Turner, Young round out lineup for 7th Taste of Country
HUNTER — The full list of acts to grace Hunter Mountain’s seventh Taste of Country festival was announced Thursday, including a roster of country megastars and up-and-comers.
The lineup includes Josh Turner, Brett Young, Michael Ray, LANCO, Walker Hayes, Lindsay Ell, Runaway Jane, Tyler Rich, Brandon Lay, Ross Ellis and Adam Doleac.
County superstars Keith Urban, responsible for hits such as “Kiss a Girl” and “Blue Ain’t Your Color”; Rascal Flatts, known for their cover of “Life is a Highway”; and Little Big Town, which won a Grammy for their 2016 tune “Better Man,” will headline the annual festival, scheduled for June 7-9, according to the Taste of Country website. Brooks & Dunn and Brett Eldredge round out the bill.
Festival organizers want to expose concertgoers to rising stars such as Doleac and Rich with the hope they will listen to their music after seeing them perform live, Townsquare Media Live Events Vice President Sally Lidinsky said Thursday.
“The whole lineup is exciting,” she said. “We like to get some people our fans maybe haven’t heard of, but they will soon. I’m really excited about the whole thing.”
Urban will take the Taste of Country stage for the second time this year. He performed at the 2015 festival to a smaller crowd due to bad weather, Lidinsky said.
“He wanted to come back and perform for everyone,” Lidinsky said of the New Zealand-born singer. “Keith Urban puts on a phenomenal show.”
Selecting and booking the artists for the festival takes more than a year. Townsquare has a strong team to book the acts, Lidinsky said, adding organizers have already started scouting artists for the 2020 festival.
“It’s a very, very long process,” she said.
The headliners are traditionally announced in the fall with the remaining acts released in the winter before the country music bash, Lidinsky said. The festival’s daily schedule will be announced in the spring.
Last year, headliners Eric Church, Florida Georgia Line, Sam Hunt and LeAnn Rimes broke records performing to a sellout crowd of nearly 70,000 country music fans for the first time in Taste of Country’s history.
The festival will likely be sold out again this year, Lidinsky said, adding concertgoers are scooping up campground reservations quickly.
“We are selling at that same pace this year, if not faster,” she said. “If you want to camp, get your camp spots now.”
On Thursday, general admission for the three-day festival was $170, according to the Taste of Country website. Ticket prices increased at midnight and are expected to continue to go up as the festival approaches.
“It’s standard to have several price increase over the season,” Lidinsky said. “Ticket prices will increase over time.”
Taste of Country is a premier country music festival with concertgoers traveling from all over the nation for the lineup and Hunter Mountain’s unique atmosphere, Lidinsky said, adding attendees have beautiful views to take in with the music.
“It’s a natural amphitheater... I think fans come just as much for the unique atmosphere as the music,” Lidinsky said. “It’s a really awesome place to have a music festival.”
The festival continues to evolve, she added, and the fans make the festival what it is.
“It’s something we’re very proud of,” Lidinsky said. “Our guests continue to come back year after year.”
To reach reporter Daniel Zuckerman email dzuckerman@thedailymail.net or follow him on Twitter @DZuckerman_CGM.
