Chapitre 156: Chapter 156: Music Festival

After Mario and Reggie won the gold medals, Coach West bought them each a Porsche as a reward.

With their new sports cars, the two often went out for joyrides and even secretly participated in underground racing in the Everglades. Unfortunately, they were caught by the West Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and fined over three thousand dollars, causing a minor scandal.

After leaving Louisville, Link didn't immediately return to New York. Instead, he took a tour bus to Nashville, Tennessee, a three-hour journey.

The annual Country Music Association (CMA) Music Festival was taking place in this city, lasting five days in April and May each year.

Taylor, one of the most popular female singers in country music, was invited to perform and receive awards from the Country Music Association.

Country music was different from pop, rock, hip-hop, and folk music. It was a popular music genre with American national characteristics, originating in the southern United States and representing the music of white Americans.

It mainly reflected the lives of blue-collar workers, love, heartbreak, and home. It was the music of the lower class, also known as "blue-collar music."

Representative figures included John Denver, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Shania Twain, and Taylor. The latter three were all beautiful women with sweet voices, and they were also divas in the American music scene.

Taylor's first four albums were all country music style, but her later works incorporated many pop elements such as R&B, dance music, and rock, making the content of country music more urban and diverse, becoming a mainstream music genre worldwide.

The phrase "national is international" was perfectly embodied in country music.

This year's CMA Music Festival was held in Cumberland Park in Nashville. According to media reports, the festival attracted over 800,000 visitors.

On the way there, Link encountered many people rushing to join in the fun, mostly in their twenties and thirties, coming from all directions by train, bus, truck, and motorcycle. It felt like the American people didn't need to work to earn money.

Seeing these people, Link felt that there was a reason for America's decline.

When he arrived at the music festival, Taylor was singing on the central stage. She had a golden ponytail, wore an ordinary plaid shirt and blue jeans, and was holding a guitar, sitting in front of the microphone, singing "White Horse" from her second album.

This was the style of country music: a simple stage, simple and unpretentious clothing, simple musical accompaniment, and the singer singing to everyone like telling a story.

There were no seats under the stage, and everyone stood on the grass, looking up at the singer on stage, quietly listening to her singing.

At a glance, there were people within a two-kilometer radius, seemingly endless. Fortunately, the sound equipment at the scene was excellent. Even without buying a ticket, one could hear clearly from outside the park.

After Taylor finished singing a song, there was a burst of warm applause and cheers from the audience. Judging from the noise, there were no less than 40,000 people.

The audience shouted, "Taylor, one more song!" Taylor stood up, took a sip of her drink, and continued singing.

Her sweet, warm voice continued to fill the air. This kind of voice could give people a pleasant and gentle enjoyment, very infectious, and could be called a "straight man killer" type of singer.

This wasn't the first time Link had seen Taylor's concert. He had seen it seven or eight times in his past and present life.

Now, as a spectator, standing in the dense crowd, looking at the tall, energetic girl on stage who was now his girlfriend, he felt a strange feeling, somewhat proud, but also somewhat insecure.

"Wife! Wife! One more song!"

Suddenly, several male fans next to him started shouting.

Link's face darkened. That was his wife, not theirs. How shameless to call Taylor "wife" in front of him.

"Link, where are you?"

While watching the performance, he received a call from Mrs. Andrea. Link told her his location, and then Taylor's assistant, Emily, came over from the crowd to escort him to the artist rest area.

Link followed Emily to a simple awning next to the stage. There were many bands and members, singers, and staff, with hundreds of people coming and going.

Because he was wearing a baseball cap, no one recognized him.

"Link, do you want to go up and give her flowers?"

Mrs. Andrea looked at the bouquet in his hand. It was a large bunch of pink and purple irises, looking very bright and attracting the attention of everyone around. Mrs. Andrea sighed inwardly, "A straight man's romance."

"Taylor is singing. I'll give them to her when she gets off the stage."

In spring and summer, there were many irises in Tennessee. On the way here, he saw many flower shops selling them, ten for a dollar. He directly bought a hundred and held them in his hand. They weren't too heavy, but being stared at made him feel a bit showy.

Taylor sang three songs on stage and waved goodbye to the audience amidst their cheers. When she came to the awning and saw Link holding the bouquet, she was stunned for a moment, then looked at him with surprise.

"Why are you here?"

Taylor walked over and smiled at him.

"I watched the match in Louisville yesterday, and since it wasn't far from you, I came to see your concert."

"Oh, I see. You came by the way."

Taylor raised her eyebrows, not satisfied with his answer.

"Of course not. It's mainly because I miss you so much and wanted to see you sooner."

Link smiled, holding her hips.

"Humph, that's more like it."

Taylor kissed him.

After he took off his hat, the other singers also recognized him and came over to greet him. Taylor introduced a group of country music singers to Link.

Tim McGraw, a famous country music star from the 90s, and his wife, Faith Hill, whose representative work was the theme song of "Pearl Harbor," "There You'll Be."

Alison Krauss, the leading figure of bluegrass music, who had won 25 Grammy Awards from 1990 to 2009, with a perfect record of winning every nomination, and was also the female singer with the most Grammy Awards.

Keith Urban, Nicole Kidman's second husband, was also a famous country music singer with over ten million global album sales and two Grammy Awards.

There was also Carrie Underwood, who won the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance last year; Josh Turner, a singer from South Carolina; Lady Antebellum; and Luke Bryan, also known as "White Teeth."

The country music scene was full of talent, and Link wasn't considered a big name among them.

Everyone sat on the grass, drinking beer and chatting about music. When it was someone's turn to perform, they would take their instruments and go on stage to sing, while the others would be the audience below.

"Link, do you want to go up and sing?"

Taylor, with a slight blush on her cheeks from drinking a little beer, leaned on his shoulder and asked.

From her affectionate gesture, Link could feel that Taylor was very happy about his arrival. He thought he could give her more surprises like this in the future.

"Can I go up without a rehearsal?"

"Country music doesn't need rehearsal. It's okay to make mistakes. The first half is for invited guests to take turns singing, and the next hour or so is for newcomers to perform. This is the most popular part of the festival every year. As long as you have enough courage, everyone can go up and sing their own story."

Taylor explained.

Link thought for a moment and shook his head.

He rarely listened to this kind of slow-paced music before. Apart from classic old songs like "500 Miles," "Take Me Home, Country Roads," "El Condor Pasa," and "Lemon Tree," he hadn't heard any other country songs, so he didn't have anything to sing.

(End of Chapter)