t’s not every day you get to hang out with the likes of Carrie Underwood, George Strait and Luke Combs.
But on Wednesday, Nov. 20, that’s exactly what I got to do when I attended and worked the 58th Annual Country Music Association Awards in Nashville, Tennessee.
The live telecast took place at Bridgestone Arena while the red carpet was across the street at Music City Center. The show was hosted by Lainey Wilson, Luke Bryan and football star Peyton Manning.
This was the second CMA-related event that I’ve attended and worked. I’ve been fortunate to get these opportunities through CMA’s EDU Leadership Program, which is open to college students with a passion for music or the music business.
I was selected to work both the red carpet and during the live telecast as a photo runner. My role was to assist photographers on site by bringing their SD cards to their corresponding editor in the media room backstage. There were over 50 different media outlets on site, including the Associated Press, Entertainment Tonight and Reuters.
The red carpet was less chaotic compared to the live telecast. Since the carpet was hosted at a different venue than the awards, the biggest challenge was getting to and from the media room since it was located at the awards venue.
My only access to both venues was artist entry, so as you can imagine there were a lot of people around, whether it was the talent or fans at the barricade.
What made the live telecast more chaotic was that my team and I could run the SD cards to their destination only during the commercial breaks. Those breaks were four minutes, but sometimes we would be running cards all the way from the nosebleed seats of the arena to the floor.
Although I was on the go most of the show, I was still able to catch glimpses of it throughout the arena.
I’ve grown up watching music awards shows, so getting to attend and work one was a big moment for me. I enjoyed getting to see the behind the scenes of the show and getting to learn more about the different factors and people that come together to put it on.
One of the coolest things was getting to know the unannounced surprises they had planned ahead of the show, which included performances by Carrie Underwood and George Strait.
Some personal highlights included assisting a viral artist from London (@chrislloydart on TikTok) on the red carpet. I got to film different shots of him sketching his artwork and even showing it to one of my favorite artists, Megan Moroney.
In the press room I got to listen to Old Dominion’s press conference about their historic seventh win for Group of the Year (most wins for a group in history) as well as Cody Johnson’s presser following his win for Album of the Year. I was able to congratulate a few of the winners in person like Johnson and Moroney.
I also got to interact with some artists backstage and on the red carpet, like Luke Combs and Noah Kahan.
As someone who is working toward a career in the music business, getting these opportunities and having large group support from a company like CMA means the world to me. I’m grateful for this experience and look forward to what the future brings me in my music business journey.
Christian Larson is a senior journalism major from Waconia, Minnesota. He currently works for NYC-based record label, Alamo Records, and plans to move to Nashville after graduation. Larson and a business partner created U.S. Radio Updater, a media outlet that keeps people informed about radio-related information and statistics in the music industry.
