With summer just around the corner, it’s time to prepare for the beach, day trips, and outdoor events. However, for country music fans, summer is defined by a slew of country artist tours, tailgating, and dancing as the sun goes down at festivals.
Music festivals and outdoor concerts are a huge hit during the summer months when the weather is warm, but this is especially true for country music. It seems like every year, outdoor venues book shows for country artists who conveniently announce tours in the spring. Just as expected, over the past few months, many singers announced tours for the summer and early fall this year.
Kenny Chesney prepares for his 40-date Trip Around The Sun Tour of stadiums and amphitheaters. After performing in Vegas this past March, the country star is set to hit Tampa, Florida this weekend and head across the country through late August. Chris Stapleton will begin touring this May through November, and Blake Shelton will hit a few dates over the summer.
One of the major tours announced over the past few weeks is the co-headlining ‘The Bandwagon’ tour between Miranda Lambert and Little Big Town. The duo will hit major cities across the U.S., starting off July in Charlotte, North Carolina and wrapping up in Chicago, Illinois this August. Additionally, Alison Krauss will head out on a 50-date tour, joined by Willie Nelson on most dates, which will run from May through September. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit just announced tour dates, beginning this July, with help from singer-songwriter Aimee Mann.
Other notable country artist tours include Rascal Flatts’ Back To US Tour, Alan Jackson’s Honky Tonk Highway Tour, Chris Young’s Losing Sleep World Tour, and Jason Aldean’s High Neon Tour – just to name a few. Another highly-anticipated show features Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line, and Thomas Rhett at Panama, Florida’s 2018 Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam. Church, who held a cross-continent tour last year, was named the No. 1 most attended tour in the world at the time, according to Pollstar. Florida Georgia Line has been dubbed as “one of the hottest music acts alive,” by MusicRow magazine, and Rhett was recently named iHeartRadio’s Country Artist of the Year for the second time. Basically, this won’t be a show you want to miss.
As if all these tours weren’t enough, there are a variety of country festivals attracting fans from all sides of the U.S. These include Stagecoach Festival in California, Ohio’s Bash on the Bay, New York’s Taste of Country Music festival, South Florida’s Boots & Bourbon Country Music Festival, Country Summer Music Festival in Santa Rosa, and Sonoma’s new Wine Country Music Festival. In addition, the 2018 Country Music Awards Festival is scheduled in Nashville from June 7 to 10 and will feature artists Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Carly Pearce, Chris Stapleton, Lee Ann Womack, and many more.
Country music is something that never seems to go out of style and is always consistently allowing artists to grow in the genre. As the artists mentioned above take the spotlight right now in the industry, other up-and-coming stars are waiting on the sidelines for their turn to shine. And they will – but they might just have to wait until next summer.
Click on any of the tours and festivals below to find tickets to a show via Ticket Club, or visit the website to search for an artist of your choice.
2018 Summer Tours
Kenny Chesney ‘Trip Around the Sun’ Tour
Chris Stapleton Tour
Blake Shelton Tour
Miranda Lambert & Little Big Town ‘The Bandwagon’ Tour
Alison Krauss & Willie Nelson Tour
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Tour
Rascal Flatts ‘Back To US’ Tour
Alan Jackson ‘Honky Tonk Highway’ Tour
Chris Young ‘Losing Sleep World Tour’
Jason Aldean ‘High Neon Tour’
Summer Festivals 2018
April 27-29: Stagecoach Festival – Indio, California @ Empire Polo Club
June 7 – 10: 2018 Country Music Awards Festival – Nashville, TN
June 8-10: Taste of Country Music Festival – Hunter, NY @ Catskill Mountains
June 15-17: Country Summer Music Festival – Santa Rosa, CA @ Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Aug. 30: Bash on the Bay- Put-In-Bay, Ohio @ Put-In-Bay Airport
Aug. 31-Sept. 2: 2018 Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam – Panama City Beach, Florida @ Panama City Beach
September 22-23: Sonoma Wine Country/ Harvest Music Festival – Glen Ellen, California @ B.R. Cohn Winery