It’s day one of Arizona’s largest country music festival, and our CBS Local station KMLE was on hand to get a little ‘sideways’ with Arizona native son, Dierks Bentley! KMLE Country Thunder 2012 and the “kraziness” has already begun. KMLE listeners, fans, and twitter followers gave way to a record breaking Thursday attendance.

Also headlining the first of the 4 day festival along with Dierks Bentley, were Craig Morgan, the Eli Young Band and Wade Bowen!

KMLE’s Big Shoe Stu and David Dean talked with artist and U.S. Army Veteran Craig Morgan about being on Conan O’Brien in LA , “I made sure to give a shout out about being here [KMLE Country Thunder].” Morgan went on to say that “these are the shows of our lives” in regards to the big music festivals. Lastly, he made sure to sneak in a mention about one of the songs he was performing on stage, (Download “What Matters Most”) in honor of a charity called Folds of Honor. Check back later to see the exclusive performance.

The Eli Young Band talked with David Dean backstage. Frontman, Mike Eli, talked about expecting a little one on the way in August. Mike mentions about being a little nervous but overall excited. Although Eli goes on to mention his most nerve racking moment, “Playing the Grand Ole Opry for the first time was incredibly cool and nerve racking.” Then it was all about dishing out their favorite apps for their phone; the CatPaint… basically where you can add in a cat to a photo and of course Instagram. However; David Dean‘s favorite app is the Country Thunder app. Oh and for all you KMLE listeners, David Dean made sure to request their new single “Even If It Breaks Your Heart,” so make sure to check back to see the performance.

If you missed Day 1 of KMLE Country Thunder it’s okay, we have you covered. Just click on the photo gallery you want to see:
Dierks Bentley
Craig Morgan
Eli Young Band
Wade Bowen
KMLE Tent Photo Booth

–Jennica E. Maes, KMLE Country 108