Allow Fan Clubs into CMA Music Fest

Dave Burley writes.
Murder On Music Row now Murder At The CMA(Country Music Assn). Steve Moore, CEO of the CMA, is doing a good job of murdering our beloved country and bluegrass music. Under his watch he has changed the name of the Fan Fair to the Music Festival. He has eliminated the Fan Clubs therefore eliminating the possibility of regional legends in country and bluegrass music to be part of the Fan Fair(Music Festival).Steve Moore is the CEO of the CMA. When he was a young man he went to be with Blood Sweat And Tears and then moved on to work with ZZ TOP and Stevie Ray Vaughn. He is a trumpet player. Steve Moore, CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of the CMA (Country Music Association). Moved to Nashville to take over as director of concert venue, Starwood Amphitheatre. Some of the artists to appear there when he was director include, AEROSMITH and MOTLEY CRUE. From there he went on to work for the high profile agency, A. E. G. Live. Many artists booked through that agency have nothing to do with country music Nothing from Classic Country mostly just the new rock/country artists.

The IFCA (International Fan Club For Bluegrass And Classic Country Music) had had a booth at the Fan Fair doings for 10 years from the Fairgrounds and on to the Convention Center downtown. The fan clubs used to be the backbone of the Fan Fair. Fan clubs were allowed to bring in some of the Classic Country and Bluegrass artists that never had a big hit but were always there as supporting acts on many of the legendary country music barndance radio shows. Some of those shows: The Grand Ole Opry, Big D Jamboree, Dallas, Tx., WLS National Barn Dance in Chicago, WWVA Wheeling Jamboree, Wheeling, Va., KWKH Lousiana Hayride of Shreveport, La. (Johnny Cash, Elvis and Hank Williams Sr. are some of the aritsts that got their start on KWKH, WRVA Old Dominion Barn Dance, Renfro Valley Barn Dance, WLW Boone Co. Jamboree out of Cincinnati, Oh. Town Hall Party from Calif. and dozens of other's. Without those great radio shows and the supporting cast's, it's doubtful that country music would have survived. Those shows were successful from the twenties on through several decades and some are still being successful. They were the backbone of country and bluegrass music.
Now the CMA has a CEO that has decided to change everything. First thing he did was change the name from Fan Fair to the Music Festival. Then he did the unforgivable, he decided, along with his mostly country/rock board, that the Fan Clubs should no longer be allowed to be part of the doings. What a shame. Under his watch they are erasing 85 years of our country music and bluegrass history. We had many great artists from the past and the present, artists that never had a big hit, who would spend time in the IFCA booth signing autographs for the thousands of fans. Rose Lee Maphis comes to mind. She is the widow of the Legendary Joe Maphis. It was amazing how many fans recognized her name and wanted her autograph. We had many of the bluegrass stars that visited the booth to sign for the fans. Rhonda Vincent, Leroy Troy, Kentucky Thunder, Paul Brewster, the CherryHolmes Family and also country artists such as Lynn Anderson, Charlie Louvin, Kennie Kendall and on and on. Most of those artists are not eligible to be part of the Music Festival under the new rules that Steve Moore has had implemented. That is, not eligible unless they sign at one of their Corporate Sponsor's booths. Wrangler Jeans, Ford Motor Co................... you get the idea. Money, money, money. There are many of the Grand Ole Opry stars of today that, according to the new rule, would not be eligible to be part of the so called Music Festival. ( Fan Fair).
The new requirement that Mr. Moore has made part of the Music Festival (Fan Fair)..............
'If an artist has not had a top 40 hit in their career or sold over 40,000 records of one song, they are not eligible to participate.' That eliminates probably about ninety percent of the cast's from all of those great radio shows. That also eliminated our booth. Kris Kennedy who handles the booking of the exhibitors has denied us the booth for the past two years.
I called the CMA two years ago. I had a short conversation with the young man that answered the phone. He wanted to know what kind of booth we had. I told him and mentioned artists such as Kitty Wells. I was shocked to discover that this young man, who was representing the CMA, had never heard of Kitty Wells. After being transferred to someone in one of the inner offices, during a conversation, I mentioned that I had spent many years working for Faron Young. She told me that she didn't think she had ever heard that name. What a shame. That's what it's come to folks. Steve Moore and his country/rock friends have stole our own CMA from us and are turning it into a giant rockfest.
It's all about the money. The CMA powers are big promoters and the more of the rock stars, such as Kid Rock, that they can get involved with the CMA the more bookings that they can get for those artists. They are taking advantage of what the CMA and Fan Fair already was to introduce rock artists such as Kid Rock which will increase those artists value as a concert artist. Most of this is being done to line their pockets with the green stuff. They snuck in the back door and stole our Country Music Association.

What we are trying to do is get enough signatures on this petition that the CMA will have to listen to our voice's or face the wrath of the news media. There is power in number's. If you support us, sign the petition and get the news out to all of your FB and other website friends. We can do it but we need you help.
In reality, we would really like to get the name changed back to Fan Fair. I spent the past two years showcasing bands on Broadway in Nashville during the Music Festival and spoke to every fan that I had the chance to, hundreds of them concerning the change of the name. At least 99 to 1 wished that it was still called Fan Fair.
Hopefully your signature on this petition might help change Steve Moore's and the CMA's mind and at least let the Fan Clubs back in to be part of the Fan Fair (Music Festival.) Your signatures as supporters of this petition might make our endeavor successful.
Thank you,
Dave A. Burley
President
IFCA (International Fan Club for Bluegrass and Classic Country Music)
www.IFCA-bluegrass-country.com