Numerous country artists performed, met with and signed autographs for hundreds of thousands of fans from around the world. On Friday, not only did Eric Paslay, Clare Dunn, Canaan Smith, Mickey Guyton, Easton Corbin, Alan Jackson and Lauren Alaina take part in CMA Music Fest, but at Nissan Stadium were performances by Eric Church, Sam Hunt and Chris Stapleton, among others.

Eric Church made a surprise appearance at the Ernest Tubb Record Shop following his stadium performance and performed The Band’s “Ophelia” with Charlie Worsham.

Chris brought the crowd to his feet performing songs from his award-winning album, Traveller. “It’s a remarkable thing to get to be a part of a mass of people who wanna listen to music,” says Chris.

Sam Hunt says coming to CMA Music Festival years ago inspired him to move to Nashville. “I was here several years ago for the first time for CMA Fest as a fan. I came out to the show, did the full experience, and it really was one of the big reasons I decided to move to Nashville,” he says. “It kind of made the idea of being a songwriter more tangible and realistic, and also I fell in love with the city, Nashville, so I knew it’d be a place I’d be happy living, and also because of the music. So, yeah, that week here really inspired my move here, and it was a significant part of my life.”

Chris  is currently on the airwaves with his latest single, “Parachute,” while Sam is making his way up the charts with “Make You Miss Me.”