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Thomas Rhett guitarist Nathan Whitney: "When the call came, I was informed the tour was starting nine days later"

Guitar player for country megastar on his custom Yamahas, why he went digital, and how to land and keep the biggest session gigs

Touring the world as lead guitarist for Thomas Rhett requires laser focus, precise chops, and the ability to play well with others, both on stage and off.

Every hour of performance is counterbalanced by hours more living in close quarters with bandmates, sleeping in a bunk, and often watching endless stretches of highways speed by. The road is not for everyone, and it’s certainly not for novices.

By the time Nathan Whitney joined Rhett’s band - which comprises Chris Kimmerer (drums), Josh Reedy (guitar/keyboards), Travis Vance (bass), and Frank Houston (saxophone/keyboards) - the Toronto-based guitarist was as ready as one can be for such a life-altering experience. He had put in far more than the proverbial '10,000 hours' as a studio and touring musician, and was well versed in every aspect of the music industry.

Every job, every gig, helped prepare me for the opportunity I was presented with

“Every job, every gig, helped prepare me for the opportunity I was presented with,” he says.

Whitney began playing in bands as a teenager, and studied guitar through private lessons and as a college student. At university he began playing in jazz ensembles, which he says taught him to be “open to new information, analyse, and assimilate new concepts and ideas.”

From there, his resume grew exponentially: cruise ships, a punk band, numerous cover bands, an alternative indie band, and original Canadian country artists. Those tours included festival dates, where he gleaned two critical lessons: “I learned what it takes to entertain a larger crowd, and that having backup plans, both personally and gear-wise, is essential to ensuring a stress-free gig.”

When the call came to audition for Rhett in February 2017, he brought almost 20 years of experience to the table. “I'm thankful that I did have all these experiences,” he says, “as otherwise I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to succeed in the audition, rehearsals, and performances.”

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Whitney was preparing for the next round of tour dates when MusicRadar caught up with him. He gave us insight about why every gig, no matter its size, is important to a musician’s upward climb, and what it takes to bring Thomas Rhett’s gold and platinum-selling songs to life every night.

What was key to being ready for your first night onstage with Thomas Rhett?  

"When I first started playing guitar, an older musician mentor told me that if there is a job or gig you want, you have to work towards that gig and be ready when the call comes. I didn't take that to heart when I was younger, but as I progressed in my career, I knew there are a few artists that I would love to play for, Thomas being one of them.

"While I didn't invest a huge amount of time really digging into the songs when they came out, I did spend time making myself familiar with them by listening casually, as a fan and music lover, and also wrote charts out for each album. These charts sat on the shelf for years. But they were there.  

When the call came, I was informed that the tour was starting nine days later

"When the call came, I was informed that the tour was starting nine days later. While I was nervous and excited - as anyone would be after getting this call - I simply walked over to my shelf, pulled out the charts that were already done, and began the process of digging into the details of the guitar parts. That call came at 10:30 on a Monday night, when I was in Toronto, and the next morning I was in Nashville, rehearsing with the band.

"We rehearsed six songs of the 17-song set in the first couple of hours. If I’d had to start from scratch, charting the songs that night after the call, I don't know if I would have been able to pull that off.  

"In addition to my charts, the bandleader sent me 'board tapes of the live show, with the guitar part isolated to the right, the rest of the mix to the left. This was essential, as I was able to learn and duplicate the previous guitar player’s parts. Modern country records contain multiple guitar parts, so playing the correct part ensured the rest of the band heard what they were used to hearing, and the front-of-house audio engineer didn't have to adjust his mix too drastically to my way of playing."

Your job is to play the songs the way they were originally recorded and the way fans know them. Does that allow for adding a bit of yourself into the guitar parts?  

"The most important thing to remember in any sideman job is that we are employees. Our names are not on the marquee. We didn't write the songs the people are there to hear. And as employees, we have to do what the job requires. For the Thomas Rhett gig - and, I would venture, a majority of high-level gigs in the country, pop, and rock worlds - the audience is there to hear the songs as they were performed on the record, or maybe with an arrangement twist. No-one came to hear me play guitar specifically. They came for Thomas and his songs. So, in that capacity, I play the parts as close to the record as possible.

"While it might be fun to put my own slant or twist on the parts, it does me no favours in retaining the gig if I do that without permission. That being said, in rehearsals the songs often do get rearranged, which makes them fresh and new in interesting ways every year. This keeps us all interested and pushes us as musicians.

"During this last year of touring, we also got little solo spots where we could play like we wanted and had no restrictions. It was fun to throw a little two-handed tapping into a country show!"

What gear are you using on the road?

"The job with Thomas requires a huge variety of tones. I'm currently endorsed by Yamaha Guitars. I grew up playing a used Yamaha Pacifica that I bought for $100 at the local music store. I had always loved the Strat-style body shape, and the neck shape just felt natural to my hands. I played that guitar throughout high school, college, and many of my early gigs.

When the opportunity to work with Yamaha came along, I jumped at the chance. It felt like coming home

"When the opportunity to work with Yamaha came along, I jumped at the chance. It felt like coming home. I use a Yamaha Pacifica PAC611VFMX in Translucent Black and a Pacifica PAC611HFM in Translucent Black. The HFM is tuned half-step down from standard.

"For songs that require mahogany and dual-humbucker tones, I use a Yamaha Revstar 720B in a Vintage Japanese Denim colour, a Burnt Charcoal Revstar RS620, and a Maya Gold Revstar RS420 that is set up with higher action for slide.  

"I've also been a huge fan of Telecasters and have more than a few at home. I especially loved the Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster. That was a guitar I could beat up and it would still play great. Right now, I play a Fender American Special Telecaster in the show that Fender was kind enough to provide artist pricing to me on.  

"In addition to my electric guitars, I play a Yamaha AC1M acoustic guitar for a few songs. I also play lap steel on a couple of songs in the set. I use a Recording King lap steel for these songs, tuned DADGAD.

"I've come to realise that 80 to 90 percent of electric guitar tone is in the pickups. If you have a well-built guitar, no matter what the price range, installing pickups that you like is essential to maximising the guitar’s potential.

"I started working with Mike ('Smitty') and Sue Smyth at MJS Custom Pickups about four years ago. While they ship all over the world, they're actually local to my home in Toronto. I've spent many hours at their shop, discussing my tonal needs, and Smitty has been able to realise these tones. The first time I played MJS pickups in my guitars, I thought, 'Wow, this is the tone I've been hearing on records but could never replicate.'

"In all my Revstars I have the MJS Split Single in the neck position and the MJS Humbucker IV in the bridge position. The Split Single is an amazing Alnico 5 magnet, split-coil design that fits a humbucker routing, but provides the tone of a single coil and is completely hum-free. The Humbucker IV is an Alnico 5 magnet with a 12k output impedance that is perfect for high-gain, hard-rock or metal tones.

"In my PAC611HFM, in the neck I have the MJS Big Single Retro, a P-90 style pickup that fits a Humbucker routing, and an MJS humbucker III with Alnico 5 that give me a perfect crunch in the bridge.

"In the PAC612VFMX, we actually changed the configuration to a single, single, hum. The two single coils are from the MJS Progressive Strat set. The neck is Alnico 5, rated at 7.0k ohms, the middle is RWRP Alnico 5 at 7.6k ohms, and the bridge humbucker is an MJS Hum III, Alnico 2, 11.6k ohms, with 12 individual pole pieces. Most humbuckers use a 500k volume pot, which causes the single-coil pickups to sound dull. The 12 individual pole pieces allowed us to use a 250k volume pot, which matches the single-coil pickups. In my Telecaster, I have the MJS Vintage Tele-style pickups in the neck and bridge.

"We use Shure wireless to get the signal from my guitar to my amp. And by amp, I mean digital amp. On the road we use Kemper Profilers. Using the Kemper provided me with the opportunity to load a bunch of profiles from some amazing commercial profile makers. Right now, I use the M Britt 3rd Power and Dumble profiles, Top Jimi Matchless profiles, and some Tone Junkie AC30 profiles.

"I'm exploring and testing out the Line 6 Helix. I've been creating IRs of the speaker section of some of my Kemper profiles, importing those into the Helix, and recreating my Kemper tones on the Helix. I know no matter which digital amp I choose to use on our upcoming tour, I'll have all the tones covered.  

I can play a rhythm guitar part as I walk out onto the catwalk and have the patch change to my lead sound as I hit the end of the ramp for my guitar solo

"I love effect pedals, and at home I have an extensive pedalboard with pedals from MXR , Dunlop, Barber Electronics, JHS, XAct Tone, Electro-Harmonix and Line 6, but I don’t actually use a pedalboard or a controller for the Thomas Rhett gig. The great thing about the digital amplifiers is that they can receive patch changes via MIDI that are sent to us from our track computer from Ableton . This allows us to focus on playing and entertaining and leave the tap dancing between patches and tones up to the computer that is locked into our video content.

"The other great thing is I can play a rhythm guitar part as I walk out onto the catwalk and have the patch change to my lead sound as I hit the end of the ramp for my guitar solo. When the solo is done, it automatically changes back to my rhythm sound. No running halfway across a stadium stage just to turn off a lead boost!

"For picks, I've always been a fan of Dunlop. In my more shreddy days, I used the red Dunlop Jazz III picks. With Thomas, I use the heavy-gauge Dunlop Celluloid picks in a white celluloid colour. I also use the Dunlop Ultex picks for some tonal variation. I'm used to the heaviness of the thicker Jazz III picks and have had to rebuild my playing style slightly in order to use the lighter picks.  

"We use Curt Mangan nickel-wound strings on the road. Right now, I use 0.010-0.046 on all my guitars, but I'm going to go to a 0.009-0.042 gauge on the Tele to facilitate my chicken picking a little easier, and a slightly heavier 0.011-0.052 on the Pacifica that is tuned down half a step, so that the strings don't feel too loose."

How do you keep your sound consistent?  

"Using the digital amplifier has been my saving grace. I always struggled with inconsistent amplifiers and the speaker being affected by temperature and humidity. If you're traveling and using provided backline, you may request a certain version of an amplifier, but either not receive that amp or deal with a different version.

"I learned early on that if I wanted to have a Fender or Vox , I had to be very specific about which models and which speakers they had. While someone might say this is being too particular, the thing we strive to do is present the music in the highest standard possible, and that includes the tone. If a local backline company doesn't have a specific amp I requested in their inventory, I can still do the gig.  

Enjoying the gig every night is essential. What you feel, how you look as you present the music - the audience picks up on that

"In addition to the amp itself, microphone type and placement could vary night to night. It's amazing what a one-inch difference in mic position can make to the tone coming out of front-of-house. Once again, the integrity of the music must be placed at the highest priority.

"While digital amplifiers have their own issues, being able to travel across North America and Europe with our 'amps' in a small road case has ensured the guitar sound going to front of house every night is the same, no matter the location or size of venue."

When you play for 70,000 people, how do you connect with the audience?

"Enjoying the gig every night is essential. What you feel, how you look as you present the music - the audience picks up on that. When we have video screens and cameras, that means playing up to the camera like you would for someone in the front row. It also means using your body language and facial expressions in a more direct way. In smaller venues it's easy enough to go over and rock out for a section of the audience. In larger venues, you have to use your face, your smile, whatever it is, to communicate to the camera and the audience.  

"I've also found it a good practice to walk to the top of some of these arenas and stadiums before the show, to the farthest seat possible, and get the audience perspective. It helps me remember why I am there: to entertain. When I'm playing the show, I look up and out at those places and I point and smile at them. There is something magical about that act for me personally, silently telling them, 'I'm here for you tonight,' and I hope they feel that."

Do you have words of wisdom for musicians who aspire to, or have just landed, their 'big gig' - how to persevere during lean times and handle the pressure once they get there?

"If you're aspiring to do music as a career, no matter what stage you're in, be smart about your business. At the end of the day, you're a salesman, and the product you're selling is you! Watch your dollars and cents. Whether it's the money from the tip jar or from your salaried gig, you have to be prepared to handle that side of your business to ensure longterm success.

