During last week’s CMA Music Festival in Nashville, viewers of HLN’s Morning Express With Robin Meade were able to catch their favorite weekday anchor on a rare Sunday appearance. But Robin wasn’t on television, she was onstage, making her festival singing debut and promoting her new album, Brand New Day, which is available beginning June 21 exclusively at Target stores and on iTunes.

“There’s nothing like standing in front of people and performing at the CMA Fest, where the world’s greatest country fans congregate every year!” Robin tells CountryWeekly.com. “I absolutely loved being able to see the crowd’s reaction. In TV, your feedback comes in the form of ratings that you get the next day. But at the CMA Fest, your barometer of how you’re doing is right there in the clapping crowd, the grooving teen, the toe-tapping veteran and the sing-every-word-with-you fan. You can’t beat that!”

In addition to her performance on the Lays Stage outside Bridgestone Arena, Robin also signed autographs over the course of three days at the Nashville Convention Center.

Pick up the June 27 issue of Country Weekly, on newsstands now, for more on Robin and her budding country career.