Chris Stapleton, Hank Williams Jr. to Share Summer Tour
Chris Stapleton and Hank Williams Jr. will hit the road this summer, co-headlining an eight-date tour of amphitheaters across the American south and midwest.
The news arrives shortly after a high-profile Saturday Night Live appearance by Stapleton, who rocketed into the public consciousness after a show-stopping CMA Awards performance last year, and the recent announcement that he will perform at the 2016 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. Meanwhile, Williams — now backed by a new label, Nash Icon, and armed with a new record, It’s About Time — is scheduled to kick off his own summer concert season with an appearance at the Big Barrel Country Music Festival in June, roughly six weeks before the two big-voiced belters convene in Tampa for the start of their tour.
Although short, the shared run will focus on the largest venues of Stapleton’s career, with seating capacities ranging from 15,000 to 20,000. That’s considerably larger than venues like the 1,050-seat Variety Playhouse in Atlanta where he performed last summer. Williams, on the other hand, has been a top-selling amphitheater act for nearly half a century (which he boasts about in the It’s About Time standout “Just Call Me Hank”). The upcoming tour — which will take place over four weekends — ranks as one of the most unexpected (and best) pairings on the 2016 concert calendar.
Here are Chris Stapleton and Hank Williams Jr.’s summer tour dates:
August 5 — Tampa, FL @ MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater
August 6 — West Palm Beach, FL @ Coral Sky Amphitheater
August 12 — Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
August 13 — Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheater
August 19 — Cuyahoga Falls, OH @ Blossom Music Center
August 20 — Clarkston, Mich @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
August 26 — Noblesville, Ind. @ Klipsch Music Center
August 27 — Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center