"On the music side of things, approach your job like a student. Whether you're playing stadiums across the world or the bar down the street, be open to learning everything from anybody. Whether it be a new way to approach a song, a new piece of gear you have no experience with, a new way to play a lick or wrap a cable, being open to new ways of doing things and taking the best of what you have learned can only make you better.  

"Ultimately, never forget you're in the entertainment industry. Make music fun for yourself, for the musicians you work with, and most importantly, the people you're playing for! Be kind in your interactions, be thoughtful with your words, and try to leave this planet a better place for having you in it."

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Thomas Rhett Reveals The Lineup For Home Team Tour 23, Hitting 40 Cities In 27 States Next Summer

Presented by Dos Primos Tequila and Fueled by Marathon, Tickets For the Tour with Cole Swindell and Nate Smith Go On Sale Next Friday, Nov. 11

Watch thomas rhett reveal team jerseys from along the tour in playful new video  here.

Multi-Platinum entertainer Thomas Rhett will join the Home Teams of 40 cities next summer, today revealing US tour dates for his HOME TEAM TOUR 23, produced by Live Nation, presented by Dos Primos Tequila and Fueled by Marathon. Known for his “bombastic, good time energy”  (Esquire),  after kicking off 2023 in Canada, the summer tour will begin May 4 in Des Moines, IA at Wells Fargo Arena with Cole Swindell and Nate Smith, and end at Thomas Rhett’s hometown Nashville, TN, at Bridgestone Arena on September 23, 2023.

Pre-sale tickets first go on sale to  Home Team Members  and Citi cardmembers on Tuesday, November 8th. Citi is the official card of the tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday at 12pm local time until Thursday, November 10th at 10pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program at  www.citientertainment.com . The general public will have access to tickets beginning Friday, November 11th at 10am local time at  ThomasRhett.com . 

“Being on the road is one of my favorite places to be,” said Thomas Rhett. “I can’t wait to see the joy on y’alls faces next year and with my buddies Cole Swindell and Nate Smith. We’re definitely gonna have a good time.”

For the announcement, Thomas Rhett shared a light-hearted video revealing jerseys to celebrate the many tour destinations during a mock press conference. To watch, click  HERE .

HOME TEAM TOUR 23 Dates Include: 

5/4/2023 – Des Moines, IA – Wells Fargo Arena 

5/5/2023 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center Arena

5/6/2023 – Indianapolis, IN – Gainbridge Fieldhouse

5/18/2023 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center

5/19/2023 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center

5/20/2023 – St. Louis, MO – Enterprise Center

6/8/2023 – Albany, NY – MVP Arena

6/9/2023 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena

6/10/2023 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena

6/15/2023 – Tupelo, MS – Cadence Bank Arena

6/16/2023 – Lafayette, LA – CAJUNDOME

6/17/2023 – Bossier City, LA – Brookshire Grocery Arena

6/22/2023 -Lexington, KY – Rupp Arena

6/23/2023 – Charleston, WV – Charleston Coliseum

7/6/2023 – Buffalo, NY – KeyBank Center

7/7/2023 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – Mohegan Sun Arena

7/8/2023 – Boston, MA – TD Garden

7/13/2023 – Biloxi, MS – Mississippi Coast Coliseum

7/14/2023 – Greenville, SC – Bon Secours Wellness Arena

7/15/2023 – Knoxville, TN – Thompson-Boling Arena

7/20/2023 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum 

7/21/2023 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena

7/22/2023 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena

7/27/2023 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center

7/28/2023 – Chicago, IL – United Center

7/29/2023 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena

8/3/2023 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center

8/4/2023 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center

8/5/2023 – Austin, TX – Moody Center

8/17/2023 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center

8/18/2023 – Wichita, KS – INTRUST Bank Arena

8/19/2023 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena

9/14/2023 – Estero, FL – Hertz Arena

9/15/2023 – Jacksonville, FL – VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena

9/16/2023 – Orlando, FL – Amway Center

9/21/2023 – Charlottesville, VA – John Paul Jones Arena

9/22/2023 – State College, PA – Bryce Jordan Center

9/23/2023 – Toledo, OH – Huntington Center

9/28/2023 – Birmingham, AL – The Legacy Arena at The BJCC

9/29/2023 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena

About Thomas Rhett

Ten years after signing his record deal with Big Machine Label Group’s The Valory Music Co., arena-packing superstar Thomas Rhett — dubbed “the most reliable maker of No. 1 singles in country music”  (Variety)  — has 19 multi-PLATINUM and GOLD-certified No. 1 hits, 12 BILLION streams and the longest current active streak of consecutive No. 1s in the format (Mediabase/Country Aircheck Chart). Declared “a prince in the genre”  (USA Today) , he has been honored with eight ACM Awards including Entertainer of the Year, two CMA Awards, five GRAMMY nominations, plus trophies from the CMT Music Awards,  Billboard Awards and iHeartRadio Awards, in addition to being recognized with two CMA Triple Play awards for penning three No. One songs within a 12-month period. The superstar’s critically-acclaimed sixth studio album WHERE WE STARTED is available now, with single “Half of Me,” featuring Riley Green, currently Top 5 at Country radio. Thomas Rhett has also just released his first-ever Christmas collection MERRY CHRISTMAS Y’ALL, featuring his rich vocal and sincere delivery, with a country flair on four favorite festive tracks.  Inspired by family, friends and his love of the outdoors, Thomas Rhett is also the cofounder of Dos Primos Tequila and has collaborated with Chaco on an exclusive sandal line. He recently extended his BRING THE BAR TO YOU TOUR into 2023 with dates scheduled for the top of next year in Canada. For more information, visit  www.ThomasRhett.com .

About Cole Swindell 

Multi-Platinum selling superstar Cole Swindell released his fifth studio album,  Stereotype , to massive success. The project has already charted three back-to-back multi-week No. 1 hits: the Gold-certified “Single Saturday Night,” the Platinum-certified “Never Say Never” (with Lainey Wilson) and, most recently, the Platinum-certified, five-week chart-topper “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.” In the seven years since his debut on Warner Music Nashville, Swindell has racked up an impressive 12 No. 1 singles as an artist – 13 as a songwriter – 11 certified Platinum singles (four singles at 2x Platinum), a Platinum-certified debut album ( Cole Swindell ) and a Gold-certified sophomore album ( You Should Be Here ). The Georgia hitmaker has over 5.2 BILLION global career streams. His massive, GRAMMY-nominated hit “Break Up In The End” was named the 2019  NSAI Song of the Year . Swindell is nominated for two CMA Awards for  Musical Event of the Year  and  Music Video of the Year  for “Never Say Never” with Lainey Wilson. He officially became a headliner on his own in 2018 with his  Reason To Drink  Tours, and is currently out on the road with   Ashley Cooke and Dylan Marlowe for his  Back Down To The Bar Tour .

About Nate Smith 

With a mix of gritty backwoods soul, rock ‘n’ roll swagger and velvet-thunder vocals, Nate Smith first chased his neon dreams to Nashville in his early 20s – but it didn’t stick. The disheartened Smith returned home and thought he was “100-percent done” with his artistic journey…until a crucible of change burned away the past. In 2018, Smith lost everything he owned in the devastating Camp Fire which tore through Paradise, California. Although his family was safe, he struggled to cope and turned back to music, hoping that it would help comfort himself and others. Help it did, inspiring a month-long road trip across the U.S. to Music City, writing music and playing dive bars along the way. Soon after his arrival to Nashville, Nate released his biggest song to date, “Wildfire,” and landed a publishing deal with Sony ATV. Since then, he’s released new music including “Sleeve” and “Under My Skin,” which has amassed over 70 million on-demand streams to date. The singer was named a Spotify Hot Country Artist to Watch for 2021 – an accurate prediction as he rounded out the year with a record deal with Sony Music Nashville and is now making waves with his latest release, “Whiskey On You,” which is now Gold-certified and Top 15 and climbing at country radio. 

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) is a leading, integrated, downstream energy company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company operates the nation’s largest refining system. MPC’s marketing system includes branded locations across the United States, including Marathon brand retail outlets. MPC also owns the general partner and majority limited partner interest in MPLX LP, a midstream company that owns and operates gathering, processing, and fractionation assets, as well as crude oil and light product transportation and logistics infrastructure.

About Dos Primos Tequila Company

The Dos Primos Tequila Company was founded by Thomas Rhett and Jeff Worn in 2019. The company produces Dos Primos Tequila Blanco and Dos Primos Tequila Reposado. Both Dos Primos Tequila products are ultra-premium and made from hand-harvested 100% blue agave sourced from estates in Los Altos and the valley area of Jalisco, Mexico. Dos Primos is distilled at Destiladora González Lux, located just outside Arandas, Mexico, in the highlands of Jalisco. All sales and marketing efforts for the Dos Primos Tequila Company and product are handled by St. Louis-based Luxco. Learn more at  DosPrimosTequila.com .

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com .

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Thomas Rhett

Tyne Parrish |  [email protected]   

Live Nation Concerts

Monique Sowinski |  [email protected]   

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Thomas Rhett Announces Dates for ‘Bring the Bar to You’ Tour

By Jon Freeman

Jon Freeman

Thomas Rhett will spend summer 2022 on the road as he headlines his extensive Bring the Bar to You Tour. The trek will get underway June 17 with a two-night stint in Gilford, New Hampshire, at the Bank of NH Pavilion.

Named for a song on Rhett’s upcoming sixth album, the 30-date Bring the Bar to You Tour will crisscross the country with shows from Virginia Beach to Seattle and back again. Stops along the way include Morrison, Colorado’s Red Rocks, Tulsa’s BOK Center, and Mountain View, California’s Shoreline Amphitheatre. Parker McCollum and Conner Smith are also on the tour. Tickets go on sale to the public Friday, Jan. 28, at 10 a.m. local time.

The tour coincides with the release of Rhett’s recently announced album Where We Started , which arrives April 1 via Valory Music. The album follows Rhett’s 2021 project Country Again: Side A , the first half of a double album . Side B has not yet been announced. Where we Started includes the two preview tracks “Angels” and “Church Boots” as well as the single “Slow Down Summer” and a duet with Katy Perry on the title track. Shortly after the album arrives, Rhett will headline the first night of Stagecoach 2022 on April 29.

Bring the Bar to You Tour dates:

June 17 – Gilford, NH @ Bank of NH Pavilion June 18 – Gilford, NH @ Bank of NH Pavilion June 23 – Bethel, NY @ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts June 24 – Hershey, PA @ Hersheypark Stadium June 25 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach July 14 – Pittsburgh, PA @ The Pavilion at Star Lake July 15 – Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater July 16 – Detroit, MI @ Pine Knob Music Theatre July 21 – Tuscaloosa, AL @ Tuscaloosa Amphitheater July 22 – Atlanta, GA @ Cellairis Amphitheatre at Lakewood July 23 – Charleston, SC @ Credit One Stadium Aug. 11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ USANA Amphitheatre Aug. 12 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre Aug. 13 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater Aug. 18 – Seattle, WA @ White River Amphitheatre Aug. 19 – Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater Aug. 25 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre Aug. 26 – Wheatland, CA @ Toyota Amphitheatre Sept. 22 – Columbia, MO @ Mizzou Arena Sept. 23 – Springfield, MO @ JQH Arena Sept. 24 – Tulsa, OK @ BOK Center Sept. 29 – Grand Forks, ND @ Alerus Center Sept. 30 – Bismarck, ND @ Bismarck Event Center Oct. 1 – Sioux Falls, SD @ Denny Sanford PREMIER Center Oct. 6 – Boise, ID @ Ford Idaho Center Arena Oct. 7 – Bozeman, MT @ Brick Breeden Fieldhouse Oct. 8 – Missoula, MT @ Adams Center Oct. 13 – Moline, IL @ TaxSlayer Center Oct. 14 – Evansville, IN @ Ford Center Oct. 15 – Dayton, OH @ Nutter Center

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Country music star Thomas Rhett kicks off his 2023 tour at Wells Fargo Arena

Thomas Rhett shined in his much-anticipated Home Team Tour 23 debut Thursday night in Des Moines.

