CMT Invitation Only
Encyclopedia
CMT Invitation Only is a television program that airs on CMT
. It gives fans a chance to get up close and personal with their favorite country artists in a smaller, more intimate setting. It gives the artists a chance to promote new music as well as an opportunity to get face to face feedback on their music.
became the first to join forces with CMT. The show aired on November 9, 2007 to help promote his new CD, Greatest Hits: 18 Kids
, which was released on November 20, 2007.
The following year, Alan Jackson
decided to participate in the next installment of the series. The show was filmed on January 31, 2008 at the Factory in Franklin, TN. Jackson sang 13 songs, spoke to the audience and took questions from fans. Songs performed included "Gone Country
" and "Chattahoochee
," as well as new tunes such as "Small Town Southern Man
" and "I Still Like Bologna
". Just like with Urban, this show helped to promote the release of his new album, Good Time
, which was released on March 4, 2008. The show aired on March 9, 2008 at 9:00 p.m., only 5 days later.
and Bryan Adams
on Monday, May 4 in Franklin, TN, they were scheduled to enter four consecutive nights of filming four episodes of Invitation Only. However, Jennifer Nettles
of Sugarland was put on vocal rest by her doctor, and the duo had to cancel their Tuesday May 5 show. The rest of the scheduled tapings were filmed as scheduled the next three nights.
On May 6, 2009, Brad Paisley
taped an episode that aired August 3, 2009. He performed four new songs, including "Then" and "American Saturday Night
," from his then upcoming album, American Saturday Night
. He also performed some of the more popular hits such as "Alcohol
" and "Mud on the Tires
" from his recent albums. Several songs including "Ticks
," "Letter to Me
" and "Anything Like Me" did not make the final cut for television.
On May 7, 2009, Darius Rucker
taped an episode as he and his backup band performed several of his favorites from his debut country album Learn to Live
. Rucker also performed a few of the hits that he had as the frontman of Hootie and the Blowfish, including "Let Her Cry
" and "Hold My Hand." The show premiered on July 3, 2009 at 11:00 p.m.
The final episode of the three was taped on Friday, May 8, 2009. Reba McEntire
performed some of her classics as well as several songs from her new album Keep on Loving You. The episode aired on August 21, 2009, three days after the new album was released.
taped an episode of Invitation Only that aired October 30, 2009.
On September 12, 2009, Carrie Underwood
taped an episode of the show to promote her upcoming album Play On which was released on November 3. Underwood performed the first single from the album, "Cowboy Casanova
" and three other new songs, "Temporary Home
," "Mama's Song" and "Undo It". The episode aired on Dish Network
November 3rd, 2009 and on CMT
December 1, 2009.
On September 14, 2009, Tim McGraw
taped an episode of the show to generate interest in his new album Southern Voice, which was released on October 20. The episode aired on Dish Network on October 1, 2009 and on CMT on November 13, 2009.
episode, which debuted on August 23, 2010. The episode aired just 8 days before Lambert set a new record for most CMA nominations by a female country artist.
The second of these episodes was Kenny Chesney
's, which aired on September 27, 2010. The following day, Chesney's album Hemingway's Whiskey
went on sale worldwide. The episode featured new material from Hemingway's Whiskey, including a performance of "Coastal," which was made into a music video for rotation on CMT.
Toby Keith's episode aired on October 8, 2010, just 3 days after the release of his most recent album, Bullets in the Gun
. The episode featured a debut performance of the most recent single, which also happens to be the album's title track, as well as the previous single, "Trailerhood
."
Rascal Flatts promoted their album Nothing Like This
by airing an episode on November 16, 2010.
Martina McBride promoted her album Eleven
by airing an episode on October 17, 2011.
All past episodes are available for viewing in their entirety at CMT.com.
of Reba McEntire's episode of Invitation Only. The DVD, which was released on February 9, 2010, features ten performances from the show, as well as extended interviews with Reba, and music videos for Strange
and Consider Me Gone
. The DVD was simply titled, as expected, CMT Invitation Only: Reba.
