Behind the Scenes at the CMA Music Festival

FOX411 Country was on hand at the 2011 CMA Music Festival, as the biggest stars in the business made sure to get in quality time with their fans.

The 40th anniversary of the fan-driven festival, formally known as “Fan Fair,” drew a daily attendance over 65,000. From autograph signings to fan club parties to constant concerts, Nashville was rocking with events.

FOX411 hung out at at Miranda Lambert’s fan club party, run by her mother, who happens to be her fan club president. Fans competed by decorating their tables in different Lambert-inspired themes. Plus they got a front row seat for an intimate performance by the superstar, and some lucky attendees even got a chance to meet Lambert and take photos.

Over at the Fan Fair Hall at the Nashville Convention Center, 443 artists and celebrities made appearances. We dropped by as country music icon Dolly Parton met with 40 fans in honor of the 40th Anniversary, making her first showing there since the mid 1970s.

Billy Ray Cyrus signed at his booth and all the way out the door. FOX 411 Country joined him at his Riverfront Stage performance as he sang songs from his upcoming patriotic album “I’m American,” a collection featuring many guest friends, and one that he says is a thank you to our troops.

“Basically the whole album is a tip of the hat, a salute to our troops, our men and women in uniform. Kind of came up with the concept while I was in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he told us.

We’ll be bringing you much more on the story behind the album, plus his Riverfront performance, as we get closer to his June 28th release date.

Meanwhile at the nightly sold-out LP Field concerts, we were able to get backstage and chat with big name performers including Trace Adkins, Martina McBride and "American Idol" Season 10 stars Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina.

Check out some of out CMA highlights in this week's Fox 411 Country Round-Up.