Country music artists are eager to get back on the road; especially after seeing a weekend full of crowds across the United States, ranging from political celebrations to college football games.
Over the course of the November 7th and 8th weekend, thousands of people gathered across the country to show their support for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Additionally, after the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated the #1-ranked Clemson Tigers, thousands of fans rushed the football field after the game on Saturday night in excitement. What were meant to be two celebratory moments, have now left country music artists frustrated at the non-existence of live shows due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Country music artists like Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line, Chase Rice, Morgan Wallen and Chris Lane were the first to voice their frustrations. Kelley’s announcement comes shortly before Tyler Hubbard, the other half of FGL, announced Monday he tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is self-quarantining away from his family. Lane reposted a video of the crowd on his Instagram story and stated: “This can happen, yet we can’t have concerts… Legit makes no sense… People are parting in the streets everywhere in this country yet we can’t have concerts… brutal.”
Shortly after they spoke their minds, more artists followed suit like Scotty McCreery, Josh Abbott of the Josh Abbott Band, RaeLynn, Michael Ray and more; criticizing that if thousands can gather to celebrate a new president-elect or a football game, that they should be able to go back on tour and perform. Morgan Wallen’s Instagram story captioned “time to start booking shows,” was reposted by Scotty McCreery, in which he added a simple, “Yup!”
Although Nashville venues like The Listening Room Café and Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row have been able to put on safe, socially-distanced shows; it still doesn’t compare to the massive tours and festivals that artists had lines up this year. Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook recently told ABC News that it’s not just the crowds and live performances they miss; the pandemic has also created a huge financial deficit in the country music industry. “Just from a business standpoint, it was devastating,” he said. “All the money that you had spent on preparation for [the shows] and it’s just gone.” It’s clear that artists are not only eager to perform their live music for fans again, but they want to be able to pay their band and crew members as well.
Maren Morris is trying to remain positive regarding the matter. She posted a selfie with her fingers-crossed on her Instagram story Monday morning with the caption, “90% effective covid vaccine? Omg do we get to tour again soon?” We hope that’s the case, but in the meantime we’ll all just have to be patient.