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
. It gives fans a chance to get up close and personal with their favorite country artists in a smaller, more intimate setting. It gives the artists a chance to promote new music as well as an opportunity to get face to face feedback on their music.
Early Performances
Up to this point in time, there have been eight episodes of CMT Invitation Only. In 2007, Keith UrbanKeith Urban
Keith Lionel Urban is a New Zealand-born Australian, country music singer, songwriter and guitarist whose commercial success has been mainly in the United States and Australia. Urban was born in New Zealand and began his career in Australia at an early age...
became the first to join forces with CMT. The show aired on November 9, 2007 to help promote his new CD, Greatest Hits: 18 Kids
Greatest Hits: 18 Kids
-Album:-Singles:-Certifications:...
, which was released on November 20, 2007.
The following year, Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
decided to participate in the next installment of the series. The show was filmed on January 31, 2008 at the Factory in Franklin, TN. Jackson sang 13 songs, spoke to the audience and took questions from fans. Songs performed included "Gone Country
Gone Country (song)
"Gone Country" is the title of a song written by Bob McDill and recorded by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released in November 1994 as the third single from his fourth studio album, Who I Am...
" and "Chattahoochee
Chattahoochee (song)
"Chattahoochee" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released in May 1993 as the third single from his 1992 album A Lot About Livin' ...
," as well as new tunes such as "Small Town Southern Man
Small Town Southern Man
"Small Town Southern Man" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released in November 2007 as the lead single from his album Good Time , the song reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in March 2008, becoming Jackson's...
" and "I Still Like Bologna
I Still Like Bologna
"I Still Like Bologna" is the title of a song written and recorded by American country artist Alan Jackson. It is the fifty-seventh single release of his career, and the fifth single from his 2008 album Good Time...
". Just like with Urban, this show helped to promote the release of his new album, Good Time
Good Time (album)
Good Time is the fourteenth studio album by American country music artist Alan Jackson. It was released on March 4, 2008 and produced five singles on the country singles charts. The first three of these — "Small Town Southern Man", the title track, and "Country Boy" — have all become Number One...
, which was released on March 4, 2008. The show aired on March 9, 2008 at 9:00 p.m., only 5 days later.
CMT Summer of Music 2009
In the first week of May 2009, CMT embarked on one of their busiest production weeks in their history as part of the CMT Summer of Music. After filming a CMT Crossroads episode with Jason AldeanJason Aldean
Jason Aldine Williams is an American country music singer, known professionally as Jason Aldean. Since 2005, Aldean has recorded for Broken Bow Records, an independent record label for which he has released four albums and twelve singles...
and Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
on Monday, May 4 in Franklin, TN, they were scheduled to enter four consecutive nights of filming four episodes of Invitation Only. However, Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles
Jennifer Nettles is an American country music artist. She is known primarily for her role as lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush. Before Sugarland's inception, she also fronted Atlanta, Georgia-based bands called Soul Miner's Daughter and Jennifer Nettles Band...
of Sugarland was put on vocal rest by her doctor, and the duo had to cancel their Tuesday May 5 show. The rest of the scheduled tapings were filmed as scheduled the next three nights.
On May 6, 2009, Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
taped an episode that aired August 3, 2009. He performed four new songs, including "Then" and "American Saturday Night
American Saturday Night (song)
"American Saturday Night" is the title of a song written by Ashley Gorley and Kelley Lovelace, and co-written and recorded by American country artist Brad Paisley. The song originally charted as an album cut based on unsolicited airplay, charting at number 59 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs...
," from his then upcoming album, American Saturday Night
American Saturday Night
American Saturday Night is the seventh studio album by American country music artist Brad Paisley. It was released on June 30, 2009, by Arista Nashville. Like all of his previous studio albums, it is produced by Frank Rogers. The first single, "Then," has become his fourteenth Number One on the Hot...
