THE IFCO FUN FEST

Mark Wills and Tracy Byrd co-headlined this year's event.

The International Fan Club Organization (known as IFCO) has been a staple in the country music industry for almost 40 years now. Founded by the Johnson sisters (Kay, Loudilla and Loretta) the company has been bringing together artists and their fans via mail and now the Internet for over three decades.

One of the highlights of their year is bringing country music musicians and their fans together face to face for a lot of music, a lot of fun and to raise money for great causes. The annual IFCO Fun Fest show is usually held the Tuesday before the official festivities get under way and always boasts a great line-up of up and comers and established fan favorites. This year was no exception.

Craig Morgan got the show started by singing both his heartbreaking smash hit "Almost Home," and his latest single "Look at Us." Getting up and close and personal with the audience, the Broken Bow artist left the stage and plowed straight through the audience at the Ryman Auditorium.



Deborah Allen took the stage to sing "Baby I Lied," and Josh Turner stopped in to sing two songs "What it Ain't" and "Long Black Train." From the sound of the applause he could have performed another two hours and the crowd wouldn't have minded at all.

The Rushlow guys commandeered the stage to bring "I Can't Be Your Friend Anymore" and "Sweet Summer Rain" to the energetic crowd. They also did a cover of the Gin Blossom's "Til' I Hear From You" that kept the audience rockin' in their seats.

Michelle Poe sang her single "Just One of The Boys." Not only a solo artist but also an accomplished bass player as well, the singer explained how she often feels like "one of the boys" while out on the road as a touring musician. Currently on tour with Dierks Bentley, Michelle has also played for Steve Holy among others. Apparently the guys in the band sometimes (okay more times than not) forget that a lady is traveling with them and don't always act very gentlemanly.

There's a new female group on the music scene called "Cowboy Crush" who brought a shot of their talent and energy to the Ryman stage. The five-member ensemble that includes a drummer, fiddle, bass and keyboard players and a lead singer performed "Nobody Died of a Broken Heart."

Backstage the artists mingled and posed for pictures with each other and with fans. Mark Wills took some time to sign autographs including a guitar for St. Judes. After visiting a few minutes with Brian McComas, the two parted ways but not before Brian said, "Have a good show, Mark."

Brian had a good show. The singer got things started with his hit "You're in My Head," and then began to tell a story about arriving in a city for a concert stop but his clothes never made it. Having to buy all new clothes, the singer now had an extra pair of boots, which he decided to give away to two boys in the audience. Brothers, David and Tas Coleman of Lexington, Tennessee were thrilled to be the lucky recipients of these two of a kind souvenirs. While he was singing "99.9," fans crowded the stage for autographs and Brian never missed a beat. He simply knelt down, signed away and kept right on singing.

Brother's David and Tas Coleman took home Brian McComas' boots as souvenirs from the show. The lucky boys were also super excited to meet Andy Griggs.

Having to slow things down a minute and set up a keyboard for Brad Cotter, the "Nashville Star" winner joked, "I'm so much trouble!" The audience didn't seem to mind the wait because Brad then serenaded them with "I Meant To." Loyal country music fans know good things come to those who wait.

Every artist's Fan Club is invited to participate in the IFCO Fan Club Challenge. This is where fan club members spend all year raising money for St. Judes and compete against the other fan clubs to win prizes. During the IFCO Fun Fest, special plaques are presented to the presidents of the Fan Clubs who raised the most money. WSM 650 Radio's Keith Bilbrey was on hand to host this portion of the show. This year, third place honors went to Andy Griggs Fan Club. Second place was awarded to Toby Keith's Fan Club. For the second year in a row, top honors went to Keith Urban's mighty fan base. Congratulations to every fan club member who donated time or money to this worthy cause. You are all winners!

Speaking of Andy Griggs, the RCA recording artist is always thrilled to grace the Ryman stage especially during "Fan Fair" week. The singer took this opportunity to play his latest single "She Thinks She Needs Me" for the fans. He then stopped and chatted with show host, Robert K. Oermann about his annual archery tournment that was going to be held later in the week.

Co-Headliner, Mark Wills, took the stage and rotated having the audience laughing and crying. Mark performed "Jacob's Ladder" and "Don't Laugh at Me," which never ceases to tug at the heartstrings. He also played the fan favorite "19 Something" which had everyone singing along. He took time to talk with Robert and then stopped to sign autographs for fans.

Mark was leaving the stage as the other headliner, Tracy Byrd was stepping on it. After chatting for a minute, Mark told Tracy "Go out there and have a good show. It's a good crowd." Tracy took Mark's advice and really closed the show with an energy that kept even the most exhausted audience members dancing. Performing everything from "10 Rounds with Jose Cuervo" to "Keeper of the Stars," neither fans of up tempos or ballads could complain. "Watermelon Crawl" alone was well worth the price of admission.

The Johnson Sisters pose with Robert K. Oermann and Keith Bilbrey who hosted the evening.

