(Nashville, TN) It was a week of sparkling encounters and sweet surprises that singer Eileen Carey didn’t want to end.

First came her standout performances at the mammoth CMA Music Festival in Nashville, June 11-14, which drew the largest crowds in its history. The event racked up an average of more than 87,000 attendees a day.

And Eileen was in the thick of it, appearing with her hot band at both the fabled Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and at Rippy’s BBQ, where she played to a packed house. Both venues are at the heart of Nashville’s entertainment district.

When not on stage, Eileen worked the Tootsie’s and Digital Rodeo fan booths, autographing, posing for pictures and swapping stories with fans old and new.

On the two final days of the festival, Eileen presided over prize drawings for her fans. These saw the giveaway of such coveted items as a Selfie Stick, portable speakers and a miniature fan which, when turned on, not only cooled the room but also became a clock.

Thinking that life couldn’t get any better, Eileen returned to California—where life got a lot better. She discovered that the Akademia Music Awards had named her recent single—“Bottle Your Crazy Up”—the year’s Best Country/Rock Song.

“This clever country jam,” the citation read, “weds a risible premise and dulcet vocals to superb instrumentation, illustrating one of the most stringent performance standards we’ve encountered.”

Eileen’s current single “Sweet Love” off her current album Let It Go, continues to climb the charts.

How’s that for a homecoming?

UPCOMING PERFORMANCES

• July 1- Eileen will also be performing her brand of California Country at the San Diego,CA County Fair.
• July 25- Autry in the Center of Griffith Park in Los Angeles, CA. Eileen will be seeing a fulfillment of a dream when, along with Carl Verheyan and the Podunk Poets, she puts her extraordinary talents to use in behalf of FixNation, a local non-profit animal clinic that has successfully and humanely been a leader in the TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) process for the control of homeless cats. She and her husband Joe Federico have been active in the animal welfare world for years.
• August 9- Orange County Fair, Costa Mesa, CA