SiriusXM host Buzz Brainard will bring his popular happy hour concert event series to Eric Church’s Chief’s on Broadway during CMA Fest, from June 5-8
For the 52nd CMA Fest, SiriusXM’s The Highway’s long-standing downtown destination happy hour hosted by longtime on-air personality Buzz Brainard is getting an intimate upgrade.
From June 5-8, from noon to 7 p.m. CST, the Neon Steeple venue inside Eric Church’s Chief’s on Broadway six-story honky-tonk will feature performances and interviews from artists including Bailey Zimmerman, Dasha, Keith Urban, Shaboozey and many other surprise guests.
The event, as always, is first-come, first-served. No reservations or tickets are required. Therefore, entry is not guaranteed.
“We created Chief’s and in particular the Neon Steeple as a place for fans to gather to hear original music from the storytellers of today and Outsiders Radio on SiriusXM as an avenue to share those voices. This CMA Fest pop-up is unlike any other experience that week, and I’m proud Chief’s is a part of it,” offered 2020 CMA Entertainer of the Year and Chief’s namesake Church.
Chief’s welcomes country’s boom as ‘a worldwide format’
SiriusXM The Highway (Channel 56) personalities Brainard, as well as Cody Alan, Macie Banks and Ania Hammar, will be present for the festivities.
For a decade, hundreds of SiriusXM The Highway fans have flooded Lower Broadway’s Margaritaville bar for Brainard’s mini-concert-driven happy hours every Friday.
“The Highway is currently the biggest country channel on the planet and people worldwide are always excited to engage with the acts we play that they discover and hear — there’s no better way to do that at an event like CMA Fest,” says the award-winning host about emceeing those festivities.
Rising country-crossover hitmakers Dasha and Shaboozey will be returning to the CMA Fest iteration of the event in 2025.
Fans from nations comprising roughly a quarter of the world’s population annually attend the event. Performers like Dasha and Shaboozey represent how country music’s streaming engagement doubling has quickly put an artist like the “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” performer into the same rotation as performers like Zach Bryan, Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen and Chris Stapleton.
“Country is a worldwide format, not just a U.S. format,” said Sarah Trahern, the CEO of CMA. “The future is moving to be more borderless.”
What is the Neon Steeple?
The Neon Steeple was intentionally designed in Church’s six-story, 20,000-square-foot downtown Nashville establishment to accommodate a two-story live music venue.
Alongside Rodney Scott’s James Beard award-winning Carolina barbecue being featured at Chief’s, a premium is also placed on music in a venue that comfortably seats over 300 people and errs in the direction of mimicking a miniature Ryman Auditorium, complete with stained-glass windows.
Of note, Church himself opened the venue with a 23-date April 2024 residency. As well, notable artists and songwriters including Tom Douglas, Natalie Hemby, Aaron Ratiere, Maggie Rose and Brittney Spencer have appeared at the venue.
In general, the honky-tonk’s website notes, “No matter what you’re looking for on Broadway, you’ll find it here — we have a ticketed music venue, a live broadcasting studio, custom interiors, and an intentional and thoughtful focus on the very best live performances.
