The third day of CMA Fest in Nashville wrapped with a throwback vibe: Carly Pearce brought bluegrass surprise guests and teamed up with Riley Green, Zach Top leaned into ’90s energy before Tim McGraw closed with classic hits. Jordan Davis and Marcus King also
Nashville was loud again on Sunday night, and by the time CMA Fest night 3 wrapped, fans already knew what was waiting the next day: one final stretch of music after four days of the festival.
The third day unfolded with performances that leaned hard into nostalgia—without slowing down the momentum. Inside Nissan Stadium. tens of thousands of fans who had come for the music spent the night bouncing between bluegrass. country staples. and rock-tinged guitar showmanship. all while keeping one thing on their minds: what’s next.
Sara Evans kicked off the evening with a career cornerstone. starting in Nissan Stadium with “Born to Fly.” Fans reacted immediately—an early reminder of how the 2000 single still resonates. Evans then asked the crowd, “How is everyone doing in Nashville?” before moving into “A Real Fine Place to Start.”.
After belting through the lyrics to the 2005 single, she took a bow and returned to the mic to address the people in the stands and the ones filing in. “Here is a song for anyone who’s ever had a broken heart,” Evans said, teasing her third song, “A Little Bit Stronger.”
Carly Pearce followed with an intimate-feeling bluegrass moment that stood out in a festival known for being one of country music’s biggest and loudest events. Pearce. a native of Kentucky. brought up Ricky Skaggs and Molly Tuttle—bluegrass pickers whose sound added something rootsy and finely textured to Nissan Stadium.
And just when it seemed the night couldn’t get any tighter, Pearce surprised the crowd again. Toward the end of her set. she brought out Riley Green for a sentimental duet of “If I Don’t Leave. I’m Gonna Stay.” The pair took center stage on two stools. and suddenly the scale of the 70. 000-person crowd felt smaller. closer. and more like a shared secret.
Pearce’s set carried three total surprises, but it was that closing duet with Green that pushed the energy over the top.
Zach Top kept the momentum moving with a sound that he clearly built his set around—old-school country charm cutting through the newer wave energy of CMA Fest. He started right away with his 2025 single “Guitar,” then quickly moved into his second song, another 2025 release, “When You See Me.”
In a quick shift, he controlled the crowd’s energy from hot to cold in just those two songs. After thanking fans, Top told the audience, “It’s crazy to think how far we’ve come in the last two years,” before breaking into his breakthrough single, “Bad Luck,” which the crowd sang back to him.
The guitar work became part of the show itself as Top used nearly every note of his fretboard across the songs—an old-school style delivered with enough precision to keep it feeling fresh.
Jordan Davis didn’t step onto the stage alone. Before he even performed, Davis told The Tennessean that Marcus King would be joining him. King then helped reinforce a classic feel—though it came through rock guitar solos rather than straight country.
Davis opened with “I Ain’t Saying. ” then quickly welcomed the crowd with “We’ve been waiting for this one all year Nashville. welcome to CMA Fest. ” before swinging into “Bar None. ” a 2025 top 10 single. Davis seemed unable to contain his own momentum. stepping on every inch of the stage through the duration of the song.
After “Turn That Truck Around,” he performed “Next Thing You Know.” That moment pulled the audience into the rhythm—fans held up their phones, waved them back and forth, and sang along to his 2022 single.
Later in the set, Davis brought King on for a live rendition of their single “Louisiana Stick.” The performance turned into a series of Van Halen-esque solos—an unexpected but welcomed jolt of classic rock energy inside a country festival setting.
The night’s retro pull culminated with Tim McGraw, the final performer on CMA Fest night 3. McGraw strolled onto the stage with veteran poise and began the “beginning of the end” with his 2012 single, “Truck Yeah.”
The crowd fully caught fire with “Something Like That. ” a move that kept the nostalgic tone the entire night had been building. With the audience already engaged thanks to the 1999 No. 1 hit, McGraw introduced himself and his band before moving into another old-school classic from 1994, “Down on the Farm.”.
He briefly diverted from the retro set list for a newer track he “never played before”: “Song For America,” which dropped days ago on May 29. Then he returned to the songs that made “Tim McGraw, Tim McGraw,” leaning into classic hits from his catalog.
By the end, two of the highest points for the crowd were “I Like It I Love It” and the heartfelt classic “Live Like You Were Dying.”
The third night of CMA Fest didn’t just fill time with big names—it stitched together the festival’s biggest energy with a clear theme: old songs, old-school instincts, and surprise moments that made the huge stadium feel surprisingly personal.
CMA Fest night 3 Carly Pearce Tim McGraw Riley Green Sara Evans Zach Top Jordan Davis Marcus King Nissan Stadium Nashville