. He also performed some of the more popular hits such as "Alcohol
Alcohol (Brad Paisley song)
"Alcohol" is a song written and recorded by American country music singer Brad Paisley. It was released in May 2005 as the first single from Paisley's 2005 album Time Well Wasted, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. It also peaked at number 28 on the U.S...
" and "Mud on the Tires
Mud on the Tires (song)
"Mud on the Tires" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music singer Brad Paisley. It was released in September 2004 as the fourth and final single off Paisley's 2003 album Mud on the Tires. The song reached number-one on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and...
" from his recent albums. Several songs including "Ticks
Ticks (song)
"Ticks" is a single by American country music artist Brad Paisley that reached the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart. It was featured as a downloadable track for the video game Guitar Hero: World Tour.-Content:...
," "Letter to Me
Letter to Me
"Letter to Me" is a single by American country music singer Brad Paisley. It is the third single released from his 2007 album 5th Gear. The song spent four weeks at Number One on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in February 2008, becoming his sixth consecutive Number One on that chart, as...
" and "Anything Like Me" did not make the final cut for television.
On May 7, 2009, Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker
Darius Rucker is an American musician. He first gained fame as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Carolina along with Mark Bryan, Jim "Soni" Sonefeld and Dean Felber...
taped an episode as he and his backup band performed several of his favorites from his debut country album Learn to Live
Learn to Live
Learn to Live is the second solo studio album by American country artist, Darius Rucker. The album was released September 16, 2008 on Capitol Nashville Records and was produced by Frank Rogers...
. Rucker also performed a few of the hits that he had as the frontman of Hootie and the Blowfish, including "Let Her Cry
Let Her Cry
"Let Her Cry" is a song by Hootie & the Blowfish. It was the second single from their successful 1994 album, Cracked Rear View.The single, released in December 1994 along with a music video , went on to reach the #2 position on the American Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart and #9 on the Billboard...
" and "Hold My Hand." The show premiered on July 3, 2009 at 11:00 p.m.
The final episode of the three was taped on Friday, May 8, 2009. Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
performed some of her classics as well as several songs from her new album Keep on Loving You. The episode aired on August 21, 2009, three days after the new album was released.
Autumn 2009
On August 12, 2009, just two days after announcing that they were splitting up as a duo, Brooks & DunnBrooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn was an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, who were both vocalists and songwriters. They were paired by record producer Tim DuBois in 1990. Before the duo's foundation, both members of the duo were solo recording artists...
taped an episode of Invitation Only that aired October 30, 2009.
On September 12, 2009, Carrie Underwood
Carrie Underwood
Carrie Marie Underwood is an American country singer-songwriter and actress who rose to fame as the winner of the fourth season of American Idol, in 2005...
taped an episode of the show to promote her upcoming album Play On which was released on November 3. Underwood performed the first single from the album, "Cowboy Casanova
Cowboy Casanova
"Cowboy Casanova" is a country song by American recording artist Carrie Underwood. The song was written by Mike Elizondo, Brett James and co-written by Underwood herself. It was released on September 14, 2009 by Arista Nashville as the lead single from her third studio album, Play On...
" and three other new songs, "Temporary Home
Temporary Home
"Temporary Home" is the title of a song written by Zac Maloy, Luke Laird and co-written and recorded by American country artist Carrie Underwood. It is the second official single from her third studio album, Play On, and was released to country radio the week of December 14, 2009. Before being...
," "Mama's Song" and "Undo It". The episode aired on Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
November 3rd, 2009 and on CMT
CMT
- Medicine :* California mastitis test* Certified Massage Therapist* Cervical motion tenderness, a sign of pelvic inflammatory disease* Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease* Chemically modified tetracyclines* Circus Movement Tachycardia...
December 1, 2009.
On September 14, 2009, Tim McGraw
Tim McGraw
Samuel Timothy "Tim" McGraw is an American country singer and actor. Many of McGraw's albums and singles have topped the country music charts with total album sales in excess of 40 million units in the US, making him the eighth best-selling artist, and the third best-selling country singer, in the...
taped an episode of the show to generate interest in his new album Southern Voice, which was released on October 20. The episode aired on Dish Network on October 1, 2009 and on CMT on November 13, 2009.
