Spotify: Mic Check: Backstage At The CMA Fest

 Every episode, Spotify: Mic Check takes us along on a journey to music around the world. Last week, it was Nigerian Afro-fusion. As listeners, our ears have traveled to places such as South America, Europe, Asia and more to hear some amazing music.

This episode is all about good ole' down-home music from the American Heartland.

This week, host Lea Palmieri takes listeners behind the scenes at Spotify House - Spotify’s four-day celebration of country music at Blake Shelton and Opry Entertainment Group’s Ole Red venue in downtown Nashville during CMA Fest.  

You can listen to the full episode here.  

 In this episode, listeners go backstage to hear from Brett Eldredge, Meghan Patrick, Tiera Kennedy, and Erin Kinsey as they prepared to take the stage at Spotify House. 

Palmieri chats with each of the artists about the return of CMA Fest, creating new music during the pandemic, and how Spotify has supported emerging country artists through flagship playlists like Hot Country (6.8m followers) and New Boots (838k followers).

 If you don't know, “Spotify: Mic Check,” - is a series aimed at connecting fans with the world’s biggest creators from around the globe through exclusively intimate conversations. 

Please see below for interview highlights in the episode: 

12:50-13:27 - Brett Eldredge on returning to live performances for the first time since the start of the pandemic. “I just got back from Europe. I just performed over there, which is amazing. And I think a pat on the back for all of us just to be able to be back playing music. I mean, it was such a tough, brutal experience for all of us. And to not be able to connect with our audience is really hard because that's how I get through. I feel most of myself when I get up there and I feel that connection. So I think I feel really accomplished by just being here and showing up and showing up with everybody here, you know, and just getting to do this. And I just finished this record that I've been working on for two years and getting to put it out. And so that's big, it's a big thing.”

11:40-12:08 - Brett Eldredge on performing at CMA Fest over the years. “I played my first show right around the corner here at the Capitol. And I have seen a picture recently, and it was me in front of like 20 people and this wide-open field, so it looked very bare. But it was so cool because I mean, there are people that still come to my shows from that very first time when I was probably every bit of 11 years ago probably. And I've gone running the whole thing of hosting at the stadium to playing all the different stages, and it's just good to be back in a couple of years, we haven't had it.”

04:18-04:51 - Meghan Patrick on signing her first U.S. record deal right before the pandemic. “You know, signing my U.S. record deal has been a dream for a long time. Unfortunately, it happened right before the pandemic in the last couple of years--kind of threw a wrench in things. But now things are rolling. We're playing shows again. Things are starting to move. And I finally got some new music out. I think it's the best I've ever written. I think I've really found my stride and kind of peeled back even more layers of myself and really honed in on what my sound is and what my message is and who I am as an artist. And I think these songs are really representative of that, so I'm really excited to get it out to the fans and on those Spotify playlists (laughs).”

04:13-07:04 - Tiera Kennedy on finding her sound in country music. “I had been trying to figure out what my sound was by myself for a long time. I was kind of like piecing together what I was hearing on my playlist and everything and just taking little pieces from different artists' music and trying to make it my own. And that did not work out, obviously. And I didn't figure out what my sound was until I got into the room with my producer. And he grew up listening to a lot of R&B and country, and I listened to a lot of R&B because my parents would play it around the house. And I've always loved country music, so it was the perfect storm. I feel like and that song that we wrote was ‘Founded in You’ so that was kind of the first song that I feel was completely me, and it was kind of like a sigh of relief when I listen to that demo…”

09:44-10:21 - Erin Kinsey on the success of her single “Just Drive” after being playlisted on Hot Country and New Boots. “So it feels dramatic to say that it's changed everything, but it really has. Even like after I signed with the label at the end of last year after the song got on playlists and people were finding it and the numbers were growing, they decided to take it to country radio because it got added to ‘Hot Country’. That was one of the main reasons why they decided to take it to terrestrial radio because people were connecting and it was proving itself because Spotify gave it a chance. So to say that it's changed everything like it really has. It's been people coming up and saying they heard it on ‘New Boots’ and then eventually ‘Hot Country’ and also on the fun, smaller playlists that are more localized…”

Check out  “Spotify: Mic Check,” every episode to see where the sound takes them -- and you. Bring your earbuds. You don't even need a passport, COVID test, or a change of clothes.