Jake Owen, Maren Morris Set for CMA Fest's Free Stage

CMA Music Festival has announced the lineup for its Riverfront Park stage, the largest free venue at the annual festival. Situated on the banks of the Cumberland River, the stage is the traditional home of rising stars and veterans alike. Jake Owen is set to open the festival with a performance on Thursday morning, June 9th. True to his dude-on-the-water lifestyle, the Florida native, whose current single is "American Country Love Song," will show up by boat.

Maren Morris, Cam and Chris Janson are among the artists making their Riverfront Stage debuts, while perennial CMA Fest faves the Cadillac Three, Corey Smith and Phil Vassar will make return appearances. Jon Pardi, A Thousand Horses, Brothers Osborne, Granger Smith, Old Dominion and Brandy Clark have also been tapped for the stage, along with more than 20 other artists.

In addition, CMA Music Festival has added some country music statesmen to the nightly concerts at Nissan Stadium: Charlie Daniels Band on Thursday, Clint Black on Friday, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on Saturday and Exile on Sunday. In addition, the Oak Ridge Boys will sing the national anthem to open the nightly concerts on Thursday, with Frankie Ballard, Marshall Tucker Band and Ray Stevens following suit throughout the weekend.

CMA Music Festival is held Thursday, June 9th, through Sunday, June 12th, in Nashville. Tickets for the Nissan Stadium centerpiece concerts — headlined by stars from Eric Church and Carrie Underwood to Luke Bryan and Keith Urban — are already sold out. Here's the full "river stage" lineup.