Rhett kicked off his massive U.S. tour to an electric audience of around 12,000 people at Wells Fargo Arena in the city's downtown. The appearance marked the second time headlining Wells Fargo Arena for the second-generation star in the genre, whose father is fellow hitmaker Rhett Akins of "That Ain't My Truck" fame . Rhett first headlined the arena previously during his Very Hot Summer Tour in 2019.

On Wednesday night, the eve of his electric arena tour's start, Rhett posted a photo dump to social media that included a series of white paper signs with the first that read, "We are so proud of you daddy!" signed by his four daughters Ada James, Willa Gray, Lennon and Lillie.

"My team trying to make me cry first night of tour… sheesh," the country megastar captioned the photo .

Rhett opened the show, following sets by country singers Cole Swindell and Nate Smith, in a Des Moines home team jacket and then put in work with a drum solo before singing his hit “Vacation” and traveling across the stage as he ended the song playing the guitar.

During a spiritual performance of “Look What God Gave Her,” the crooner wowed the crowd, who held up cups of beer as Rhett took a selfie with a front row audience member’s iPhone.

Embedded content: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr1jRCDv_Jt/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“You know this one, Des Moines. Let me hear you sing this!” Rhett said as he tipped the mic stand and sang his No. 1 hit “Crash and Burn” and took yet another selfie with an audience member.

More: Thomas Rhett talks Home Town Team Tour 23 ahead of U.S. arena kickoff in Des Moines

“Des Moines, are you feeling good? Are your voices warmed up?” he said with pyrotechnics flying mid-air during the song with his Tennessee swagger.

Rhett watched a flurry of home videos featuring his four daughters before performing “Life Changes,” the catchy song dedicated to his Instagram-famous wife Lauren . Then, the country singer sang “Slow Down Summer,” “Unforgettable,” “Marry Me” and “You Make Me Wanna.”

A bluesy performance of “Us Someday” was followed by “Country Again” played on acoustic guitars . Then, he crooned to “Blessed,” a song written about Lauren and how blessed he is to have her in his life.

More: Thomas Rhett's new album 'Where We Started' balances his life and career

Rhett took Des Moines on a tour of the decades by singing “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley before saying “that’s for you” and pointing to an audience member who was born in the 1950s. The night included cover songs including “I Feel Good” by James Brown and Rick Springfield's “Jessie’s Girl."

Fans turned on their flashlights as Rhett sang "Die A Happy Man" as the crowd swayed and sang along. "Thank you so much, Des Moines!" he said at the song's end.

Then, he performed a trio of songs for "the OGs:" "Notice," "Get Me Some Of That" and "It Goes Like This." A montage of photos of Rhett and his wife were accompanied by a performance of "Angels" as he sang "maybe angels don't always have wings." The Jon Pardi collaboration "Beer Can't Fix" and "Sixteen" followed as audience members wearing ballcaps and cowboy boots put their hands up.

Rhett rocked to a drums-defined version of "Craving You" before more pyrotechnics brought the house down. "Y'all got time for a couple more?" he asked.

He sang "What's Your Country Song" during the confetti-capped concert's close around 11 p.m. as Rhett took a bow. An encore led to a twangy version of "T-Shirt." Then, a final bow from Rhett and guitar solo guided concertgoers out of the Des Moines arena.

More: Thomas Rhett hopes 'honest' lyrics on new album show 'everything that country music is supposed to be'

Nate Smith shines during opening set in Des Moines

Under blue lights, up-and-comer Nate Smith sang his song “Sleeve” donning an understated Metallica T-shirt. Smith released his self-titled debut album just last week.

“How you all doin’ tonight?” he asked the crowd to cheers.

“In every little smile and stranger passin' through, I still see her now and then in my dreams,” he sang with his gritty signature sound as onlookers posted Instagram photos and took selfies.

Smith’s set foreshadowed an explosive future in Nashville that could eclipse even the brightest newcomers with his ballad-heavy songs.

Smith sang fan favorite “World on Fire” followed by the ballad “I Found You” and then “Under My Skin,” the slow breakup anthem about losing a past lover.

Smith performed the chart-topping “Whiskey on You” about pouring one up after being passed up by an ex as he chugged a beer handed to him from an audience member in the front row. The single recently spent two weeks at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart .

More: Nate Smith's redemptive, self-assured journey to country music stardom

Cole Swindell brings Georgia heat to Wells Fargo Arena stage

With an electric guitar-layered introduction featuring bandmates, Swindell strutted out on the Wells Fargo Arena stage in an all-black outfit that included a Brad Paisley shirt, denim jacket, jeans and brown cowboy boots.

Cole Swindell opened the set with his latest single “Drinkaby,” a drum-dotted song that would easily be found at a Dallas County dive bar on a Friday night with its honky tonk, hip-swinging sound .

“Des Moines, what’s up?” Swindell asked the audience.

The opening song was followed by “Love You Too Late” and the beer sippin’, hat tippin’ track “Let Me See Ya Girl.”

“Let’s give it for the first night of the Home Team Tour,” he said before calling out the section in 304. “This is exactly how we wanted to see you tonight,” he said before saying the crowd was “good looking.”

The self-explanatory “Single Saturday Night” had the crowd going with his hit single, an ode to White Claw seltzers and looking back at the one you once looked for. Later, he sang the radio favorite “Stereotype” and “Break Up In The End.”

Swindell led an a capella crowd singalong to “Middle of a Memory” before the band joined in and the Georgia native traced the stage floor underneath a traveling white spotlight. He sang "Hope You Get Lonely Tonight" before a pair of guitar solos closed out the song and Swindell sang his collaboration with "Yellowstone" star and country peer Lainey Wilson, "Never Say Never" as a video of her played on two screens flanking the stage.

More: Lainey Wilson dishes on her 'Yellowstone' acting debut, sizzling romance: 'Wild and crazy love'

Swindell brought Georgia heat to the Iowa night with "Chillin' It" and the sultry "Sad Ass Country Song" and "You Should Be Here" about losing someone after they pass away .

"Anybody else got here that ain't worth the damn whiskey or what?" he asked the crowd to massive cheers before singing "You Ain't Worth the Whiskey" and applauding servicemembers, police officers, EMTs and nurses.

"Hey, Des Moines, what's a boy from South Georgia supposed to do with a crowd like this on the first night of tour?" he asked during a short break during the Dierks Bentley collaboration "Flatliner."

The close friend and frequent collaborator of Rhett ended his set with "She Had Me At Heads Carolina," which had nearly every seat in the Iowa crowd on their feet.

Jay Stahl is an entertainment reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow him on  Instagram  or reach out at  [email protected] .

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Thomas Rhett

• Date July 8 , 2023
• Event Starts 7:30PM
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THOMAS RHETT REVEALS THE LINEUP FOR HOME TEAM TOUR 23, HITTING 40 CITIES IN 27 STATES NEXT SUMMER

Presented by Dos Primos Tequila and Fueled by Marathon, Tickets For the Tour with Cole Swindell and Nate Smith Go On Sale Next Friday, Nov. 11 

Watch Thomas Rhett Reveal Team Jerseys From Along The Tour In Playful New Video HERE

Nashville, TN - Nov. 3, 2022 - Multi-Platinum entertainer Thomas Rhett will join the Home Teams of 40 cities next summer, today revealing US tour dates for his HOME TEAM TOUR 23, produced by Live Nation, presented by Dos Primos Tequila and Fueled by Marathon. Known for his "bombastic, good time energy” (Esquire), after kicking off 2023 in Canada, the summer tour will begin May 4 in Des Moines, IA at Wells Fargo Arena with Cole Swindell and Nate Smith, and end at Thomas Rhett’s hometown Nashville, TN, at Bridgestone Arena on September 23, 2023.

Pre-sale tickets first go on sale to Home Team Members and Citi cardmembers on Tuesday, November 8th. Citi is the official card of the tour. Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday at 12pm local time until Thursday, November 10th at 10pm local time through the Citi Entertainment program at www.citientertainment.com . The general public will have access to tickets beginning Friday, November 11th at 10am local time at ThomasRhett.com . 

“Being on the road is one of my favorite places to be,” said Thomas Rhett. “I can’t wait to see the joy on y’alls faces next year and with my buddies Cole Swindell and Nate Smith. We’re definitely gonna have a good time."

For the announcement, Thomas Rhett shared a light-hearted video revealing jerseys to celebrate the many tour destinations during a mock press conference. To watch, click HERE.

HOME TEAM TOUR 23 Dates Include: 

• 5/4/2023 - Des Moines, IA - Wells Fargo Arena 
• 5/5/2023 - Peoria, IL - Peoria Civic Center Arena
• 5/6/2023 - Indianapolis, IN - Gainbridge Fieldhouse
• 5/18/2023 - Omaha, NE - CHI Health Center
• 5/19/2023 - Kansas City, MO - T-Mobile Center
• 5/20/2023 - St. Louis, MO - Enterprise Center
• 6/8/2023 - Albany, NY - MVP Arena
• 6/9/2023 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
• 6/10/2023 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
• 6/15/2023 - Tupelo, MS - Cadence Bank Arena
• 6/16/2023 - Lafayette, LA - CAJUNDOME
• 6/17/2023 - Bossier City, LA - Brookshire Grocery Arena
• 6/22/2023 -Lexington, KY - Rupp Arena
• 6/23/2023 - Charleston, WV - Charleston Coliseum
• 7/6/2023 - Buffalo, NY - KeyBank Center
• 7/7/2023 - Wilkes-Barre, PA - Mohegan Sun Arena
• 7/8/2023 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
• 7/13/2023 - Biloxi, MS - Mississippi Coast Coliseum
• 7/14/2023 - Greenville, SC - Bon Secours Wellness Arena
• 7/15/2023 - Knoxville, TN - Thompson-Boling Arena
• 7/20/2023 - Greensboro, NC - Greensboro Coliseum 
• 7/21/2023 - Baltimore, MD - CFG Bank Arena
• 7/22/2023 - Belmont Park, NY - UBS Arena
• 7/27/2023 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
• 7/28/2023 - Chicago, IL - United Center
• 7/29/2023 - Grand Rapids, MI - Van Andel Arena
• 8/3/2023 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
• 8/4/2023 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
• 8/5/2023 - Austin, TX - Moody Center
• 8/17/2023 - Oklahoma City, OK - Paycom Center
• 8/18/2023 - Wichita, KS - INTRUST Bank Arena
• 8/19/2023 - Denver, CO - Ball Arena
• 9/14/2023 - Estero, FL - Hertz Arena
• 9/15/2023 - Jacksonville, FL - VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
• 9/16/2023 - Orlando, FL - Amway Center
• 9/21/2023 - Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
• 9/22/2023 - State College, PA - Bryce Jordan Center
• 9/23/2023 - Toledo, OH - Huntington Center
• 9/28/2023 - Birmingham, AL - The Legacy Arena at The BJCC
• 9/29/2023 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena 

About Thomas Rhett

Ten years after signing his record deal with Big Machine Label Group’s The Valory Music Co., arena-packing superstar Thomas Rhett — dubbed “the most reliable maker of No. 1 singles in country music” (Variety) — has 19 multi-PLATINUM and GOLD-certified No. 1 hits, 12 BILLION streams and the longest current active streak of consecutive No. 1s in the format (Mediabase/Country Aircheck Chart). Declared “a prince in the genre” (USA Today), he has been honored with eight ACM Awards including Entertainer of the Year, two CMA Awards, five GRAMMY nominations, plus trophies from the CMT Music Awards,  Billboard Awards and iHeartRadio Awards, in addition to being recognized with two CMA Triple Play awards for penning three No. One songs within a 12-month period. The superstar’s critically-acclaimed sixth studio album WHERE WE STARTED is available now, with single “Half of Me,” featuring Riley Green, currently Top 5 at Country radio. Thomas Rhett has also just released his first-ever Christmas collection MERRY CHRISTMAS Y’ALL, featuring his rich vocal and sincere delivery, with a country flair on four favorite festive tracks.  Inspired by family, friends and his love of the outdoors, Thomas Rhett is also the cofounder of Dos Primos Tequila and has collaborated with Chaco on an exclusive sandal line. He recently extended his BRING THE BAR TO YOU TOUR into 2023 with dates scheduled for the top of next year in Canada. For more information, visit www.ThomasRhett.com .

