona is captured as she spends the day with fans, charming them with her quick wit and sweet disposition. Pickler's admirers join her for some shopping at famous Nashville stores such as Ernest Tubb's record shop, where she autographs and gives some lucky fans her own CDs and stops by Mike's Soda Shop to taste "Kellie Pickler" ice cream. Later that night we see Pickler perform "Best Days of Your Life."

The special takes a candid look at the hectic and fun day-in-the-life of Julianne Hough from getting ready at home to the convention center to a slew of press interviews such as Good Morning America with All My Children's Cameron Mathison. She then heads to sound check and wardrobe changes all the while meeting fans all along the way.

Throughout the special, Kellie Pickler brings us interviews with some of the Festival's biggest performers in this multi-star segment. Darius Rucker, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Kenny Chesney, Sugarland and Martina McBride offer celebrity insight and share their personal stories from the road, home and tours with viewers. Then Taylor Swift answers submitted questions from her six biggest fans and later she surprises them in a meet-and-greet.

The annual CMA Music Festival is unlike any other, with four days filled with more than one hundred hours of live music, 30 hours of autograph signings by Country Music's biggest names and up and comers, hundreds of artists and celebrities, and a party list of thousands of avid fans. This is the fifth time ABC will broadcast this special, which invites all of America to the biggest Country Music bash since the original Fan Fair was launched in 1972. This year an average of 56,000 fans attended each day of CMA Music Festival, its biggest turnout yet.