Late Summer/Autumn 2010
The first of several episodes in 2010 was the Miranda LambertMiranda Lambert
Miranda Lambert is an American country music artist who gained fame as a finalist on the 2003 season of Nashville Star, where she finished in third place and later signed to Epic Records. Lambert made her debut with the release of "Me and Charlie Talking", the first single from her 2005 debut...
episode, which debuted on August 23, 2010. The episode aired just 8 days before Lambert set a new record for most CMA nominations by a female country artist.
The second of these episodes was Kenny Chesney
Kenny Chesney
Kenneth "Kenny" Arnold Chesney is an American country music singer and songwriter. Chesney has recorded 15 albums, 14 of which have been certified gold or higher by the RIAA. He has also produced more than 30 Top Ten singles on the U.S...
's, which aired on September 27, 2010. The following day, Chesney's album Hemingway's Whiskey
Hemingway's Whiskey
Upon its release, Hemingway’s Whiskey received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 67, based on 6 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable...
went on sale worldwide. The episode featured new material from Hemingway's Whiskey, including a performance of "Coastal," which was made into a music video for rotation on CMT.
Toby Keith's episode aired on October 8, 2010, just 3 days after the release of his most recent album, Bullets in the Gun
Bullets in the Gun
Upon its release, Bullets in the Gun received generally positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 76, based on 6 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable...
. The episode featured a debut performance of the most recent single, which also happens to be the album's title track, as well as the previous single, "Trailerhood
Trailerhood
"Trailerhood" is the title of a song written and recorded by Toby Keith for his 2010 album Bullets in the Gun. It was released as the first single from the album in June 2010. It is his 50th single.-Content:...
."
Rascal Flatts promoted their album Nothing Like This
Nothing Like This
Nothing Like This received positive reviews from most critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine with Allmusic gave it a four-star review, saying "Nothing Like This doesn’t offer anything new, it’s Rascal Flatts who have never strayed from the sunny sound of their 2000 debut - but everything from the...
by airing an episode on November 16, 2010.
2011
Jason Aldean's show aired on July 29, 2011.Martina McBride promoted her album Eleven
Eleven (Martina McBride album)
Eleven is a studio album by Martina McBride, released through the record label Republic Nashville on October 11, 2011. The title of the album was inspired by the fact that it is McBride's eleventh studio album, it has eleven tracks and its release date. A deluxe edition of the album was also made...
by airing an episode on October 17, 2011.
All past episodes are available for viewing in their entirety at CMT.com.
Selection Process and Attendance
The invitation of fans to the event is very secretive. Fans are selected ahead of time through the artist's fan club. Not everyone who enters for a chance to attend is granted the opportunity. Fans are encouraged to take a vow of silence leading up to the private show, so as to avoid word of mouth. Once the lucky fans are selected, they are officially extended invitations with instructions on the location of the concert, directions for transportation, proper attire, and what can be expected at the concert.DVD release
In late 2009, it was announced that CMT and the Valory Music Group had teamed up to release a DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of Reba McEntire's episode of Invitation Only. The DVD, which was released on February 9, 2010, features ten performances from the show, as well as extended interviews with Reba, and music videos for Strange
Strange (Reba McEntire song)
"Strange" is the title of a song written by Wendell Mobley, Jason Sellers and Neil Thrasher. It was recorded by American country music artist Reba McEntire as her first release for the Valory label, a sister label of Big Machine Records. McEntire debuted the song on the Academy of Country Music...
and Consider Me Gone
Consider Me Gone
"Consider Me Gone" is the title of a song written by Steve Diamond and Marv Green. It was recorded by American country music artist Reba McEntire as her second release for the Valory label, a sister label of Big Machine Records. It is also the second single from her twenty-sixth studio album Keep...
. The DVD was simply titled, as expected, CMT Invitation Only: Reba.