About Cole Swindell 

Multi-Platinum selling superstar Cole Swindell released his fifth studio album, Stereotype, to massive success. The project has already charted three back-to-back multi-week No. 1 hits: the Gold-certified “Single Saturday Night,” the Platinum-certified “Never Say Never” (with Lainey Wilson) and, most recently, the Platinum-certified, five-week chart-topper “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.” In the seven years since his debut on Warner Music Nashville, Swindell has racked up an impressive 12 No. 1 singles as an artist – 13 as a songwriter – 11 certified Platinum singles (four singles at 2x Platinum), a Platinum-certified debut album (Cole Swindell) and a Gold-certified sophomore album (You Should Be Here). The Georgia hitmaker has over 5.2 BILLION global career streams. His massive, GRAMMY-nominated hit “Break Up In The End” was named the 2019 NSAI Song of the Year. Swindell is nominated for two CMA Awards for Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year for “Never Say Never” with Lainey Wilson. He officially became a headliner on his own in 2018 with his Reason To Drink Tours, and is currently out on the road with Ashley Cooke and Dylan Marlowe for his Back Down To The Bar Tour.

About Nate Smith 

With a mix of gritty backwoods soul, rock ‘n’ roll swagger and velvet-thunder vocals, Nate Smith first chased his neon dreams to Nashville in his early 20s – but it didn’t stick. The disheartened Smith returned home and thought he was “100-percent done” with his artistic journey…until a crucible of change burned away the past. In 2018, Smith lost everything he owned in the devastating Camp Fire which tore through Paradise, California. Although his family was safe, he struggled to cope and turned back to music, hoping that it would help comfort himself and others. Help it did, inspiring a month-long road trip across the U.S. to Music City, writing music and playing dive bars along the way. Soon after his arrival to Nashville, Nate released his biggest song to date, “Wildfire,” and landed a publishing deal with Sony ATV. Since then, he’s released new music including “Sleeve” and “Under My Skin,” which has amassed over 70 million on-demand streams to date. The singer was named a Spotify Hot Country Artist to Watch for 2021 – an accurate prediction as he rounded out the year with a record deal with Sony Music Nashville and is now making waves with his latest release, "Whiskey On You," which is now Gold-certified and Top 15 and climbing at country radio.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) is a leading, integrated, downstream energy company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company operates the nation’s largest refining system. MPC’s marketing system includes branded locations across the United States, including Marathon brand retail outlets. MPC also owns the general partner and majority limited partner interest in MPLX LP, a midstream company that owns and operates gathering, processing, and fractionation assets, as well as crude oil and light product transportation and logistics infrastructure.

About Dos Primos Tequila Company

The Dos Primos Tequila Company was founded by Thomas Rhett and Jeff Worn in 2019. The company produces Dos Primos Tequila Blanco and Dos Primos Tequila Reposado. Both Dos Primos Tequila products are ultra-premium and made from hand-harvested 100% blue agave sourced from estates in Los Altos and the valley area of Jalisco, Mexico. Dos Primos is distilled at Destiladora González Lux, located just outside Arandas, Mexico, in the highlands of Jalisco. All sales and marketing efforts for the Dos Primos Tequila Company and product are handled by St. Louis-based Luxco. Learn more at DosPrimosTequila.com .

About Live Nation Entertainment

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com .

MEDIA CONTACTS:

  Thomas Rhett Tyne Parrish | [email protected]     Live Nation Concerts Monique Sowinski | [email protected]      

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Thomas rhett publicist, thomas rhett tour dates, about thomas rhett.

Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. is a Grammy award nominated singer-songwriter born on March 30 1990, in Georgia, United States. Chasing his childhood dream, he dropped out of college to pursue music when he was only 20 years old. In 2010, Rhett signed a publishing deal with Big Machine Label Group to professionally write songs. His songwriting career saw an instant success pushing him into the spotlight. In 2012, he released his debut single Something to Do with My Hands and soon after his debut album It Goes Like This in 2013. His other notable albums include Tangled Up (2015), Life Changes (2017), and Center Point Road (2019). Thomas Rhett has proven his mettle time and time again, with 18 songs gracing the Billboard 100 chart along with a single and album that both went platinum.

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Thomas Rhett Home Team Tour

THOMAS RHETT HOME TEAM TOUR 23

With special guests cole swindell and nate smith.

• Date Sep 29 - 30 , 2023
• Availability On Sale Now

Pinnacle Parking

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Multi-Platinum entertainer Thomas Rhett will join the Home Teams of 40 cities next summer, today revealing US tour dates for his HOME TEAM TOUR 23, produced by Live Nation, presented by Dos Primos Tequila and Fueled by Marathon. Known for his "bombastic, good time energy” (Esquire), after kicking off 2023 in Canada, the summer tour will begin May 4 in Des Moines, IA at Wells Fargo Arena with Cole Swindell and Nate Smith, and end at Thomas Rhett’s hometown Nashville, TN, at Bridgestone Arena on September 23, 2023.

About Thomas Rhett

Ten years after signing his record deal with Big Machine Label Group’s The Valory Music Co., arena-packing superstar Thomas Rhett — dubbed “the most reliable maker of No. 1 singles in country music” (Variety) — has 19 multi-PLATINUM and GOLD-certified No. 1 hits, 12 BILLION streams and the longest current active streak of consecutive No. 1s in the format (Mediabase/Country Aircheck Chart). Declared “a prince in the genre” (USA Today) , he has been honored with eight ACM Awards including Entertainer of the Year, two CMA Awards, five GRAMMY nominations, plus trophies from the CMT Music Awards,  Billboard Awards and iHeartRadio Awards, in addition to being recognized with two CMA Triple Play awards for penning three No. One songs within a 12-month period. The superstar’s critically-acclaimed sixth studio album WHERE WE STARTED is available now, with single “Half of Me,” featuring Riley Green, currently Top 5 at Country radio. Thomas Rhett has also just released his first-ever Christmas collection MERRY CHRISTMAS Y’ALL, featuring his rich vocal and sincere delivery, with a country flair on four favorite festive tracks.  Inspired by family, friends and his love of the outdoors, Thomas Rhett is also the cofounder of Dos Primos Tequila and has collaborated with Chaco on an exclusive sandal line. He recently extended his BRING THE BAR TO YOU TOUR into 2023 with dates scheduled for the top of next year in Canada. For more information, visit www.ThomasRhett.com .

About Cole Swindell

Multi-Platinum selling superstar Cole Swindell released his fifth studio album, Stereotype , to massive success. The project has already charted three back-to-back multi-week No. 1 hits: the Gold-certified “Single Saturday Night,” the Platinum-certified “Never Say Never” (with Lainey Wilson) and, most recently, the Platinum-certified, five-week chart-topper “She Had Me At Heads Carolina.” In the seven years since his debut on Warner Music Nashville, Swindell has racked up an impressive 12 No. 1 singles as an artist – 13 as a songwriter – 11 certified Platinum singles (four singles at 2x Platinum), a Platinum-certified debut album ( Cole Swindell ) and a Gold-certified sophomore album ( You Should Be Here ). The Georgia hitmaker has over 5.2 BILLION global career streams. His massive, GRAMMY-nominated hit “Break Up In The End” was named the 2019 NSAI Song of the Year . Swindell is nominated for two CMA Awards for Musical Event of the Year and Music Video of the Year for “Never Say Never” with Lainey Wilson. He officially became a headliner on his own in 2018 with his Reason To Drink Tours, and is currently out on the road with Ashley Cooke and Dylan Marlowe for his Back Down To The Bar Tour .

About Nate Smith

With a mix of gritty backwoods soul, rock ‘n’ roll swagger and velvet-thunder vocals, Nate Smith first chased his neon dreams to Nashville in his early 20s – but it didn’t stick. The disheartened Smith returned home and thought he was “100-percent done” with his artistic journey…until a crucible of change burned away the past. In 2018, Smith lost everything he owned in the devastating Camp Fire which tore through Paradise, California. Although his family was safe, he struggled to cope and turned back to music, hoping that it would help comfort himself and others. Help it did, inspiring a month-long road trip across the U.S. to Music City, writing music and playing dive bars along the way. Soon after his arrival to Nashville, Nate released his biggest song to date, “Wildfire,” and landed a publishing deal with Sony ATV. Since then, he’s released new music including “Sleeve” and “Under My Skin,” which has amassed over 70 million on-demand streams to date. The singer was named a Spotify Hot Country Artist to Watch for 2021 – an accurate prediction as he rounded out the year with a record deal with Sony Music Nashville and is now making waves with his latest release, "Whiskey On You," which is now Gold-certified and Top 15 and climbing at country radio.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC)

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC) is a leading, integrated, downstream energy company headquartered in Findlay, Ohio. The company operates the nation’s largest refining system. MPC’s marketing system includes branded locations across the United States, including Marathon brand retail outlets. MPC also owns the general partner and majority limited partner interest in MPLX LP, a midstream company that owns and operates gathering, processing, and fractionation assets, as well as crude oil and light product transportation and logistics infrastructure.

About Dos Primos Tequila Company

The Dos Primos Tequila Company was founded by Thomas Rhett and Jeff Worn in 2019. The company produces Dos Primos Tequila Blanco and Dos Primos Tequila Reposado. Both Dos Primos Tequila products are ultra-premium and made from hand-harvested 100% blue agave sourced from estates in Los Altos and the valley area of Jalisco, Mexico. Dos Primos is distilled at Destiladora González Lux, located just outside Arandas, Mexico, in the highlands of Jalisco. All sales and marketing efforts for the Dos Primos Tequila Company and product are handled by St. Louis-based Luxco. Learn more at DosPrimosTequila.com .

For enhanced safety and speed of entry, we strongly discourage guests from bringing bags to events. All fans are urged to arrive early and travel light.

If a bag is necessary, the following restrictions and processes apply:

• Backpacks of any size are considered prohibited items and are NOT allowed into the arena.
• Bags that measure larger than 12”x12”x6” are prohibited and are NOT allowed into the arena.
• Bags that measure between 6”x4”x1.5” and 12”x 12”x6” (including clear bags and Nashville Locker Room bags) are subject to x-ray screening and visual inspection. 
• Bags that measure smaller than 6” x 4” x 1.5” may proceed through express screening lanes for visual inspection.  
• Diaper bags and bags needed for medical reasons are allowed but will be subject to x-ray screening.
• We kindly ask that you reach out to Bridgestone Arena Customer Service ([email protected]) 24 hours prior to your event if you want to arrange for additional accommodations before arrival. 

Reminder:  Patrons with prohibited items will not be permitted entry to the arena. Bridgestone Arena does not provide on-site storage. Guests are asked to plan accordingly and allow for extra time when arriving at Bridgestone Arena.

Exceptions to this bag policy may be made for extenuating circumstances such as medical needs and diaper bags. Please contact Bridgestone Arena if you require additional information or guidance at  [email protected]  or 615-770-2000.

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Designing Thomas Rhett’s ‘Home Team Tour 23’

• By: Michael S. Eddy
• November 2023 , Production Design
• November 13, 2023

Thomas Rhett tour photo by Grayson Gregory

This past May, country superstar Thomas Rhett kicked off his Home Team Tour 23 and 40 cities later, wrapped up at the end of September. He has now notched 21 #1 songs on the charts and has a huge catalog to entertain his fans with when they flock to his dynamic live shows. Back for the tour providing production and lighting design was bkd Creative led by Alec Takahashi, who has been working with Thomas Rhett since 2018. In fact, at last year’s Parnelli Awards, Takahashi was honored with the newly named, Nook Schoenfeld Lighting Designer of the Year award for his work on Thomas Rhett’s 2022 tour. Recently, Takahashi took some time to speak with PLSN about the innovative production/lighting design of this year’s Home Team Tour 23 .

