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‘Team UMG At The Ryman’ CRS Event Continues An Unforgettable Tradition
by Laura Moxley
February 24, 2022 at 3:41 PM (PT)
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Leave it to UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP (UMG) NASHVILLE EVP/Promotion ROYCE RISSER to turn the job of emcee into the job of a stand-up comedian at TODAY’s (2/24) 12th annual “Team UMG at the RYMAN” lunch, cracking well-received jokes to the audience in between each performance. RISSER began the show by telling the crowd, as they ate their boxed lunches, that the 12-year tradition cannot be replicated anywhere else, and is a one-of-a-kind experience for COUNTRY RADIO SEMINAR (CRS).
PRISCILLA BLOCK kicked off the 11-artist showcase with all of the sass and class, performing her newest single, “My Bar,” which was most added at Country radio at the beginning of this month.
BOY NAMED BANJO took the stage next, marking the group’s first time performing at the “Team UMG at the RYMAN” show.
KYLIE MORGAN then performed her song “Independent With You,” which drops TONIGHT (2/24). She told the crowd she had not planned to release the song, but after posting a demo, received so much feedback that other women could relate to her struggle of always having to choose between being in a relationship, or being single and chasing her dreams.
The “Gold Chain Cowboy,” PARKER McCOLLUM, took the stage next, and after performing his song, “To Be Loved By You,” he brought his fiancée, HALLIE RAY LIGHT, onstage, and led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” to her for her special day.
KASSIE ASHTON was then welcomed to the stage, and performed her debut radio single, “Dates In Pickup Trucks.”
JON PARDI took the stage next, giving the crowd two songs, starting with his newest single, this week's most added song at Country radio, “Last Night Lonely.” He then grabbed his acoustic guitar, and played his hit, “Tequila Little Time.”
Dynamic duo BROTHERS OSBORNE performed a hybrid-reimagined version (with WILLIE NELSON’s blessing, of course) of “On The Road Again.”
Next up, JORDAN DAVIS performed his two-week #1, “Buy Dirt,” and began by pointing out to the crowd the RYMAN AUDITORIUM section that the grandfather he wrote the song about used to sit in.
Taking the stage next, LITTLE BIG TOWN, who are nominated for a 2022 ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC (ACM) Award for Group of the Year, performed a new song.
RISSER then welcomed DIERKS BENTLEY to the stage, calling him the “GRIZZLY ADAMS of Country music,” referring to his time spent in his native COLORADO during the pandemic. BENTLEY played two songs, a new one titled, “Gold,” and his hit single, “I Hold On,” which he got vulnerable with the crowd about, telling them that it became the most important and personal song of his career after his dad passed.
KEITH URBAN was the ultimate “last-but-certainly not least” act of the afternoon, and performed pieces of nine of his songs, which he seamlessly transitioned in to the next, including, “Love Somebody,” “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” “Wild Hearts” and several other crowd favorites.
To end the unforgettable performance by the UMG artists, URBAN signed the guitar he was playing and handed it to an audience member.
SAM HUNT had been previously announced as part of the lineup for the lunch show, but did not perform.