Walker Hayes Announces 22-Show "Duck Buck Tour" for 2023; Tickets On Sale This Friday

WALKER HAYES ANNOUNCES HEADLINING
DUCK BUCK TOUR FOR 2023

Country Stars Ingrid Andress, BRELAND, Ray Fulcher, Nicolle Galyon and Chris Lane
Join As Support on Select Dates of the 22 – Show Tour


Tickets On Sale This Friday, Dec. 16

Join the Walker Hayes Fan Club to be the first to get tickets. A pre-sale for Fan Club members will be live on Dec. 13 at 10 a.m. local, through Dec. 15 at 10 p.m. Visit walkerhayes.com to join and learn more.

2023 Duck Buck Tour:
April 13                Rosemont, IL                               Rosemont Theatre*
April 14                Peoria, IL                                     Peoria Civic Center*
April 20                Evansville, IN                              Ford Center*
April 21                Rogers, AR                                  Walmart AMP*
April 22                Oklahoma City, OK                     Paycom Center*
April 27                University Park, PA                     Bryce Jordan Center#            
April 29                Wilmington, NC                           Live Oak Bank Pavilion#
May 4                   Wichita, KS                                  INTRUST Bank Arena+
May 5                   Morrison, CO                               Red Rocks Amphitheatre+
June 2                   Gilford, NH                                  Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion#
June 3                   Boston, MA                                  Leader Bank Pavilion#
June 9                   Jacksonville, FL                           Daily’s Place Amphitheater#
June 10                 Boca Raton, FL                            Mizner Park Amphitheater*
June 17                 Irving, TX                                    The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory*
June 22                 Camdenton, MO                          Ozarks Amphitheatre#
June 23                 Nashville, TN                              Ascend Amphitheater#
June 24                 Orange Beach, AL                       The Wharf Amphitheater#
July 28                  Raleigh, NC                                 Red Hat Amphitheater*
July 29                  Charlotte, NC                               Charlotte Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre*
Aug 3                    St. Louis, MO                              Saint Louis Music Park*
Aug 4                    Indianapolis, IN                           TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park*
Aug 5                    Sterling Heights, MI                    Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre*
+Chris Lane + Nicolle Galyon
*  Ingrid Andress & BRELAND
# Ingrid Andress & Ray Fulcher
 

On the heels of wrapping his first headlining arena tour in November, the GRAMMY Nominated Walker Hayes announces his new headlining Duck Buck Tour for 2023. The 22-show trek will feature direct support from 4x GRAMMY nominee singer-songwriter Ingrid Andress, with platinum-selling, Amazon Music Breakthrough Spotlight Artist BRELAND and hit songwriter and artist Ray Fulcher joining select dates. Country chart-topper Chris Lane and ACM award winning songwriter Nicolle Galyon will make a special appearance during a one-of-a-kind performance at Colorado’s iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre on May 5. The tour will kick off on April 13 in Rosemont, IL, with tickets on sale this Friday, Dec. 16 at 10 a.m. CT. Visit walkerhayes.com for more details. 

“I can’t wait to get back out on tour,” says Hayes. “Headlining an arena tour for the first time this past year was a dream come true. The whole family was able to come out and the road has become our new home away from home. All the fans that have come out or will come out are making this dream a reality. I owe it all to them, and this next tour will be the biggest and best. I don’t take for granted that they spent their hard-earned money on my shows, and I plan to make it well worth it!”

The new tour gets its name from the chorus of the title track off Hayes’ most recent album, Country Stuff The Album, in which the Mobile, AL native celebrates the trademarks of life in the country. Relishing his love of “Country Stuff,” Hayes sings, “I like shooting ducks and bucks / I like mud tires on my trucks / I like old blue jeans, guitar strings and dirt roads.” Since the release of the track, the Duck Buck has become Hayes’ signature, showing up on his merch, across his socials, and in his music videos after fans latched onto the visual. Always listening to fan feedback, the Duck Buck is now the name of Hayes’ next arena tour.

Hayes’ 2023 tour will celebrate the power of songwriting, while championing female talent with Andress joining 20 dates and Galyon performing at the legendary Red Rocks tour stop, which will also feature superstar Lane. BRELAND and Fulcher will split dates throughout the tour, showcasing some of the best country music that the genre has to offer.

