Ella Langley, Zach Top, and the New Wave Reshaping CMA Fest 2026
Every generation of CMA Fest introduces a cohort of artists who feel like the future arriving in real time. In 2026, that cohort is led by Ella Langley and Zach Top — two acts whose music points toward what country’s next decade might sound like, and whose inclusion in the festival lineup reflects the genre’s ongoing negotiation between tradition and change.
Ella Langley came up through the Nashville songwriting community before stepping forward as a performer in her own right. Her debut album, released in 2024, drew comparisons to Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton in its direct, unflinching storytelling — high praise that she’s earned rather than been handed. Her voice is immediately distinctive: warm but tough, capable of conveying both vulnerability and defiance in the same breath. Her CMA Fest slot puts her in front of the largest audience of her career so far, and the expectation is that she’ll handle it the way she handles everything — with total confidence.
Zach Top represents a different but equally compelling path. His sound is unambiguously traditional — steel guitar, two-step rhythms, lyrics that could have been written in 1975 — but performed with a freshness that makes neo-traditionalism feel like a genuine movement rather than a nostalgia act. In a festival landscape dominated by big-room pop-country, Top’s performances are a reminder that the honky-tonk heartbeat of country music is still very much alive.
Cody Johnson rounds out this emerging-but-not-new class. He’s been building his career independently for over a decade, and his CMA Fest appearance is a testament to what’s possible when an artist refuses to compromise their vision. His fans — fiercely devoted — will make sure his set is one of the loudest of the weekend.