The design process, a collaboration between Thomas Rhett and Takahashi, begins with some loose ideas. “He came to me last year and suggested, I should just design something crazy cool, and we would go from there,” says Takahashi. “So, I put together what I thought were cool elements, nice shapes, and then from there, we collaborate a lot back and forth. All the details and the overall design gets really fine-tuned and sharpened through the process working together.”

Layering in video was the next design step as Thomas Rhett wanted to put video content back into the show, “which we haven’t had in four or five years,” says Takahashi “He also wanted to put in more special effects, but everything needed to have intentionality. He wanted there to be purpose, not doing things just because we could do it, it had to be intentional. I admire his desire for everything to be purposeful; that there has to be a why. We need to know why we’re blowing up pyro, or why we’re playing this piece of video during this song. The meaning and careful placement of everything matters to me, and to him, as we are trying to put the story together.”

High Energy Show

Thomas Rhett puts on a very lively show, and he brings a lot of energy to his performance that his enthusiastic audiences really appreciate. “Finding those energy moments were very important to him and having that right dynamic,” comments Takahashi. “Even after opening night, more than halfway through the tour, we’ve still tried minimal tweaks of song placement. You play with that once you have an audience because when you’re rehearsing you have no gauge on the energy. You have no response, no crowd cheer. We really take the crowd feedback after the first few nights into consideration.”

There’s always a challenge with any concert to creating different looks over the course of the entire performance, but an artist like Thomas Rhett, who has such a range of work, makes it more important a focus. To help with that, Takahashi looked to automation to create different shapes and looks. “We knew early on that we wanted to incorporate some automated elements,” says the designer. “We played with the ideas of video pods, lighting pods, different ceilings, elements like that, really working to maximize the automated elements that made sense with the wider show design. We landed on a place where he was really happy and excited, I was really happy and excited, and we didn’t have to compromise any other elements. As everyone touring knows, that is a good place to end up with a design.”

That harmonious experience extends to the design elements as well in Takahashi’s production design. “We wanted to put this show together in a visual sense, where the scenery, the production has very different feels through it and things reveal throughout the show. I layered this show with a lot of production elements. The show starts off with these automated bits very low, which eliminates the need to use the back wall of lights that I had, and eliminates the need to use the even further upstage wall of video content at the beginning. There are so many production layers there, and we wanted to slowly peel back the layers of what we could have, so there were several large reveal moments with different, previously not seen elements. Then once everything was revealed, we play the dynamic of, ‘okay, we want this show to change musically, visually, all in sync’. So, creating those different really intimate vibes, low ceilings, 50% of the rig turned off. Then have those moments of full energy, where things are moving, things are flashing, the full thing is revealed.” Piecing that together was tricky, but Takahashi knew that the goal “was to have so many different pieces and making the show look very different throughout without having too many set changes,” he explains. “We were able to use the tools that we had, and the layers that we had, to really change all the layering, change the feel, change the energy, all within our control.”

Layering Lighting and Video

One of the very interesting and successful design choices was Takahashi’s decision to put a wall of lights—Elation Dartz 360s—in front of a video wall made of highly transparent ROE Visual Vanish 8T LED video panels. It created an unexpected, and very effective look. “So, upstage video walls are common, they’re in a huge percentage of shows,” describes Takahashi, “and a lot of those video walls are made of blow-through video panels, like this one. However, we didn’t use it the same way, where a lot of people put production elements upstage of the video wall and shoot through the video. I’d never seen anyone do the opposite of that, and I really wanted to try that. It was a huge risk in my head, and I knew it would be a really interesting thing—and potentially controversial thing. And, I’ve found that my putting lights in front of a video wall has been a subject of discussion by others in the industry, with some people reaching out, asking ‘So, how’s that working?’ My answer is, I don’t think it’s for everyone, but I’m really pleased with what we pulled off with layering things in a way that hadn’t really been done before and doing it in a way that I think was beautifully placed. I wanted to just play with it and knew I never wanted to define the whole edge of the video wall.”

Takahashi continues, “When you have a lot of that negative space, when you have different masks, where you never see the hard edges of the actual wall, it leaves the brain to assume many things. You don’t know how big it is, you don’t know what shape it is. We can control the audience’s perspective on not knowing. There’s a big unknown aspect of that back there, so we played with that. There’s only one song in the whole show where there is a full screen of content, and you can see the full shape of it. Everything else really plays with the lighting layers in front, with the vertical pods that we had, where sometimes they’re masked to only show content behind the pods for layering, or only show content in between the pods.”

Takahashi was pleased with the result of how much layering and depth they could achieve putting the video wall upstage. “It also helped that a lot of the content was never faces or people, never video that you needed to watch per se. If that content was there, you would then be pretty annoyed that there’s stuff blocking the video wall, but we avoided that problem. We really played with secondary visuals, supporting visuals, textures, layering, where it was really nice and not annoying that you have to look through other production elements to see the content, it was just beautifully layered. Again, we knew that we wanted it to be intentional, and we knew we didn’t want it to be used in every single song.” The content for the tour was created by Nashville-based Andy Reuter. The media servers used on this production were from Green Hippo—two Hippotizer Boreal+, and one Hippotizer Karst+.

Gear Choices

For gear, Thomas Rhett has been a client of Upstaging since before Takahashi joined the production team. Upstaging’s Account Rep is John Bahnick, who works closely with the designer on what’s available in terms of gear. “When we start designing the show, I get a list of available inventory from John,” explains Takahashi. “If there’s something cool and groundbreaking that’s been released, then I’ll have the conversation asking if they’d think about investing in these products. All the video panels this year were brand-new out of the box that were brought with us, so that was the new element this tour. And I was really pleased with the ROE Vanish panel.”

Lighting-wise, the designer knew he wanted a large quantity of small fixtures on the upstage wall, and in the ceiling, to be a centerpiece. “I tried out the Elation Dartz from ‘21 to ‘22 and was really pleased with the output, the versatility, and the frost function. I knew I could get a huge variety of looks out of that fixture, especially in a large quantity. Upstaging has a huge quantity of Elation Dartz—we ended up with over 200, so it was a workhorse on this tour and the primary fixture in our production. The looks that we got out of it were phenomenal. From the tight beam moving around, crazy rock and roll looks to some nice soft looks for ballads; the very different shapes we could get, as we had a grid of them, was really strong.”

Takahashi is a big believer in having the least amount of different fixture types possible. “I don’t think you need a ton of different fixtures to have a great show, and it just complicates the cloning process for other shows. Sometimes you’ll need very specific fixtures to do very specific things. In this case, I only needed four fixture types. I had a spot, a strobe, a key light, and the Elation Dartz; that was it. It challenges you as a designer to use those spots sometimes as washes, which I’m a big believer in also. You don’t have to have it be a hard edge the whole time, you don’t have to have it a beam the whole time. These fixtures now have so many different capabilities, so I like using them to their full ability.”

His spot fixture of choice was the ACME Solar Impulse. “Upstaging has a large inventory of ACME fixtures,” states Takahashi. “I was skeptical at first, a couple years ago, to use them, but I have to say that I have minimal to no complaints. I think the weakness of it would be its color mixing, it is a little uneven in the pastel range, but for what we do on a Thomas Rhett show, it works beautifully. I think the color spectrum of those fixtures are pretty incredible for that. I don’t use them for key light lighting people, but as a primary spot fixture, a huge strong workhorse, it’s very bright, very beautiful. Just a really nice sharp zoom range and frost as well, so I can get some great, big wash looks out of it, as well as the beam gobo looks.”

The key light choice was the Ayrton Domino, of which he had eight, all on the Follow-Me Track-iT system to track Thomas Rhett and fellow mobile band members. “Those fixtures are phenomenal. As face light, I think their color mixing and color correction is really, really tight and clean. It produces a great quality of light to light subjects for camera, and for in-person. The throw on them was beautiful, nothing to complain about there.” Takahashi has worked with the Follow-Me system on Thomas Rhett’s tours since his first year out in 2018. He notes, “It started with the human operated Follow-Me system, and it always tracked Thomas for the past few years. It’s been excellent, and Follow-Me has been wonderful at helping with some of the challenges that we’ve faced over the years of pushing the limits of the system. This year we introduced the human-less system, so everyone had tags attached to them, and I’ve been very, very pleased with it. The make or break experience with Follow-Me is the technician that comes along with it, and ours is amazing. Skyler Dickenson, my Follow-Me Technician, handled all the Follow-Me stuff and was on top of any quirk. I was really pleased with the night-to-night tracking of everything.”

Continuing discussing his lighting choice, Takahashi says, “We had our Solaris Flares, which I think are one of my favorite fixtures ever made. No matter what color I choose, the intensity is there, and I can get some really nice pops and bangs out of those. That fixture, I think, is irreplaceable by any other strobe fixture out there on the market. I can get the really nice strobe quality and the punch out of them; they are a go-to for me.” Then, to add a color changing pop to his scenic risers, Takahashi went with the Edgelight RGB product from Nashville-based Go Live Productions. “They’re a local company here that makes custom LED products we lined all our risers with. That provided a nice baseline for the scenic elements. I was very happy with that choice.”

In terms of pyrotechnics and confetti special effects for the show, they were provided, along with the SFX crew from PyrotecnicoFX. “I worked with Rocco Vitale from Pyrotecnico on the timing, color choices, moments, and songs that we wanted,” recalls Takahashi, “then they created some cues, and we went back and forth on creating the looks that we ended up with in the show. It was good working with them.”

Vendor Support

For the Home Team Tour 23 Upstaging provided both the lighting and the video products. “Upstaging was fantastic,” states Takahashi, “and I know that Upstaging doesn’t provide video for a lot of tours, but they did a great job for us, including providing our full camera package, switchers, and media servers in addition to the LED video panels. Both the video and lighting support from Upstaging has been great. I am very pleased with it. Their support, sending out fixtures, dealing with maintenance, or any issues that we have, they’re on top of it. And they provide all my crew. My Lighting Crew Chief, Kile McClure, was my automation guy and has been with me for a few years now. He and I know each other—and our work styles—very well. He knows what I’m looking for day-to-day—in my perfectionist mind—on how things should be, so he really supports me in that way. Also, the Video Crew Chief—Ricky Krohne—has been the same since I started; he’s been phenomenal.” In fact, the crew on the tour has been a solid core for a few years now. “I’m very thankful that they desire to return to our show,” says Takahashi. “I have nothing to complain about in terms of Upstaging’s quality of support, the gear, or their people.”

The staging and automation vendor for this tour was TAIT, with TAIT’s Aaron Siebert as the Account Rep. “TAIT has also given us great support,” comments Takahashi. “I mean, we’re obviously one of their smaller clients, but they take us seriously, and they take care of us very well. We’ve used various staging from them over the years, decking, band riser packages, lifts here and there, and their support has been excellent. Obviously, they have some of the best staging out there, so it’s great to be working with them.”

Bringing it All Together

It’s hard to pin designers down to picking their favorite song, or moment, from a show, but Takahashi has a couple of songs that are favorites from a production standpoint. “I think my favorite song of the night was a song that just hit number one in the past couple months, called “Angels.” It’s a song he wrote about his wife, and our content creator, Andy Reuter, created this gorgeous sunset content that had paint splashes on it. There’s just such a beautiful feel to it. I blend lighting with that content. It’s beautiful layers, and I arced the lights around what the video was doing. Then there were some really drastic color changes for the bridge. Most of the lighting rig was off during this whole song, and I just thought musically and visually, that this was a showcasing moment of songwriting and visual art. Another one I loved, is on the opposite end of the spectrum, a song called “Craving You”. That showcased the firepower that we had, literally. Everything from video, pyro, lighting was all very carefully placed, intentional and timed out. It was such a captivating moment with everything in sync. Your senses just being—not necessarily overloaded—but you’re in a bit of a state of awe. There’s a lot going on, but everything’s happening purposefully and it all really worked together with the performance.”

