If you’re a country music fan and a Sirus XM subscriber, there’s no doubt that you know what Happy Hour Live on The Highway from Music Row means. For those of you who may not know, it is a 4 hour live radio broadcast from Nashville’s Margaritaville, hosted by Buzz Brainard. Die-hard fans will travel for hours, just to be a part of this fun-filled show!
What makes this Friday afternoon radio broadcast so popular? It turns the second story of Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, in Nashville, Tennessee, into a live broadcast radio station! From 3:00pm to 7:00pm on Friday afternoons, this “happy hour," is listened to all over the country!
The broadcast is free to watch and no reservations are required. Special guests frequent the show. You never know who you may see perform! If you play your cards right, you might just get on the air with the host, Buzz Brainard. Even if you don’t get on the air, Buzz makes sure he mingles through the audience, meeting people and taking pictures.
Know Before You Go
When my group of 9 women visited Nashville, being a part of the show was high on our bucket list. Here’s some advice if you’re wanting to be a part of the show:
It’s better to go as a group (4 or more), so you can take turns keeping your place in line. This is common and you won’t get the “death look” from anyone behind you–at least, we didn’t. Part of your group can go in to eat or have a drink. Then, you can trade places. We were planning to be there at 11:00am, which probably would have gotten us first in line; however, traveling with 9 women, does not make anything you do timely. We ended up getting there about 12:15pm and the line was just out the door. Within, 30 minutes, it was around the corner.
They begin letting people in around 2:00pm. (According to Sirius XM's website, they now begin letting people in at 1:00pm. Plan accordingly.). They do have a security check. They take about 25 people in at a time. Going in groups, makes finding a place to sit a little less chaotic. We were the first of the second group of 25 to go in.
There are quite a few seats and tables. We ended up getting a larger one towards the back. We were hoping for the front row tables but after seeing the hoards of people standing in front of those after everyone got in (standing between the tables and the stage,) I was glad we were in the back. It was still crowded but we had a good view of the stage.
You can order food and drinks; however it is crowded so be prepared for service to be slow. The wait staff and bartenders do their best. There’s a huge line for the bar and if you’re at a table, you need to plan ahead.
The host, Buzz Brainard, mingles through the crowd and tries to shake hands and take as many pictures with people as he can. He seems to realize that his fans are important to the success of his show.
If you want to go on stage and be a part of the live broadcast, you will need to complete an information card. The cards are usually set somewhere close to the stage. When filling the card out, be creative and have fun with it.
I don’t think they turn anyone away from attending the broadcast. There was a constant stream of people coming in and a few going out. It did get pretty crowded at times. It was happy hour. We were on vacation. We didn’t mind.
You never know who will show up at the broadcast. Carly Pearce was our surprise guest!
They will give you enough notice about going on stage, so you can let your friends/family back home know that they can tune in to the show.
The live broadcast can be heard on Sirius XM-The Highway or you can find their Facebook page SiriusXM The Highway and watch live footage from the broadcast, as well as, view pictures.
Getting On Stage
There really is no guaranteed way to get on stage, but there are a few things you can do to
get you noticed. Some people bring “gifts” that include tee shirts or trinkets that explain
where they are from. My group was large-there were 9 of us-and we were pretty loud! We also had the bright pink matching shirts–we were pretty hard to miss! We completed a card filled with good humor about who was in our group. It didn’t take long before they asked us to go on stage. There’s no prepping about what will transpire on the live broadcast. We just stood on stage for about 10-15 minutes until Buzz was ready for the interview. It was fun and the crowd was amazing and generous. Someone in the front row of the audience offered to take pictures with my phone while we were being interviewed. Once it was over, we went back to our table and enjoyed the rest of the show.
I had a lot of friends and family tell me that they heard the broadcast, but didn’t know it was our group until they saw the Facebook page. It was a fun experience. Whether you are a Sirius XM subscriber or not, the show is fantastic, and the crew at Margaritaville are friendly and will take good care of you!
For updated times and changes, be sure to check the Sirius XM's blog, by clicking here.
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