From CMT.com

The big news from the CMA Music Festival show Saturday night (June at Nashville's LP Field wasn't that Rascal Flatts wreaked pandemonium with its surprise appearance or that Martina McBride hit notes high enough to bounce off satellites. Rather, it was the demonstration of just how popular Billy Ray Cyrus remains with country fans after his long foray into acting.

Cyrus arrived third in a talent lineup that stretched from 7:50-11:35 p.m. Clad in jeans and a fancy long-tailed shirt and wearing a rakish fedora over his long locks, he pranced on stage to a standing crowd and volcanic applause. He opened with "Could've Been Me," his 1992 hit.
He thanked the crowd for supporting him during his recent turn on Dancing With the Stars, then added wryly, "I'll never do that again." By the time he swung into "Brown Eyed Girl," he had established an almost magical intimacy with the huge audience.

For sheer volume of applause, though, Rascal Flatts, who followed Cyrus after a 15-minute set change, took the prize. The trio's appearance wasn't announced in the original festival schedule, although the list did allude to a "surprise guest."

Rascal Flatts' lead singer Gary LeVox didn't have Cyrus' moves, but he did display all of the older man's stage confidence and ease. With most of the audience on its feet throughout the set, the group breezed through "Fast Cars and Freedom," "Stand" and "My Wish." Then, taking a breather, LeVox announced, almost exactly at 9:25 p.m., that Flatts' next album will be released on 9/25 — that is, on Sept. 25.

Rascal Flatts resumed the music with "What Hurts the Most" and wrapped up the segment with "Life Is a Highway." Although the group's pop leanings have put its country credentials in dispute, it certainly wasn't a musical distinction that bothered the crowd, which rewarded these critically-besieged troubadours with rapturous applause.

From GACTV.com 

While Nashville blocks off city streets and gears up for the CMA Music Festival, Rascal Flatts is in and out of the recording studio working on the follow-up to 2006's best selling album, Me and My Gang.

For the Flatts guys, it seems everyday day is Fan Fair out on the road. Joe Don Rooney tell Dial-Global that the guys have fans of every age. "It's cradle to grave," he says. "We've got really young kids out there that couldn't come on their own 'cause their parents need to bring them — they need adult supervision. And that's a wonderful thing too, because families get to come out and enjoy it together."

Joe Don says in the meet-and-greets before shows they’ve talked to grandparents who tell the band they’re grateful to be able to come out and enjoy a concert with the whole family. "That's a cool thing, it really is," Joe Don says. "It not only says a lot about us but says a lot about country music in general."