Big-name country stars coming to Chesco fest
GLENMOORE » Country music superstars Alabama, Toby Keith and Brad Paisley will headline Citadel Country Spirit USA, a three-day country music festival coming to Chester County August 24 to 26.
“It’s a done deal, we’re excited we will be bringing a major festival to Chester County,” said Alan Jacoby, executive producer of Impact Entertainment. “This is a beautiful location.”
The event will be held on the grounds of the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Association, a 33-acre site at 1325 Pottstown Pike in Glenmoore. Officials said the venue has a capacity of hosting 15,000 people daily.
Citadel Country Spirit USA will feature more than 20 country music artists on two stages. The remainder of the lineup will be announced at a later date.
While great music is the main attraction, concertgoers will be treated to a spectacular festival experience, a country music celebration with an array of activities, food vendors and libations – from Sierra Nevada for beer drinkers to wine and spirits at the Barefoot Wine Garden and Jose Cuervo Saloon.
Heralded as “the greatest country band of all time,” Alabama headlines on Friday, Aug. 24. From humble beginnings picking cotton in the fields to a staggering 80 million album sales, this band changed the face of country music, bringing it into the mainstream with rock-style guitars, lights, pyrotechnics and sounds.
Named Recording Industry Association of America Country Group of the Century, Alabama has won 178 Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, Grammy Awards and Academy of Country Music Awards. Alabama earned 21 gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums; charted 43 number one singles, including 21 number one singles in a row. A group of worldclass philanthropists, they’ve raised more than $250 million for charity.
Some of their tops songs include “Lady Down On Love,” “Feels So Right,” “She and I,” “When We Make Love,” “Jukebox In My Mind,” “Jukebox In My Mind,” and “My Home’s In Alabama.”
Toby Keith, the “Big Dog Daddy,” one of the modern country era’s biggest superstars, headlines on Saturday, Aug. 25. At the core is his songwriting as recognized by his 2015 induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, along with a multitude of other honors and awards. Keith’s songs have received more than 91 million performances on commercial radio stations worldwide. His albums have sold more than 40 million copies. His tours have drawn more than a million fans each year for more than a decade straight.
Keith’s most recent successes are a representation of his entire career. Last September, he released “The Bus Songs,” which went on to set a Billboard Comedy Albums chart record for a country artist by holding the No. 1 spot for 11 consecutive weeks.
Keith signed to DreamWorks Records Nashville in 1998, and released his breakthrough single “How Do You Like Me Now?!” that year.
Megastar country music singer, songwriter, guitarist and entertainer Brad Paisley headlines on Sunday, August 26. Paisley has sold over 11 million albums and won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 14 Country Music Association Awards, and two American Music Awards.
Co-host of the annual CMA awards for 10 consecutive years, Paisley has won a slew of them too, including Entertainer of the Year. His talents have also earned him three Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, 14 ACM Awards and many others.
His 11th studio album, Love and War released last April, was his ninth studio album to debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. A light-hearted, traditional country musician with a modern flair, Paisley wrote 21 of his 24 No. 1 hit singles. He’s known for the humor in his songs and debuted “Brad Paisley’s Comedy Rodeo,” a comedy special on Netflix, last August.
The country music spectacular comes to Chester County from the producer of Country Summer, Northern California’s biggest country music festival celebrating its fifth annual event in June. “It’s exciting to expand our portfolio to the East Coast,” Alan Jacoby, Impact Entertainment’s executive producer, said. “Our goal is to create the Mid-Atlantic region’s foremost annual country music festival.”
Hosted by the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, thousands of fans from across the nation are projected to attend.
Three-Day super Early Bird passes, starting from $189, go on sale at 10 a.m. (EST) on March 16 at www.countryspiritusa.com. Three-Day Pass prices increase on March 30. Single-day tickets also go on sale March 30 and begin at $89. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. Tickets are expected to sell fast.
In addition to Citadel and the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, sponsors to date include: Barefoot, the most awarded wine brand in U.S. competitions; Proximo Spirits, Inc., best known for importing and distributing Jose Cuervo; Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., one of America’s premier craft breweries; and Etix, an international ticket service provider.