This was the 37th Annual "IFCO Fun Fest" and by now the Johnson sisters have got the formula down. When you combined a line-up of great talent, a great cause to support and the amazing energy that country music fans seem to generate… how could this night be anything but a success?


Visit our IFCO photo gallery for more pictures you didn't see here!

IFCO Fun Fest Photo Gallery

For more information on The International Fan Club Organization visit IFCO.org

CMT Counts Down the "100 Greatest Love Songs of Country Music"

CMT has become really good at counting down to pick the best in various categories. They've already brought us "The 40 Greatest Men of Country Music," and "The Greatest Country Songs," and then they set their sights on determining the "100 Greatest Love Songs of Country Music."

CMT executives and music industry insiders nominate eligible songs and then determine the results. The best part about this countdown was that fans could attend a special concert taping of the top 12 tunes.

Sara Evans and Joe Nichols hosted the 2-hour event that was held on June 9, 2004 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee. (Planned no doubt to let all the CMA Music Fest attendees in on the action) By the sounds of the applause and level of excitement from the audience during the concert, everyone was thrilled to take part in such a special event.

Sara Evans (seen here at the City of Hope Softball game) served as co-host of the special CMT concert!

Co-host Evans served double duty as emcee and performer. The RCA recording artist kicked the show off by singing the number 12 song "When You Say Nothing at All." The song was originally recorded by Keith Whitley and then made more popular in the 90's by Alison Krauss.

Josh Turner was honored to sing a Merle Haggard tune.

Next up was Josh Turner who had the daunting task of bringing number 11, Merle Haggard's "That's The Way Love Goes," to life. No worries for this relative newcomer who is best known for his debut single "Long Black Train." His performance was flawless.

Joe Nichols (seen here arriving at the City of Hope Softball Game) kicked off his week at the CMA Music Festival by hosting the CMT concert and performing with LeeAnn Womack!

Lee Ann Womack then joined Joe Nichols so they could duet on the George Jones and Tammy Wynette classic "Golden Ring." What's the best thing about taping a concert for television? When you mess up… you can just start over again. Joe and Lee Ann had to beg the audience's forgiveness a couple of times but no one was complaining. None of the fans seem to mind hearing those voices blend over and over again.

Dierks Bentley was joined by the Del McCoury Band for George Strait's "I Cross My Heart." It was a given that George would have at least one song in the Top 10 and this ballad solidly took the number 9 position. No country music love song countdown would be complete without Kenny Rogers and the place went crazy when the crooner took the stage to sing "She Believes in Me."

The lucky number 7 spot went to Lonestar's smash hit "Amazed." The group was more than happy to deliver the song to such an enthusiastic audience. Original "Nashville Star" winner, Buddy Jewell, gave a solid performance of Garth Brooks' hit "Unanswered Prayers" and made believers out of all of us.

Brad Paisley (seen here at the nightly Coliseum shows) performed "Hello Darlin."

Brad Paisley blamed technical difficulties for a couple of false starts before nailing Conway Twitty's "Hello Darlin." With that sense of humor always in tact, the singer/songwriter joked his way through the lull in music until all problems were fixed.

Randy Travis proved to "Forever and Ever" be a fan favorite when he came onstage to sing "Forever and Ever, Amen." The song is even more incredible when you add thousands of country music fans singing along to the mix.

Julie Roberts was thrilled to bring a Pasty Cline classic to life.

Newcomer Julie Roberts proved to be a talent to watch and listen for when she graced the stage to sing "Sweet Dreams." The Pasty Cline song was the number 3 song on this countdown.

Michael McDonald had the honors of singing the runner-up tune, "You Were Always on My Mind." Both Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley have recorded stellar versions of the song that leave lasting impressions on listeners.

The night clearly belonged to Dolly Parton who showed up to sing the number one "Greatest Love Song of Country Music." Her hit "I Will Always Love You" has touched generations for over thirty years. The audience gave Dolly a standing ovation both before she started singing and when the song was over. Any performance by this entertainer is a memorable one.

Other things of note during the concert (which originally aired a few days later)… Mavericks group member Raul Malo served as musical director and performed an amazing medley of other countdown songs during the show. In between numbers, it was fun to watch Sara and Joe prepare for the song introductions. Both musicians happily posed for pictures with fans and signed autographs when time allowed. During a particularly long break where the crew was having trouble getting set up, the then six month pregnant Sara joked about going into labor before the show was over.

"I Will Always Love You" may have taken top honors in this particular countdown, but it's the fans and CMT viewers who walk away winners when CMT provides entertainment like this. Be sure to check out CMT.com to see when this show might air again!

Keep checking back as we add more events to this page!

For more information on the CMA Music Fest visit CMAMusicFest.com

CMA Music Fest coverage by Susan J. Yeager with additional reporting by Karen Nelson and Alice Leslie. Photos by Sonya Cook and Karen Nelson.