CMA
Brothers Osborne are pretty busy. Last night, they played Nashville’s Nissan Stadium as part of CMA Fest. Sunday, they’ll do an afternoon set at the Bonnaroo Music Festival and then return to Nashville to join Dierks Bentley for his 10 p.m. set at the Stadium. John Osborne says he and brother TJ have attended Bonnaroo as fans, but it’s unusual that they’re getting to perform at both events this weekend.
“It’s weird because Bonnaroo typically has been during CMA Fest, so it’s hard for us to get over there and get back,” John tells ABC Radio. Also, he admits, “Sometimes the Bonnaroo experience could hinder your performance the next day because you’ve had a little too much fun.”
But this year, he says, “This is the best of both worlds. Not only do we get to play the Stadium, but we’re getting to play Bonnaroo, which is like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ And then after Bonnaroo, we’re coming back to Nissan Stadium to play with Dierks Bentley. It doesn’t get better than this.”
TJ, meanwhile, points out that even though this year’s edition of Bonnaroo features performers ranging from Sheryl Crow to Eminem to legendary disco band Chic, “there’s hardly any country music there.”
He notes, “A lot of the fans that would go there…most of them would probably say they don’t like country music — without realizing, I think, [that] they probably do and they just don’t know it. And so, it’s cool for us to go there, play and show them what we’re doing.”
“I think there’s a lot of stigma, a lot of cliche around country,” TJ adds. “So it’s cool to go there, to a multi-genre festival, represent country music and hopefully change people’s mind. Make them realize there’s real music happening here.”
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