Dierks Bentley and Brittney Spencer Triumphantly Close out CMA Fest

Brittney Spencer's Roaring Finale

While we only made it over in time to see one song from her set, that's all Brittney Spencer needed to make this list. After kicking off the festival's first night at Nissan Stadium with a soaring rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," Spencer got a full set of her own on Sunday at the Dr. Pepper Amp Stage at Ascend Park, which was next to the Cumberland River and Ascend Amphitheater. While it was a smaller stage, Spencer proved her talents are deserving of much larger platforms. The closing number we caught was a cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walking," and it was one of — if not the — best cover of the song I've heard. With all due respect to Jessica Simpson, Spencer's incredible voice just turned the track up a level, tweaking it from a groovy, steady track to a soulful rocker. Hopefully, we'll get a recorded version of it one day (aside from the YouTube clip of Spencer and Brothers Osborne's cover of the song at the ACM Awards).

Old Dominion Definitively Slaps

Sunday was the second time in the last few weeks I've had the chance to catch Old Dominion live, following their May 28 opening set for Kenny Chesney at Nissan Stadium. In my review of that show, I noted that the five-piece band "kinda slap." After seeing the CMA Fest show, that two-week-old remark holds up! I loved the group's energy, always commanding different parts of the stage and rotating through different instruments (accordion hive, rise up!) to keep things fun and fresh. Old Dominion also took a moment to honor Alan Jackson, who had to back out of his headlining slot at this year's CMA Fest. They covered "Chattahoochee" (side note: maybe the most fun song title to say out loud), in what was a weekend highlight. Old Dominion is just the perfect spice to add to your live show docket. Even if you aren't super familiar with the songs, they've gotta entertaining tracks paired with an engaging stage presence.

Dierks Bentley and Friends Take Things Home

Dierks Bentley, who had popped up through the weekend at Nissan Stadium to film segments for the festival's ABC special, closed out the whole weekend. He's a great closer, giving big hits and a fun vibe to end on, especially, when the crowd is pretty exhausted after four days of country music. He also gave the loyal CMA Fest crowd a few treats, the first being the remarkably random Billy Ray Cyrus cameo. (For all my fellow millennials out there, Billy Ray Cyrus is the dad from Hannah Montana.) (For you Gen Z readers, Billy Ray Cyrus is the old dude who sings/raps on the remix of Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road.") It was pure elation when Bentley trotted out the country legend, who is looking surprising like Rob Zombie these days. "Achy Breaky Heart" was, of course, a crowdpleaser and the perfect stadium singalong. Bentley went on to praise Cyrus, calling him "a trendsetter," and he's kind of right? Maybe it's time to give the man his due.

Another guest, Elle King, joined in towards the end of the set for two songs, Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and the pair's collaboration "Worth a Shot." It was welcome to see more of King, who, like many women on the Nissan Stadium lineup, was relegated to a two-song set earlier in the night. King was fantastic in her outing (which included a guest appearance from Ashley McBryde), and it's just more evidence that women need more time on the main stage.

Random Takeaways From CMA Fest Day 4

• I got to check out part of my buddy Kyle Elliott's set at Tequila Cowboy on Sunday. The guy's been burning up the Nashville singer-songwriter scene the last couple years, and it's great to see him booked and busy.
• Chrissy Metz, the actress who played Kate Pearson on This Is Us, drew a big crowd for her brief set at the Chevy Vibes stage. She's got a great voice, which fans of the just-ended NBC show know.
• Spencer was actually at Middle Tennessee State University at the same time I was. (I remember covering her at our campus newspaper, Sidelines!) I didn't know her personally or anything, but I do think it's cool as hell some breakout talents like her, singer-songwriter Julien Baker and hip-hop producer Tay Keith were all kicking around MTSU at the same time.
• We caught the end of The Black Opry's showcase at the Close Up Stage. It's an amazing collective who is making sure Black voices are represented in country music. You can learn more about The Black Opry here.
• In the festival's most random appearance, comedian/magician Justin Willman did a set for a Papa Murphy's sponsored event. I love festival variety! Give me more things like this, music festivals! The world just hasn't felt right since Bonnaroo scrapped the Cinema Tent and Comedy Theatre.
• I don't try to really be overly negative in these things, but Russell Dickerson and Jake Scott's "She Likes It" was the absolute worst song I heard all weekend. I was too busy taking photos and cringing to see the stadium crowd's reaction, but I'm sure they loved it! Just not for me!
• I feel remarkably sick now. Ah, how I've missed the repercussions of hanging out with tens of thousands of strangers outdoors for multiple days in a row. Anywho, time to publish this and pop another dose of DayQuil!

You can find more of our CMA Fest 2022 coverage here. Our thoughts on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 of CMA Fest 2022 can be read here.