It’s quite apparent that Thomas Rhett’s music—and his high energy performance—are well suited to the production and lighting design that bkd Creative’s Takahashi brings to support the tour. As musician, Thomas Rhett has a deep and a palpable connection to his audience. Takahashi and the production team all connect with the music as well and help bring it all together visually.

PRODUCTION TEAM

• Tour Managers: Jon Townley, Kamron Kimbro
• Production Manager: Kevin Twist
• Creative Direction: bkd Creative
• Production and Lighting Design: bkd Creative – Alec Takahashi and Benji Treuil
• Drafting Artist: Dave Carr
• Lighting Programmer/Lighting Director: Alec Takahashi
• Lighting Crew Chief: Kile McClure
• Lighting Crew: Aaron Walchli, Tony Quinn, Ryder Deas, Skyler Dickenson, Jesse Collins
• Follow Me Technician: Skyler Dickenson
• Video Director: Rob McLaughlin
• Video Engineer: Nick West
• Hippo Programmer: AJ DiCarlo
• Content Creation: Andy Reuter
• Video Crew Chief: Ricky Krohne
• Video Crew: Anthony Morgan, Nick Schlosser, Russ Spann, Brandon Fields
• Lead Rigger: Joanna Kiriacopoulos
• Rigger: Ryan Schilling
• Set Carps: Anthony Wilford, Andre Wilford, Michael Wise
• Pyro Tech: Christine Bernat
• Stage Manager: Justin Sumrall
• Lighting and Video: Upstaging, John Bahnick
• Staging and Automation : TAIT, Aaron Siebert
• Pyro: PyrotecnicoFX, Rocco Vitale
• 225       Elation Dartz 360 LED Beam
• 76         ACME Solar Impulse
• 8           Ayrton Domino Profile
• 65         TMB Solaris Flare Strobe
• 132’      Go Live Productions Edgelight RGB LED Tape
• 1           Follow-Me Track iT System
• 2           grandMA3 full-size
• 3           grandMA3 NPUs
• 5           grandMA2 8 port nodes
• 1           Lot Luminex Switches and Nodes
• 2           Brainstorm SR-112 SMPTE Distripalyzer
• 4           72-Way Lex 208V AC Rack
• 180       ROE Visual Vanish V8T LED Video Panel
• 2           Green Hippo Hippotizer Boreal+ Media Server
• 1           Green Hippo Hippotizer Karst+ Media Server
• 1           Kinesys Vector Motion Control System
• 16         TourLift and Kinesys Elevation 2-Ton Hoist

Special Effects

• 1           Pyrodigital FC-A Field Controller
• 1           Pyrodigital FM-A Firing Module System

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CMA Announces Nominees For 2023 CMA Touring Awards

THE COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES NOMINEES FOR 2023 CMA TOURING AWARDS

Country music’s top touring professionals honored for achieving excellence, including cma touring lifetime achievement award recipient ron baird, country superstar keith urban hosts industry celebration on monday, february 12 in nashville, final round voting for 2023 cma touring awards opens wednesday, dec. 13.

The Country Music Association has announced the nominees for the 2023 CMA Touring Awards, which highlight vital behind-the-scenes members of the Country Music touring industry. Final Round voting for the 2023 CMA Touring Awards opens Wednesday, Dec. 13 and closes Thursday, Dec. 28 . This year’s CMA Touring Awards will again be hosted by Country superstar Keith Urban and will take place Monday, Feb. 12 in Nashville, TN.

Additionally, Ron Baird , industry veteran and former head of Creative Arts Agency’s (CAA) Nashville office, will be posthumously honored with the CMA Touring Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given to an individual who has positively impacted and contributed to the growth of touring throughout the years. It honors an individual that has proven to have an unprecedented historical impact on Country Music fans and the industry alike, and whose presence will have a long-term positive impact on Country Music and CMA for generations to come.

“Honoring our touring community is something I look forward to every year,” says Sarah Trahern , CMA Chief Executive Officer. “Each time I attend a show, hear a new tour being announced, or see footage from an unforgettable night, I am reminded again of the importance, dedication and resilience of our touring community. I am also especially excited to add five additional categories this year, including a Crew of the Year honor. They are the road warriors that keep Country Music alive all over the world, and I can’t wait to celebrate them on February 12!”

“As someone who spent years not only setting up all my own equipment at shows, but was also for a time a lighting guy and crew member for a band, I know the hard work that goes in to keeping shows on the road,” says Urban. “I’m honored to once again be asked to host the CMA Touring Awards and acknowledge and shower some love on all the hard workers behind the scenes that make it all happen.”

New this year, the 2023 CMA Touring Awards will add five categories to its 15 categories. CMA members will have the opportunity to vote for Backline Technician, Stage Manager, Support Services Company, Unsung Hero and Crew of the Year.

All balloting is tabulated by the professional services organization, Deloitte.

As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte & Touche LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see http://www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of Deloitte’s legal structure. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

CATEGORY 1 – CREW OF THE YEAR

• “All-American Road Show Tour” Crew – Chris Stapleton
• “The Outsiders Revival Tour” Crew – Eric Church
• “I Go Back Tour” Crew – Kenny Chesney
• “Country On Tour” Crew – Luke Bryan
• “2023 World Tour” Crew – Luke Combs
• “One Night At A Time World Tour” Crew – Morgan Wallen
• “No Bad Vibes Tour” Crew – Old Dominion
• “Home Team Tour 23” Crew – Thomas Rhett

CATEGORY 2 – BACKLINE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR

• Jason Baskin – Zac Brown Band
• Melvin “Melvis” Fults – Kenny Chesney
• Carlos Gutierrez – Dierks Bentley
• Jason Herndon – Blake Shelton
• Joel “Tico” Jimenez – Thomas Rhett
• Jeremiah Langdon – Jelly Roll
• Chris Miller – Keith Urban
• Zach Rickard – Brothers Osborne

CATEGORY 3 – BUSINESS MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• Renee Allen – Arnie Barn, Inc.
• David Boyer – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
• Duane Clark – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.
• Catherine Moore – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC
• Caleb See – Curo Financial, LLC
• Michael Vaden – Vaden Group/Elliott Davis
• Kris Wiatr – Wiatr & Associates, LLC

CATEGORY 4 – COACH/TRUCK DRIVER OF THE YEAR

• Ronnie Brown – Zac Brown Band
• Josh Easter – Morgan Wallen
• Rhett Evens – Thomas Rhett
• Caleb Garrett – Luke Bryan
• Justin Pullin – Old Dominion
• Erin Siegfried – Lainey Wilson
• Chris Sims – Jelly Roll
• Wayne “Wayno” Sullivan – Blake Shelton/Keith Urban

CATEGORY 5 – FOH (FRONT OF HOUSE) ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

• Brendan Hines – Jelly Roll
• Aaron Lain – Morgan Wallen
• Todd Lewis – Luke Combs
• Ben Rigby – Eric Church
• Arpad Sayko – Chris Stapleton
• Trey Smith – Thomas Rhett
• Ian Zorbaugh – Old Dominion

CATEGORY 6 – LIGHTING DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• Zac Coren – Morgan Wallen
• Philip Ealy – Kenny Chesney
• Kevin Lichty – Old Dominion
• Mac Mosier – Chris Stapleton
• Kevin Northrup – Luke Combs
• Taylor Price – Miranda Lambert
• Austin Strain – Jelly Roll
• Alec Takahashi – Thomas Rhett

CATEGORY 7 – MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• Narvel Blackstock – Starstruck Entertainment
• Virginia Bunetta – G-Major Management
• Martha Earls – Neon Coast
• Kerri Edwards – KP Entertainment
• Clint Higham – Morris Higham Management
• Marion Kraft – ShopKeeper Management
• Mandelyn Monchick – Red Light Management
• John Peets – Q Prime South

CATEGORY 8 – MONITOR ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

• Bryan “Opie” Baxley – Kenny Chesney
• Mark Davis – Jelly Roll
• Logan Hanna – Brothers Osborne
• Andy Hill – Zac Brown Band
• Nathan Lowe – Eric Church
• Jimmy Nicholson – Thomas Rhett
• Dean Studebaker – Old Dominion
• Scott Tatter – Dierks Bentley

CATEGORY 9 – PRODUCTION MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• Chris Alderman – Blake Shelton
• John Garriott – Chris Stapleton
• Meesha Kosciolek – Eric Church
• Erik Leighty – Miranda Lambert
• Chris Nathan – Jake Owen
• Earl Neal – Jason Aldean
• Kevin Twist – Thomas Rhett
• Ed Wannebo – Kenny Chesney

CATEGORY 10 – PUBLICIST OF THE YEAR

• Janet Buck – Essential Broadcast Media
• Paul Freundlich – PFA Media
• Quinn Kaemmer – Big Machine Label Group
• Tyne Parrish – The GreenRoom PR
• Carla Sacks – Sacks & Co.
• Jessie Schmidt – Schmidt Public Relations
• Wes Vause – Press On Publicity
• Jennifer Vessio – 1220 Entertainment Publicity

CATEGORY 11 – STAGE MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• Sam “Sambo” Coats – Eric Church
• Donnie Floyd – Morgan Wallen
• Todd Green – Chris Stapleton
• Matt Hornbeck – Luke Combs
• Josh “Dude” Marcus – Jason Aldean
• Tom Nisun – Kenny Chesney
• Richard Rossey – Old Dominion
• Justin Sumrall – Thomas Rhett

CATEGORY 12 – SUPPORT SERVICES COMPANY OF THE YEAR

• 4 Wall Entertainment
• Clair Global
• Dega Catering
• Master Tour by Eventric
• Richards & Southern

CATEGORY 13 – TALENT AGENT OF THE YEAR

• Meredith Jones – CAA
• Joey Lee – WME
• Jonathan Levine – Wasserman Music
• Darin Murphy – CAA
• Adi Sharma – The Neal Agency
• Aaron Tannenbaum – WME
• Elisa Vazzana – UTA
• Jay Williams – WME

CATEGORY 14 – TALENT BUYER/PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

• Bradley Jordan – Peachtree Entertainment
• Patrick McDill – Live Nation Nashville
• Louis Messina – The Messina Group
• Rich Schaefer – AEG Presents
• Aaron Spalding – Live Nation Nashville
• Ed Warm – Joe’s Concerts
• Adam Weiser – AEG Presents

CATEGORY 15 – TOUR MANAGER OF THE YEAR

• Matt Anderson – Old Dominion
• Jason Hecht – Chris Stapleton
• Luke Holton – Brothers Osborne
• Chuck Hull – Keith Urban
• Meg Miller – Lainey Wilson
• Ethan Strunk – Luke Combs
• Chris Thacker – Dierks Bentley
• Jon Townley – Thomas Rhett

CATEGORY 16 – TOURING MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

• Rob Byus (Bass Guitar) – Blake Shelton
• Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar) – Chris Stapleton/Vince Gill
• Ben Helson (Guitar) – Dierks Bentley
• Lee Hendricks (Bass Guitar) – Eric Church
• Harmoni Kelley (Bass Guitar) – Kenny Chesney
• Chris Kimmerer (Drums) – Thomas Rhett
• Danny Mitchell (Piano) – Miranda Lambert
• Kurt Ozan (Guitar) – Luke Combs

CATEGORY 17 – TOUR VIDEOGRAPHER/PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

• Mason Allen – Old Dominion
• Andy Barron – Chris Stapleton
• Zach Belcher – Dierks Bentley
• David Bergman – Luke Combs
• CeCe Dawson – Lainey Wilson
• Tanner Gallagher – HARDY
• Grayson Gregory – Thomas Rhett
• Andy Pollitt – Jelly Roll

CATEGORY 18 – TOUR VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

• Josh Clark – Miranda Lambert
• Jay Cooper – Kenny Chesney
• Houston Creswell – Dierks Bentley
• Ron Etters – Chris Stapleton
• Nate Fountain – Zach Bryan/Blake Shelton
• Chris Jones – Jelly Roll
• Ricky Krohne – Thomas Rhett
• Michael Todd “M.T.” Stembridge – Eric Church

CATEGORY 19 – VENUE OF THE YEAR

• Ascend Amphitheater – Nashville, TN
• BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, NH
• Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN
• Choctaw Casino Resort – Durant, OK
• Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, TN
• Joe’s on Weed Street – Chicago, IL
• Paycom Center – Oklahoma City, OK
• Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO

CATEGORY 20 – UNSUNG HERO OF THE YEAR

• Dallas Bowshier – Eric Church
• Josh Castle – Dierks Bentley
• RJ Estrella – Luke Combs
• Kayla Carter Greear – Luke Bryan
• Kelsey Maynard – Old Dominion
• Todd Molle – Jake Owen
• Mel Murphy – Live Nation Nashville
• Tyler Rhodes – Thomas Rhett

About the CMA Touring Awards

The CMA Touring Awards, originally called the SRO (Standing Room Only) Awards, were created by the CMA Board of Directors in 1990 to honor outstanding professional achievement within the touring industry. The first awards were presented at a black-tie gala hosted by K.T. Oslin and Roger Miller during CMA’s Entertainment Expo, also known as the Talent Buyers Entertainment Marketplace. Ten awards were presented at the first gala and the number swelled to 19 over the years before settling at the current 20. The SRO Awards were renamed the CMA Touring Awards in 2016.

