CMA Fest on TV: Dierks Bentley, Elle King, Lainey Wilson discuss hosting 2023 special

Elle King is returning as host for July 19's three-hour, ABC-broadcast "CMA Fest" primetime concert special, set to film in Nashville this week at Nissan Stadium during the 50th anniversary of the country music festival.

When she and Dierks Bentley co-hosted the event last year, she was still a rock star looking to find her footing in country music. Now, she returns as a multiple-time chart-topping country artist with a critically acclaimed -- and rock-inspired -- debut country album.

While seated at North Nashville's Skyway Studios on an April afternoon, she tells The Tennessean -- alongside Bentley and the event's other 2023 co-host, reigning CMA best new artist and female vocalist of the year Lainey Wilson -- that her comfort in being her rowdier, "rock star"-self has enhanced her creativity and success.

Similarly, Wilson notes that both she and her "wait in the truck" collaborator HARDY are benefitting from artists like King arriving at a time in the genre where the cyclical swing of vibes between country and rock has again collided, this time, perhaps more powerfully than ever.

She's gone from being "shocked" to hear people sing her songs back to her to headlining Nashville's Brooklyn Bowl as a sea of stylized custom, brightly feathered cowboy hats (similar to those she wears onstage) stared back at her. She'll return to Nissan Stadium after appearing there as an opener for Luke Combs in April.

"Country music's recent boom in popularity has -- in so many ways -- tangibly happened right before my eyes," says Wilson.

Another nexus point for country and rock occurred when Bentley arrived in Nashville in the mid-1990s.

He recalls he and his band playing in all-black, hard rock-style clothing when opening for Kenny Chesney in 2004. To Bentley, that moment highlights how willing country fans are to try and accept all interpretations of what three chords and the truth means.

"Good songwriting and great songs both within and breaking the mold have always defined what 'country music' is -- especially right now," says Bentley, making air quotes to signify an ever-broadening sense of what the genre's trademark styles presently encompass.

Both King and Wilson laugh when Bentley notes that these are songs with longer shelf-lives out of the gate than the genre has ever experienced. Their No. 1 singles "Drunk" and "Things A Man Oughta Know" took a combined 118 weeks to hit the top of Billboard's Country Airplay Charts.

On the one hand, that it can take a song so long to reach the pinnacle of country's charts is frustrating. But on the other, the chart-based longevity can also impact the culture and lifestyle of the genre's fans.

"Rather than just buy your music, country's fans invest you as a person more than you as an artist. These artists and songs having a moment right now aren't going to go away from pop culture quickly. Fans not used to country's 'ride or die' mentality with artists will have to prepare for [the genre's] 'moment' to last a while longer."

As evidenced via the 2023 CMA Fest broadcast's two female co-hosts, the recipes for post-COVID country success can be different but yield similar renown.

Wilson has achieved four No. 1 singles between August 2020-August 2022. Within that time, she's also released two full albums, six music videos and had a reasonably non-stop schedule of concerts and appearances, including a guest acting role on the Paramount+ television program "Yellowstone."

King released a single that saw its chart-topping moment dovetail with her hosting last summer's CMA Fest event. That led nicely into her "Come Get Your Wife" debut country album release, headlining tour, a repeat of her CMA Fest hosting gig, plus opening slots later this summer with artists as diverse as Jelly Roll and Tyler Childers.

"Country's a bad-ass, flexible, inviting and family-style atmosphere that, in the past decade, has also opened so much -- what's even crazier to consider is that the genre hasn't even completely opened [to it's fullest potential yet]. So there's a whole planet of people who -- given how open it is now -- don't know that they love this [genre]. They may even see this 'CMA Fest' show and want to explore what's happening here further," King says excitedly.

Wilson laughs, composes herself, and smiles broadly when asked for the best reason to watch the forthcoming July 5 "CMA Fest" TV special.

"This show will make you so excited you're gonna want to run into a brick wall -- or feel like you can achieve anything you want. There are all different types of people in the world now who are attracted to country music and on that special, they're going to see all of our genre's various kinds of stars singing about everything in every way imaginable. Country music, more than ever, is exciting and for everyone."

"CMA Fest" debuts on ABC on Wednesday, July 19, at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: CMA Fest on TV: Dierks Bentley, Elle King, Lainey Wilson host special