HGTV LODGE HEADLINES TOP COUNTRY ARTISTS AT CMA FEST IN NASHVILLE JUNE 7-10

HGTV LODGE HEADLINES TOP COUNTRY ARTISTS
AT CMA FEST IN NASHVILLE JUNE 7-10

NEW YORK [May 24, 2018] Now in its seventh consecutive year, the HGTV Lodge will once again welcome country music’s hottest stars to the network’s popular and unique venue at CMA Fest in Nashville. From Thursday, June 7 – Sunday, June 10, the 3,500-square-foot HGTV Lodge will offer festival-goers the Ultimate Country Music Fan Experience™, including live musical performances by popular artists Dustin Lynch, Jon Pardi, Kip Moore, Lee Ann Womack, Lee Brice and Luke Combs. In addition, CMA and Grammy award-winning artist and Food Network star, Trisha Yearwood, will bring her Facebook Live show, “T’s Coffee Talk,” to the HGTV Lodge, allowing fans around the world access to this intimate CMA Fest experience. HGTV stars Jonathan and Drew Scott (Property Brothers), Leanne Ford (Restored by the Fords), Page Turner and DeRon Jenkins (Flip or Flop Nashville) and Dave and Kortney Wilson (Music City Fix) also will make special appearances throughout the festival. 

The HGTV Lodge also will host performances with many more country music stars, including Ashley McBryde, Cam, Cassadee Pope, Chris Lane, Eric Paslay, Jordan Davis, LANCO, Lauren Alaina, Lindsay Ell, LOCASH, Maddie & Tae, Michael Ray, Morgan Evans, The Cadillac Three and Walker Hayes. In addition, the HGTV Lodge will host a special ASCAP Hit Songwriters Round featuring Ryan Hurd, Jillian Jacqueline and Chris DeStefano and a “Sony Discovered” set featuring Carlton Anderson, Mitchell Tenpenny, Tenille Townes and Rachel Wammack. Great American Country’s Suzanne Alexander will serve as the HGTV Lodge emcee during the four-day event.

“Country music fans get the thrill of seeing their favorite artists up close and personal at the HGTV Lodge,” said Karen Bronzo, senior vice president, brand marketing and partnerships for HGTV. “The Lodge is truly a 'home for country music fans’ and offers them a unique opportunity to experience extraordinary, intimate performances in a setting that only HGTV could bring to life."  

Conceived and produced by experiential + music agency Pop2Life, a Condé Nast agency, the two-story HGTV Lodge is located in downtown Nashville just minutes from Nissan Stadium and features a unique fan experience with non-stop performances by more than two dozen top country artists. 
For access to exclusive performances inside HGTV Lodge, fans must register for CMA Fest Fan Access at CMAfest.com/FanAccess or via the CMA Fest app and then enter the Ultimate Fan Experiences Drawing between Tuesday, May 29, at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET and Thursday, May 31, at 10 a.m. CT/11 a.m. ET. All drawing participants will be notified by email and text on Friday, June 1, to log in to their Fan Access account to see if they’re a winner. All prizes must be claimed by Tuesday, June 5, at 12 p.m.CT/1 p.m. ET, or they will be awarded to alternate winners. 

Fans can share their love of music and home by uploading photos of their experience at HGTV Lodge on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat using #HGTVLodge. The Lodge also will host several must-see Facebook Live videos with the HGTV stars and will post exclusive artist interviews via Instagram Stories. On Sunday, the network will host a special VIP event at the Lodge for the leading Nashville-area lifestyle writers and social influencers. 

For media who want to schedule interviews with the artists appearing at the HGTV Lodge, CMA Media Guidelines specify that only credentialed journalists can conduct interviews onsite at CMA Fest. Media must contact the artist’s publicist and/or record label to set up interviews prior to arrival at CMA Fest. A list of publicist contacts can be found at CMApress.com. Please note that when arranging an artist interview, a scheduled location for the interview must be confirmed with the publicist. If you cannot interview the artist at the Lodge, then an alternative off-site location must be designated. 

Schedule of Events* at HGTV Lodge (All times CDT): 
Thursday, June 7: 
10 a.m.:        Michael Ray  
11 a.m.:        LOCASH
1 p.m.:          Ashley McBryde
2 p.m.:          Chris Lane
3 p.m.:          Jordan Davis
5 p.m.:          Luke Combs 

Friday, June 8:
10 a.m.:        Cassadee Pope
11 a.m.:        Kip Moore
12:30 p.m.:  LANCO
2 p.m.:          Jon Pardi
3 p.m.:          Cam
4 p.m.:          ASCAP Hit Songwriters Round: featuring Ryan Hurd, Jillian Jacqueline and Chris DeStefano
5 p.m.:          Lee Brice 

Saturday, June 9:
10 a.m.:       Trisha Yearwood
11 a.m.:       Lindsay Ell
12 p.m.:       Morgan Evans
1 p.m.:         Lee Ann Womack
2 p.m.:         Meet and Greet with Jonathan and Drew Scott
4 p.m.:         Dustin Lynch
5 p.m.:         Lauren Alaina 

Sunday, June 10:
11 a.m.:       Sony Discovered: featuring Carlton Anderson, Mitchell Tenpenny, Tenille Townes and Rachel Wammack
12 p.m.:       Maddie & Tae
1:30 p.m.:    Eric Paslay
2:30 p.m.:    Walker Hayes
4:00 p.m.:    The Cadillac Three
*All appearances and times subject to change without notice.

ABOUT HGTV
HGTV delivers the superstar experts, fascinating families, compelling renovations and stunning transformations that make all things home fun. America’s favorite way to get entertaining, relatable and inspirational home and lifestyle content, HGTV offers: a top 10 cable network that is distributed to more than 90 million U.S. households; a website, HGTV.com, that attracts an average of 9.7 million people each month; a social footprint of 16.8 million; HGTV Magazine, a monthly publication that reaches more than one million readers and exclusive collections of home-oriented products through the HGTV HOME™ consumer products line.  Viewers can become fans of HGTV and interact with other home improvement enthusiasts through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. HGTV is owned by Discovery, Inc., a global leader in real life entertainment whose portfolio also includes Discovery Channel, Food Network, TLC, Investigation Discovery, and OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.

About CMA Fest 
The Ultimate Country Music Fan Experience™ began in 1972 as Fan Fair®, which drew 5,000 fans to Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. Now in its 47th year, the legendary festival has become the city’s signature Country Music event that hosts fans from all 50 states and nearly 20 foreign countries. In 2017, CMA Fest featured 11 stages with over 350 artists, 1,100 musicians, and 167 hours of music – all to benefit music education. Since 2006, CMA and the CMA Foundation have donated more than $21 million to sustainable music education initiatives across the U.S. thanks to the fans who attend CMA Fest and the artists who perform for free. CMA Fest is filmed for a three-hour ABC Television Network special. 2018 marks the 15th consecutive year of the broadcast. 

ABOUT POP2LIFE
Pop2Life is an award-winning, Condé Nast brand experience agency based in New York. Founded by Eric Murphy in 2003, the company offers ideation and strategy, environmental design and creative services, full-service event production, talent procurement, as well as software with a service through Concierge.com. Clients include Discovery Inc., AMC, Capital One, Comedy Central, Lincoln Motor Company, Allure, and iHeartRadio, among many others.