About the Country Music Association

Founded in 1958, CMA is the premier trade association of the Country Music industry. Representing professionals making a living in Country Music globally, the organization serves as a critical resource of support and information, honors excellence in the genre and provides a forum for industry leadership. CMA is dedicated to expanding Country Music around the world through a number of core programs and initiatives including the organization’s three annual television properties—the CMA Awards, “CMA Fest” and “CMA Country Christmas,” all of which air on ABC. The organization’s philanthropic arm, the CMA Foundation, works tirelessly to provide equitable access to music education in order to create impactful change for students and teachers across the United States.

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Home › Live Sound

2023 CMA Touring Awards Nominees Named

This year’s nominees for the CMA Touring Awards have been named, including in various live sound-related categories.

By Mix Staff

Nashville, TN (December 14, 2023)—This year’s nominees for the CMA Touring Awards have been named, including in various live sound-related categories such as FOH and Monitor Engineer of the Year, Production Manager of the Year, and more.

The award highlight the impact and professionalism of teams behind the scenes, bringing music to fans on the road, night after night. This year sees the addition of five new categories, including Backline Technician, Stage Manager, Support Services Company, Unsung Hero and Crew of the Year.

CMA Touring Awards will again be hosted by country star Keith Urban and will take place Monday, Feb. 12, 2024 in Nashville, TN. Final Round voting for the 2023 CMA Touring Awards closes Thursday, Dec. 28.

CATEGORY 1 – CREW OF THE YEAR

“All-American Road Show Tour” Crew – Chris Stapleton

“The Outsiders Revival Tour” Crew – Eric Church

“I Go Back Tour” Crew – Kenny Chesney

“Country On Tour” Crew – Luke Bryan

“2023 World Tour” Crew – Luke Combs

“One Night At A Time World Tour” Crew – Morgan Wallen

“No Bad Vibes Tour” Crew – Old Dominion

“Home Team Tour 23” Crew – Thomas Rhett

CATEGORY 2 – BACKLINE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR

Jason Baskin – Zac Brown Band

Melvin “Melvis” Fults – Kenny Chesney

Carlos Gutierrez – Dierks Bentley

Jason Herndon – Blake Shelton

Joel “Tico” Jimenez – Thomas Rhett

Jeremiah Langdon – Jelly Roll

Chris Miller – Keith Urban

Zach Rickard – Brothers Osborne

CATEGORY 3 – BUSINESS MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Renee Allen – Arnie Barn, Inc.

David Boyer – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.

Duane Clark – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc.

Catherine Moore – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC

Caleb See – Curo Financial, LLC

Michael Vaden – Vaden Group/Elliott Davis

Kris Wiatr – Wiatr & Associates, LLC

CATEGORY 4 – COACH/TRUCK DRIVER OF THE YEAR

Ronnie Brown – Zac Brown Band

Josh Easter – Morgan Wallen

Rhett Evens – Thomas Rhett

Caleb Garrett – Luke Bryan

Justin Pullin – Old Dominion

Erin Siegfried – Lainey Wilson

Chris Simms – Jelly Roll

Wayne “Wayno” Sullivan – Blake Shelton/Keith Urban

CATEGORY 5 – FOH (FRONT OF HOUSE) ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

Brendan Hines – Jelly Roll

Aaron Lain – Morgan Wallen

Todd Lewis – Luke Combs

Ben Rigby – Eric Church

Arpad Sayko – Chris Stapleton

Trey Smith – Thomas Rhett

Ian Zorbaugh – Old Dominion

CATEGORY 6 – LIGHTING DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

Zac Coren – Morgan Wallen

Philip Ealy – Kenny Chesney

Kevin Lichty – Old Dominion

Mac Mosier – Chris Stapleton

Kevin Northrup – Luke Combs

Taylor Price – Miranda Lambert

Austin Strain – Jelly Roll

Alec Takahashi – Thomas Rhett

CATEGORY 7 – MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Narvel Blackstock – Starstruck Entertainment

Virginia Bunetta – G-Major Management

Martha Earls – Neon Coast

Kerri Edwards – KP Entertainment

Clint Higham – Morris Higham Management

Marion Kraft – ShopKeeper Management

Mandelyn Monchick – Red Light Management

John Peets – Q Prime South

CATEGORY 8 – MONITOR ENGINEER OF THE YEAR

Bryan “Opie” Baxley – Kenny Chesney

Mark Davis – Jelly Roll

Logan Hanna – Brothers Osborne

Andy Hill – Zac Brown Band

Nathan Lowe – Eric Church

Jimmy Nicholson – Thomas Rhett

Dean Studebaker – Old Dominion

Scott Tatter – Dierks Bentley

CATEGORY 9 – PRODUCTION MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Chris Alderman – Blake Shelton

John Garriott – Chris Stapleton

Meesha Kosciolek – Eric Church

Erik Leighty – Miranda Lambert

Chris Nathan – Jake Owen

Earl Neal – Jason Aldean

Kevin Twist – Thomas Rhett

Ed Wannebo – Kenny Chesney

CATEGORY 10 – PUBLICIST OF THE YEAR

Janet Buck – Essential Broadcast Media

Paul Freundlich – PFA Media

Quinn Kaemmer – Big Machine Label Group

Tyne Parrish – The GreenRoom PR

Carla Sacks – Sacks & Co.

Jessie Schmidt – Schmidt Public Relations

Wes Vause – Press On Publicity

Jennifer Vessio – 1220 Entertainment Publicity

CATEGORY 11 – STAGE MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Sam “Sambo” Coats – Eric Church

Donnie Floyd – Morgan Wallen

Todd Green – Chris Stapleton

Matt Hornbeck – Luke Combs

Josh “Dude” Marcus – Jason Aldean

Tom Nisun – Kenny Chesney

Richard Rossey – Old Dominion

Justin Sumrall – Thomas Rhett

CATEGORY 12 – SUPPORT SERVICES COMPANY OF THE YEAR

4 Wall Entertainment

Clair Global

Dega Catering

Master Tour by Eventric

Richards & Southern

CATEGORY 13 – TALENT AGENT OF THE YEAR

Meredith Jones – CAA

Joey Lee – WME

Jonathan Levine – Wasserman Music

Darin Murphy – CAA

Adi Sharma – The Neal Agency

Aaron Tannenbaum – WME

Elisa Vazzana – UTA

Jay Williams – WME

CATEGORY 14 – TALENT BUYER/PROMOTER OF THE YEAR

Bradley Jordan – Peachtree Entertainment

Patrick McDill – Live Nation Nashville

Louis Messina – The Messina Group

Rich Schaefer – AEG Presents

Aaron Spalding – Live Nation Nashville

Ed Warm – Joe’s Concerts

Adam Weiser – AEG Presents

CATEGORY 15 – TOUR MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Matt Anderson – Old Dominion

Jason Hecht – Chris Stapleton

Luke Holton – Brothers Osborne

Chuck Hull – Keith Urban

Meg Miller – Lainey Wilson

Ethan Strunk – Luke Combs

Chris Thacker – Dierks Bentley

Jon Townley – Thomas Rhett

CATEGORY 16 – TOURING MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR

Rob Byus (Bass Guitar) – Blake Shelton

Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar) – Chris Stapleton/Vince Gill

Ben Helson (Guitar) – Dierks Bentley

Lee Hendricks (Bass Guitar) – Eric Church

Harmoni Kelley (Bass Guitar) – Kenny Chesney

Chris Kimmerer (Drums) – Thomas Rhett

Danny Mitchell (Piano) – Miranda Lambert

Kurt Ozan (Guitar) – Luke Combs

CATEGORY 17 – TOUR VIDEOGRAPHER/PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Mason Allen – Old Dominion

Andy Barron – Chris Stapleton

Zach Belcher – Dierks Bentley

David Bergman – Luke Combs

CeCe Dawson – Lainey Wilson

Tanner Gallagher – HARDY

Grayson Gregory – Thomas Rhett

Andy Pollitt – Jelly Roll

CATEGORY 18 – TOUR VIDEO DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR

Josh Clark – Miranda Lambert

Jay Cooper – Kenny Chesney

Houston Creswell – Dierks Bentley

Ron Etters – Chris Stapleton

Nate Fountain – Zach Bryan/Blake Shelton

Chris Jones – Jelly Roll

Ricky Krohne – Thomas Rhett

Michael Todd “M.T.” Stembridge – Eric Church

CATEGORY 19 – VENUE OF THE YEAR

Ascend Amphitheater – Nashville, TN

BankNH Pavilion – Gilford, NH

Bridgestone Arena – Nashville, TN

Choctaw Casino Resort – Durant, OK

Grand Ole Opry House – Nashville, TN

Joe’s on Weed Street – Chicago, IL

Paycom Center – Oklahoma City, OK

Red Rocks Amphitheatre – Morrison, CO

CATEGORY 20 – UNSUNG HERO OF THE YEAR

Dallas Bowshier – Eric Church

Josh Castle – Dierks Bentley

RJ Estrella – Luke Combs

Kayla Carter Greear – Luke Bryan

Kelsey Maynard – Old Dominion

Todd Molle – Jake Owen

Mel Murphy – Live Nation Nashville

Tyler Rhodes – Thomas Rhett

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CMA Touring Awards Nominees Announced: Full List

"I know the hard work that goes in to keeping shows on the road," says returning host Keith Urban.

By Jessica Nicholson

Jessica Nicholson

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“As someone who spent years not only setting up all my own equipment at shows, but was also for a time a lighting guy and crew member for a band, I know the hard work that goes in to keeping shows on the road,” Urban added. “I’m honored to once again be asked to host the CMA Touring Awards and acknowledge and shower some love on all the hard workers behind the scenes that make it all happen.”

This year, the CMA Touring Awards have expanded, adding five categories. CMA members will have the opportunity to vote for Backline Technician, Stage Manager, Support Services Company, Unsung Hero and Crew of the Year. All balloting is tabulated by the professional services organization, Deloitte.

