Luke Bryan Admits Nerves Leading up to 'CMA Fest' TV Special

Country music fans will get to relive CMA Fest on Wednesday night, August 8, when the three-hour TV special returns to ABC. For Luke Bryan, it's a chance for him to relieve the excitement of his show, along with the fear of messing up.

"This is like a big, awards-show-type crowd, and yeah, it's very important," Bryan tells ABC News Radio. "You don't want to go out there and lay an egg. You want to go put a great show on, because the fans that are in the room, they're gonna go watch it again in August."

The televised CMA Fest is also a chance for Bryan, and other artists, to lure in fans who have never attended the four-day event.

"And another thing," he continues, "it's gonna make people that may not have been to this festival, they're gonna want to come be a part of that."

The seasoned performer, who headlined one of the nights at Nissan Stadium, is proud of how far CMA Fest has come over the years, which he credits in part to the annual TV special.

"I remember six, seven years ago, we had the lower level [in the stadium] full," Luke recounts "And then through the years, you know, now it's full from top to bottom … So it's been fun watching CMA Music Fest grow to where it's sold out every night, and that's because we put a cool thing to watch on TV together for the fans."

Bryan knows a thing or two about performing. The Georgia native is currently crossing the country on his What Makes You Country Tour, which includes for the first time several stadium shows.

"Stadiums are a lot of work," Bryan tells Billboard. "You've gotta try to make 50,000 people feel like [they're in] an intimate setting and an intimate environment. When you're playing a 15,000-seat amphitheater, everybody's right in front of you. When I get done with a stadium, I feel like I ran a marathon. There's no just getting up there and nonchalantly making a stadium show happen. You gotta work hard at it."

CMA Fest will once again be hosted by Kelsea Ballerini and Thomas Rhett. The show will air on Wednesday, August 8, beginning at 8:00 PM ET on ABC.

Bryan just played a sold-out show at Dodger Stadium. His next stadium show is on Saturday, August 4, at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo. Find dates at LukeBryan.com.

Photo Credit: Getty images/ Rick Kern