Keith Urban Makes Connections at CMA Music Fest
Keith Urban performed a scorching set during Friday night's CMA Music Fest show at Nashville's LP Field, but he's not taking all the credit for his stellar performance. Keith says the fans are just as important for the success of a live show.
"It's 50-50. I like to think that we're an oversized ghetto blaster, to a certain degree," Keith tells The Boot. "We'll provide the PA and you guys show up and we'll make it happen. Like any party, they've got to be into it, otherwise it isn't going to happen. So, for me, it's just making sure that every single person feels connected. Because the best concerts I ever went to from [John] Mellencamp to [Bruce] Springsteen, they all made me feel so connected and they made me feel like they cared about being there, so that's what we try to do."
One of Keith's favorite parts of the CMA Music Festival is the intimate moments with his fans, pretty much wiping out most boundaries. "The random sort of happenings of fans being able to run up to your car at traffic lights [laughs] and throw CDs in the window and things like that," the superstar answers when asked what he loves most about the annual event. "I like the energy that happens in town during this week ... sort of like a huge family gathering. I really love it."
Half of the proceeds from this year's CMA Music Festival will go to Nashville's flood relief efforts, and for Keith, a deeper sense of importance and of celebration is apparent everywhere he goes. "It feels a little bit like the jazz festival did when we played down in New Orleans after Katrina," he explains. "It gives a different sort of celebratory essence to the festival this year. It's all about community. Country music is, it's hard to define it musically because it ebbs and flows in and around like it always has done, but that one constant is that communal feeling in country music. And it's never been more apparent than recently here."
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