On Wednesday evening, a surprise whirlwind of roaring brass, booming drumbeats and dynamic dancing popped up right outside of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center, much to the surprise of Nashvillians. CBS had called on Tennessee State University’s Grammy Award-winning band to give a Grammy nominee-inspired pop-up performance ahead of Sunday’s awards ceremony .
TSU’s Aristocrat of Bands Marching Band set up on the symphony’s steps to honor the “Best Country Album” nominees for this year’s Grammy.
They performed a rendition of songs from the category, a medley of “Nobody’s Nobody” by Brothers Osbourne, “Penthouse” by Kelsea Ballerini, “Smells Like Smoke” by Lainey Wilson, “Hey Driver” by Zach Bryan and Tyler Childers’ “Rustin’ in the Rain.”
Nashville isn’t the only musical city to see a pop-up “Grammy activation” performance. CBS launched the series of musical events across the country, also hitting New York and Los Angeles.
The audio-visual displays ranged in scale and were accompanied by live performances, across genres, of the artists’ music from different nominee categories.