See the full list of nominees below:

Crew of the year

“All American Road Show Tour” Crew – Chris Stapleton “The Outsiders Revival Tour” Crew – Eric Church “I Go Back Tour” Crew – Kenny Chesney “Country On Tour” Crew – Luke Bryan “2023 World Tour” Crew – Luke Combs “One Night At A Time World Tour” Crew – Morgan Wallen “No Bad Vibes Tour” Crew – Old Dominion “Home Team Tour 23” Crew – Thomas Rhett

Backline technician of the year

Jason Baskin – Zac Brown Band Melvin “Melvis” Fults – Kenny Chesney Carlos Gutierrez – Dierks Bentley Jason Herndon – Blake Shelton Joel “Tico” Jimenez – Thomas Rhett Jeremiah Langdon – Jelly Roll Chris Miller – Keith Urban Zach Rickard – Brothers Osborne

Business manager of the year

Renee Allen – Arnie Barn, Inc. David Boyer – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc. Duane Clark – Flood, Bumstead, McCready & McCarthy, Inc. Catherine Moore – Farris, Self & Moore, LLC Caleb See – Curo Financial, LLC Michael Vaden – Vaden Group/Elliott Davis Kris Wiatr – Wiatr & Associates, LLC

Coach/truck driver of the year

Ronnie Brown – Zac Brown Band Josh Easter – Morgan Wallen Rhett Evens – Thomas Rhett Caleb Garrett – Luke Bryan Justin Pullin – Old Dominion Erin Siegfried – Lainey Wilson Chris Simms – Jelly Roll Wayne “Wayno” Sullivan – Blake Shelton/Keith Urban

FOH (front of house) engineer of the year

Brendan Hines – Jelly Roll Aaron Lain – Morgan Wallen Todd Lewis – Luke Combs Ben Rigby – Eric Church Arpad Sayko – Chris Stapleton Trey Smith – Thomas Rhett Ian Zorbaugh – Old Dominion

Lighting director of the year

Manager of the year

Narvel Blackstock – Starstruck Entertainment Virginia Bunetta – G-Major Management Martha Earls – Neon Coast Kerri Edwards – KP Entertainment Clint Higham – Morris Higham Management Marion Kraft – ShopKeeper Management Mandelyn Monchick – Red Light Management John Peets – Q Prime South

Monitor engineer of the year

Bryan “Opie” Baxley – Kenny Chesney Mark Davis – Jelly Roll Logan Hanna – Brothers Osborne Andy Hill – Zac Brown Band Nathan Lowe – Eric Church Jimmy Nicholson – Thomas Rhett Dean Studebaker – Old Dominion Scott Tatter – Dierks Bentley

Production manager of the year

Chris Alderman – Blake Shelton John Garriott – Chris Stapleton Meesha Kosciolek – Eric Church Erik Leighty – Miranda Lambert Chris Nathan – Jake Owen Earl Neal – Jason Aldean Kevin Twist – Thomas Rhett Ed Wannebo – Kenny Chesney

Publicist of the year

Janet Buck – Essential Broadcast Media Paul Freundlich – PFA Media Quinn Kaemmer – Big Machine Label Group Tyne Parrish – The GreenRoom PR Carla Sacks – Sacks & Co. Jessie Schmidt – Schmidt Public Relations Wes Vause – Press On Publicity Jennifer Vessio – 1220 Entertainment Publicity

Stage manager of the year

Sam “Sambo” Coats – Eric Church Donnie Floyd – Morgan Wallen Todd Green – Chris Stapleton Matt Hornbeck – Luke Combs Josh “Dude” Marcus – Jason Aldean Tom Nisun – Kenny Chesney Richard Rossey – Old Dominion Justin Sumrall – Thomas Rhett

Support services company of the year

4 Wall Entertainment Clair Global Dega Catering Master Tour by Eventric Moo TV Richards & Southern

Talent agent of the year

Talent buyer/promoter of the year

Bradley Jordan – Peachtree Entertainment Patrick McDill – Live Nation Nashville Louis Messina – The Messina Group Rich Schaefer – AEG Presents Aaron Spalding – Live Nation Nashville Ed Warm – Joe’s Concerts Adam Weiser – AEG Presents

Tour manager of the year

Matt Anderson – Old Dominion Jason Hecht – Chris Stapleton Luke Holton – Brothers Osborne Chuck Hull – Keith Urban Meg Miller – Lainey Wilson Ethan Strunk – Luke Combs Chris Thacker – Dierks Bentley Jon Townley – Thomas Rhett

Touring musician of the year

Rob Byus (Bass Guitar) – Blake Shelton Paul Franklin (Steel Guitar) – Chris Stapleton/Vince Gill Ben Helson (Guitar) – Dierks Bentley Lee Hendricks (Bass Guitar) – Eric Church Harmoni Kelley (Bass Guitar) – Kenny Chesney Chris Kimmerer (Drums) – Thomas Rhett Danny Mitchell (Piano) – Miranda Lambert Kurt Ozan (Guitar) – Luke Combs

Tour videographer/photographer of the year

Mason Allen – Old Dominion Andy Barron – Chris Stapleton Zach Belcher – Dierks Bentley David Bergman – Luke Combs CeCe Dawson – Lainey Wilson Tanner Gallagher – HARDY Grayson Gregory – Thomas Rhett Andy Pollitt – Jelly Roll

Tour video director of the year

Josh Clark – Miranda Lambert Jay Cooper – Kenny Chesney Houston Creswell – Dierks Bentley Ron Etters – Chris Stapleton Nate Fountain – Zach Bryan/Blake Shelton Chris Jones – Jelly Roll Ricky Krohne – Thomas Rhett Michael Todd “M.T.” Stembridge – Eric Church

Venue of the year

Unsung hero of the year

Dallas Bowsier – Eric Church Josh Castle – Dierks Bentley RJ Estrella – Luke Combs Kayla Carter Greear – Luke Bryan Kelsey Maynard – Old Dominion Todd Molle – Jake Owen Mel Murphy – Live Nation Nashville Tyler Rhodes – Thomas Rhett

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Stagecoach guest predictions: From Thomas Rhett to Beyoncé, here's who we're hoping for

W hen you've got musicians like Willie Nelson, Miranda Lambert, Jelly Roll, Leon Bridges, Morgan Wallen and so many others on the Stagecoach country music festival lineup, what more could you ask for? Well, we're asking for some equally as amazing special guests.

Hot off of two weekends at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, the Empire Polo Club grounds have seen and heard a couple of cool surprise acts, including Kesha, Will Smith, Billie Eilish and many others. With Stagecoach closing out the Coachella Valley's spring music festival season, we hope the country artists on the lineup go out with a bang and treat their fans to some mind-blowing collaborations.

Here are some surprise guests we're hoping dust off their cowboy hats and make their way to Stagecoach this weekend.

As far fetched as this one might seem, the clues for a special Beyoncé appearance have never been more clear. During the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, a "Cowboy Carter" sky banner and semi-truck were seen around the Empire Polo Club grounds, making us think Beyoncé would guest during that festival. But because her latest album is country inspired, and the fact that many of the artists on the Stagecoach lineup are featured on it, all signs seem to point to the surprise guest to end all surprise guests this weekend. Her "Cowboy Carter" collaborators include Tanner Adell and Brittney Spencer on "Blackbiird," Post Malone on "Levii's Jeans," Willie Jones on "Just For Fun" and Willie Nelson, who is featured on the album's "Smoke Hour" interludes. Specifically, Nelson's set is billed as "Willie Nelson & Family," so who knows, maybe Dolly Parton or Miley Cyrus also join in for "Tyrant," "Jolene" or "II Most Wanted." Any one of these would be incredible to see live, so here's hoping that at least one happens.

— Ema Sasic

Read more: 5 reasons why Beyoncé could surprise us and bring 'Cowboy Carter' to Stagecoach

Carrie Underwood

From one female Stagecoach headliner to another, Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood would be a powerhouse duet to witness in person. They teamed up on Lambert's "Thelma and Louise"-inspired song "Somethin' Bad" a decade ago, and these two have the potential to bring the house down at Stagecoach. We've already seen what an Underwood headlining set does to a crowd — everyone was singing, dancing and having the time of their life with the "American Idol" winner in 2022 — so we can only imagine how rowdy the place would get with her as a surprise guest.

Dierks Bentley, Diplo

Elle King will be hitting the Mane Stage once again this year and has the potential to be joined by a few guests. She has a collaboration with Dierks Bentley on "Worth a Shot" off of her 2023 album "Come Get Your Wife." The pop-country song can instantly put anyone in a good mood, as if Stagecoach attendees could get even more excited. Diplo has also become a main feature at the festival — he'll be doing a Late Night in Palomino set on Saturday night and he's still got a HonkyTonk on the grounds named after him — so it would only make sense for him to join King for their song "Without You."

Thomas Rhett

From Florida Georgia Line to rapper Lil Durk to Chris Stapleton, Morgan Wallen has no shortage of big name collaborators. But when it comes to Stagecoach, we're pretty sure he'll bring up Eric Church (or vice versa) to perform "God Made a Bar," although that could get slightly awkward given that Wallen was just arrested for throwing a chair out the window of Church's Nashville bar earlier this month.

But if we had to pick a second guest for country's resident bad boy (and who knows, maybe he'll want one to help reduce the spotlight on himself), we'd go with 2022 headliner Rhett given that their song "Mamaw's House" has become a fixture on country radio since it was released last fall.

This is all assuming, of course, that respectable artists like Church and Rhett even still want to be associated with Wallen after his most recent burst of impropriety, although his many issues have seemingly not stopped artists from wanting to work with him in the past.

— Paul Albani-Burgio

Bruce Springsteen

OK, this may feel even more farfetched than a Beyoncé appearance. But just go with us here for a minute. What's Eric Church's most famous song? "Springsteen," of course. So wouldn't it be cool if the New Jersey legend joined Church (who apparently loves The Boss so much he wrote his greatest hit as tribute to him) on stage to sing a few songs?

Lo and behold, there is even proof of concept here as Church and Springsteen performed Springsteen's "Working on a Highway" together at a charity benefit for current and former members of the military in New York back in 2018. With Church headlining and the 74-year-old Springsteen not getting any younger, it seems like this would be the perfect time to take their shows to one of the biggest stages in country music.

Dolly Parton

While we're already thinking big, why not go even bolder. Parton is perhaps the most famous living country artist to never play Stagecoach. But we can hardly think of a better way to make her debut than performing with a 91-year-old Willie Nelson. After all, the pair have a long history of both performing and creating songs together.

Other artists not on the lineup who could surprise us:

• Florida Georgia Line (they're featured on Morgan Wallen's "Up Down")
• Chris Stapleton (he's featured on Morgan Wallen's "Only Thing That’s Gone")
• Maren Morris (she's featured on Miranda Lambert's "Way Too Pretty for Prison")
• Little Big Town (they're featured on Miranda Lambert's "Smokin' and Drinkin'")
• The Pistol Annies (Miranda Lambert's trio with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley)

Artists on the lineup who we suspect will special guest for each other:

• Elle King to come out during Miranda Lambert's headlining set for "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)"
• Ben Burgess to come out during Morgan Wallen's headlining set for "Outlaw"
• ERNEST to come out during Morgan Wallen's headlining set for "Cowgirls" and/or "Flower Shops"
• HARDY to come out during Morgan Wallen's headlining set for "In The Bible"

Artists we originally suspected but, sadly, will be on a tour stop in another city during Stagecoach:

• Luke Combs (unless he wanted to fly here from Pennsylvania on Sunday and squeeze in an evening set ...)
• Lainey Wilson (and she's not only on tour, but on tour in Europe, so she definitely won't be there)

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ema_sasic.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Stagecoach guest predictions: From Thomas Rhett to Beyoncé, here's who we're hoping for

This country star just headlined KNIX Secret Show: 'I still feel like it was a dream'

KNIX-FM (102.5) brought Thomas Rhett to Tempe’s Marquee Theatre on Wednesday, April 24, for the station’s latest Secret Show.

The station shared a photo of Rhett outside the show with on-air personalities and station mascot Barrel Boy on social media.

“Thank you for an incredible evening of Country music, @thomasrhettakins! 🎶🎤,” the post read. “See you in September at @bootsinthepark  #knixsecretshow.”

Rhett and Jason Aldean are headlining Boots in the Park at Tempe Beach Park the weekend of Sept. 28-29, 2024, with Jon Pardi, Trace Adkins and more.

Fans respond to Thomas Rhett at KNIX Secret Show

One fan responded to the station’s Facebook post with ”I absolutely love Thomas Rhett!!! What an amazing surprise and show! I still feel like it was a dream!!! Thank you KNIX Country 102.5!!!!”

Another wrote, “The secret show was so awesome last night. What a great birthday present it was for me yesterday to be able to go to the secret show. Thomas Rhett was awesome.”

Country Thunder: The most Arizona things we saw at Country Thunder 2024, from Miss Arizona to 93 degree days

Reach the reporter at   [email protected]  or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter   @EdMasley .

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