by Stewart Williams | Dec 15, 2011 | News Slider, Opinion
O.K., so I’m sitting there and here comes Keith Urban. And Eric Church … and, well, it’d be easy to lose count after spending the evening of Nov. 9 as a seat-filler at the 45th annual CMA Awards here in Nashville. Freshman Megan Anderson and I were two lucky Lipscomb students, among students from other schools, chosen to be seat-fillers because of our involvement in CMA EDU, a country music program that meets monthly on campus. Several hundred seat-fillers met outside Bridgestone Arena where their IDs were checked, and they were given wristbands and directions for the night. Of course, the purpose of seat-fillers is simple: to fill the seats. Those seats are empty when the stars go onstage to perform or to present awards, so our job was to keep the arena looking filled up for network cameras. A group of aisle-fillers wore pink wristbands, and the seat-fillers wore blue wristbands. Each group was assigned a general area to sit or stand throughout the show unless they were separately asked to go somewhere else. Megan and I sat in the back-upper section of the arena with a clear view of the main stage. About eight rows in front of us was a small stage, where several artists such as Church, Urban, Chris Young and Scotty McCreery performed throughout the night. As seat-fillers, we weren’t allowed to bring phones or cameras to the show to be as professional as possible. Going from watching the CMAs on TV to seeing it live on stage is amazing. Megan and I couldn’t believe our eyes. The biggest country award show I watch every year on TV,...
by Rachel Carden | Nov 1, 2010 | News Slider
Lipscomb student Thomas Rhett Akins, a junior communications major from Valdosta, Ga., will soon see his name printed on Jason Aldean’s new CD, “My Kind of Party.” Akins’ song, “I Ain’t Ready to Quit,” was cut for the cd and is listed as number seven right after the title song. Akins collaborated with two other writers on this song, and this is his first cut since signing with EMI Publishing in Nashville. Akins is the son of legendary country music singer Rhett Akins who continues to write music today. Check out “I Ain’t Ready to Quit” in stores and on iTunes tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 2. Please upgrade your...
