The 2018 iHeartCountry Festival kicked the weekend's festivities off in a big way during the Daytime Village at the iHeartCountry Festival presented by The Makers of Accu-Chek.
The free, outdoor event drew a large crowd outside of the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas as an amazing lineup of country music's budding stars performed some amazing sets on stage. And performing this year was Brett Young, Danielle Bradbery, Dylan Scott, Luke Combs, and Ben Rue -- there were even a few surprises for fans who were there to enjoy the beautiful weather and live music.
Take a look at the best moments from the Daytime Village at the iHeartCountry Festival below.
Brett Young surprises the crowd with Gavin DeGraw
Brett Young performed a few songs from his debut self-titled album like "Close Enough," "Like I Loved You," "Mercy," "In Case You Didn't Know," and "Sleep Without You," but mid set he welcomed Gavin DeGraw to the stage. He explained that he was inspired to get into songwriting because of Gavin and his 2003 hit single "Chariot." Then, DeGraw appeared to perform an acoustic version of his song "I Don't Want To Be."
Check out Brett performing his hit song "In Case You Didn't Know":
Luke Combs performed his just-released new single "Beautiful Crazy" & sparks crowd singalong during "Hurricane"
If anyone has had an incredible year, it's Luke Combs. During his set, Luke performed songs from his debut album, This One's For You, like "Honkey Tonk Highway," "One Number Away," "When It Rains It Pours," and "Hurricane," during which the latter two, the crowd broke out into a giant singalong. Luke also performed his just released new single "Beautiful Crazy," one of the first times the country singer/songwriter has performed the track live.
Watch Luke perform "When It Rains It Pours" below.
Dylan Scott explains how his No. 1 single "My Girl" is about his wife
Dylan Scott performed several songs from his debut self-titled album like "Ball Cap" and "Crazy Over Me," and he ended his set with his very first No. 1 song in country radio, "My Girl," and he explained how the song was inspired by his wife. He told all of the fans watching that he was driving in his truck with his wife in the passenger seat, who started to rap along to the radio. The song that was playing Eminem's "Lose Yourself," which sparked the lyrics "I love it when she raps to an Eminem song/ That's my girl."
See Dylan performing his new single "Hooked" below:
Danielle Bradbery performs in her home state
Danielle Bradbery reintroduced herself to fans this year when she released her latest album I Don't Believe We've Met, and she performed several songs off the album including "Can't Stay Mad at You," "Sway," "Hello Summer," "Messy," and "Worth It." The best part? Danielle did it all in her home state of Texas -- the singer/songwriter is originally from Houston.
See Danielle sing "Worth It" below.
Ben Rue makes a surprise performance
Ben Rue surprised the crowd with a performance to kick off the Daytime Village to sing his new single "Let 'Em Loose."
Photos: Rodger Ho & Getty Images