Kid Rock is partnering with Rock the South organizers to launch a series of music festivals called Rock the Country.

The two-day events, held in Southern cities that range from Mobile to Ashland, Kentucky, are inspired by Rock the South, an annual festival in Cullman that focuses on country music and Southern rock. Seven Rock the Country festivals are planned in 2024, in the months of April through July.

Kid Rock will be a headliner at each Rock the Country festival, as well as a hands-on organizer, said Shane Quick of Premier Productions, one of the founders of Rock the South. Quick said Kid Rock, 52, has a financial stake in Rock the Country, and has been “invested in every way” in the project.

“He’s been an incredible partner,” Quick said in an interview with AL.com. “I’ve been promoting shows the majority of my life, and I’ve never had an artist more willing to partner and do what it takes, to build it, to get it out there, to make it successful, than what Kid Rock has been willing to do. He’s very creative, an incredible businessman. I think that was one thing that he was excited about: This is an event he’s helping curate. … Getting to know him over the last year, I’ve found him to be very creative, very fan-focused, (thinking about) what is the best situation for the fan. We’ve been honored to work with him.”

Jason Aldean has been confirmed as a headliner for all seven Rock the Country festivals, as well. About 12-15 artists will appear at each event, Quick said.

Performers will include Miranda Lambert, Hank Williams Jr., Lynyrd Skynyrd, Koe Wetzel, Brantley Gilbert, Travis Tritt, Lee Brice, Nelly, Warren Zeiders, Randy Houser and Big & Rich featuring Gretchen Wilson. Also on stage: Pecos & the Rooftops, Kolby Cooper, Colt Ford, Elvie Shane, Treaty Oak Revival, Gavin Adcock, Sadie Bass and Dee Jay Silver.

Rock and Aldean will be constants, but the rest of each lineup will vary depending on the city.

“We’re really hitting that side of the country that I would say isn’t afraid to say that they love America, and love our freedom and our military, and all the things that we’re about, that kind of personify country,” Quick said. “It just kind of fell into our lap, honestly. Jason was putting out a new record, and had an opening in his schedule to do these, and just so happened to have the No. 1 song in the country.

“Kid Rock is really not doing that many shows anymore, and I think he’s only going to play probably 10 shows next year, and seven of them are going to be these,” Quick said. “So I think they want to make ‘em count. This lineup’s never happened before. So it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime lineup that we’ve put together, and we think people are going to respond well.”

Rock and Aldean have been polarizing figures in the music world this year, facing controversies that ranged from Rock’s outspoken boycott of Bud Light to backlash over the video for Aldean’s single “Try That in a Small Town.” However, Quick said Rock the Country is about uniting music lovers, not dividing them.

“I think our ‘why’ is special, giving people a break from all the things that are happening in the world,” Quick said. “Getting together and unifying with people at a big, big party, with big bands and all the good stuff — good food and good beer and good music. I think a lot of good can come out of that. That makes it even more exciting for us.”

Although Rock the South provides an essential blueprint for Rock the Country, each festival will have an atmosphere that’s unique to the location, Quick said. The goal is to celebrate small town America, he said, and draw music lovers to destination festivals that aren’t located in major cities. Here’s the agenda:

• Gonzalez, Louisiana: April 5-6, Lamar-Dixon Expo Center.
• Ashland, Kentucky: April 19-20, Boyd County Fairgrounds.
• Rome, Georgia: May 10-11, Kingston Downs.
• Ocala, Florida: June 7-8, Majestic Oaks Ocala.
• Mobile, Alabama: June 21-22, The Grounds.
• Poplar Bluff, Missouri: June 28-29, Brick’s Off Road Park.
• Anderson, South Carolina: July 26-27, Anderson Sports and Entertainment Center.

“We like to say that we believe everybody has a small town in them, and it kind of brings you back to your roots or to a time that’s a little more simple,” Quick said. “You’ve just got great small towns all over America, and I think they are something to celebrate. I think there’s something nostalgic about it, something heartwarming. It’s going to be a big damn party. But it’s going to be down in small town America, and we encourage people to go downtown and shop at local businesses, and enjoy all the things that they have, and their little unique flair and significant contribution to the world.”

Organizers chose the sites for Rock the Country based on several factors, Quick said, keeping things “heavily Southeast” for the first go-round.

“These first seven are cities that were really strategically planned, based on demand, cities that could be easily driven to, and that kind of hold down a whole region,” Quick said. “Kind of like Rock the South does, where we pull people from everywhere, but have a heavy, heavy draw from within a two-hour radius. So we found similar cities that have the ability to get people in and out of there safely, but be able to invite people there from all over the country and enjoy that small town atmosphere and hospitality.”

Mobile was a lock for the list, Quick said, because he and another organizer for Rock the South, Nathan Baugh of 46 Entertainment, had seen Morgan Wallen draw a huge crowd to the Mobile fairgrounds in November 2021.

“We brought Morgan Wallen down there three years ago, just by happenstance, and he was available,” Quick said. “It was his first show back, after his hiatus, and the response of the people was so incredible. We sold 33,000 tickets in a single day, sold out the event in a single day, and we saw a demand. We saw people come together and we saw crowds come from, heavily, around a 2- to 3-hour radius. We felt like we hit a nerve. We struck a nerve there, and we’ve been trying to get back ever since.”

Organizers hope to draw about 30,000 people per day to Rock the Country, no matter what the city, Quick said. The festivals will have a charity component, as well.

“We’re big dreamers,” said Quick, who’s also the president of touring and strategic expansion for LiveCo, an independent concert and live events company. “We believe the timing of this event is right, you know, there’s an old Bible verse that says, ‘for such a time as this,’ and it just feels right. We really are trying to have a very strong ‘why.’ With Rock the South and a lot of things I’ve been able to do, I like there to be a reason why we’re doing it. It’s a lot of work, you know. It’s a whole lot of work, and when you have a reason, have a strong ‘why,’ it just makes it worth it more.”

Pre-sale tickets for Rock The Country will be available on Thursday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. CT. To register for the pre-sale, visit the festival website. A public on-sale starts Friday at 10 a.m. CT. Prices are TBA for general admission, VIP and elevated reserved seating. RV and car camping will be available in each city, as well.

If all goes well with Rock the Country, organizers expect to grow the project, adding more cities to the agenda in 2025 and beyond.

“You definitely don’t want to go to a city or an area that already has (a festival) like that,” Quick said. “We wanted to go where there was a need, and look regionally. But there’s a lot of thought and planning that goes into it, finding cities that were receptive to it. This is just our first year of doing it, and we’ll definitely add more cities as the years go by. We’ll eventually go up North and out West. So we’ll be in Northern California and Michigan and Maine and other places eventually, with this whole thing.”

“Rock The Country is for everyone who makes this country run and loves America,” Kid Rock said via a press release. “Nobody knows how to party like Small Town America!”

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