One of the top streaming artists in country music last year, Hayes single “Y’all Life” is steadily climbing the charts, currently sitting in the top 30 on country radio’s Mediabase chart. His most recent release, “Face In The Crowd ,” is an ode to his biggest fan who remains side stage during many of his tour dates, his wife Laney. The song is especially meaningful after a breakthrough year for Hayes and his family that saw the superstar earn a GRAMMY nomination, six Billboard Music Award nominations, five ACM Award nominations, a CMT Award nomination, a CMA nomination and his first No. 1 at Country radio. Listen to “Face In The Crowd” HERE.
ABOUT WALKER HAYES:
Monument Records recording artist Walker Hayes is a singer/songwriter originally from Mobile, Alabama. Last year, his smash hit “Fancy Like” topped every country music sales and streaming chart, spent more than six months at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot Country Songs Chart, hit the top 5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Songs, hit No. 1 at country radio, and gave Hayes his first GRAMMY Award nomination as an artist for  Best Country Song. The song was also featured in a nationwide Applebee’s commercial. “Fancy Like,” as well as follow up single “AA,” both from Hayes album Country Stuff the Album, made him one of the top selling and streamed artist last year. Country Stuff the Album is the only country album released in 2022 that is RIAA certified. Currently, Hayes’s single, “Y’all Life,” is climbing the country radio charts, and his most recent release “Face In The Crowd” is an ode to his biggest fans – his wife Laney and their six children.

Hayes has performed his music, including the Double-Platinum RIAA certified hit “You Broke Up With Me,” to national audiences on Good Morning AmericaLate Night with Seth MeyersThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and TODAY, and he was profiled for CBS Sunday Morning. Last fall, he set out on his headlining arena tour, the Glad You’re Here  tour, which is the same title as the book he released with his best friend, Craig Allen Cooper, detailing his journey to finding Christ.

ABOUT INGRID ANDRESS:
4x GRAMMY nominated singer-songwriter Ingrid Andress digs deeper than ever before to explore the dark and the light within us all on her highly anticipated sophomore album, Good Person , available everywhere now. All co-produced and co-written by Andress, the track listing includes her latest platinum-certified, No. 1 radio single “Wishful Drinking (with Sam Hunt),” which is also currently GRAMMY-nominated for Best Country Duo/Group Performance. Having gone through two years that were transformational in every way and triumphing in the face of some unprecedented career-obstacles, Andress knew that the best way forward was a brave willingness to be even more truthful and real. Along the way, she also found that changes were happening in her personal life and that the songs were actually leading the way, revealing emotions she wasn’t fully aware of yet. She pushed for bold, experimental sounds that blended banjos with vocoders; swung from sweeping orchestration to spare, acoustic-based arrangements; and showcased previously unexplored parts of her vocal range. 

Good Person returns to the reflection and confession at the core of her triumphant 2020 debut, Lady Like, and plumbs even deeper. Named “one of the year’s strongest albums” by Associated PressLady Like became one of Billboard’s Top 10 Best Country Albums of the year and set the record as the highest streaming country female debut album of all time upon release. In addition to the Gold-certified title track, Lady Like  also features her multi-platinum No. 1 radio single “More Hearts Than Mine,” which made history as the only debut single from a solo female artist to break the Top 20 on country radio in 2019. The album was up for Best Country Album at the 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards in addition to Andress’ nominations for Best Country Song and Best New Artist, making her the only country artist to be nominated in a “Big Four” category. Recently celebrating the impressive milestone of surpassing one billion total career streams, Andress spent the summer on tour with Keith Urban for his “The Speed of Now World Tour” and recently announced her own global headlining trek, The Good Person Tour, kicking off in February 2023.

ABOUT BRELAND:
With PLATINUM breakout “My Truck,” singer/songwriter/producer BRELAND has emerged as a bold new force on today’s music landscape. The Amazon Music Breakthrough Spotlight Artist first popped off when the Hip-Hop and Country hybrid hit #1 on Spotify’s Global Viral 50 in 2019, and a remix featuring Sam Hunt landed on best-of-the-year lists from NPR to The New York Times. Adding to his 1 BILLION+ career streams, BRELAND’s debut album CROSS COUNTRY  is out now and features infectious releases “Told You I Could Drink (feat. Lady A),” “Natural,” “Praise The Lord (feat. Thomas Rhett),” GOLD-certified “Throw It Back (feat. Keith Urban) and title track (feat. Mickey Guyton). Hailed as the “symbol of Country music’s ongoing evolution” (Rolling Stone), the Bad Realm Records/Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville artist has scored high profile looks on ABC’s Good Morning America, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!CBS Mornings, CBS’  New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big BashCMT Crossroads, NBC’s TODAY, The Kelly Clarkson Show, plus performances on the ACM, CMT, and CMA Awards. BRELAND recently wrapped his fall headline HERE FOR IT TOUR, with high-profile performances in 2023 on deck at Stagecoach Festival and as direct support for select summer dates of Shania Twain’s QUEEN OF ME TOUR.

ABOUT RAY FULCHER:
As a writer, the 2022 CMA Triple Play Honoree Ray Fulcher understands the sweet spot of life. It's the same joy that marks the songs he's co-written with an old friend named Luke Combs. Eight of those songs ended up on the 2020 CMA Album of the Year What You See Is What You Get. Eight more ended up on This One's for You. Four of those songs – "When It Rains It Pours," "Even Though I'm Leaving," "Lovin' on You," and "Does to Me," featuring their mutual idol and influence Eric Church – went to #1. As an artist, Ray Fulcher has been streamed over 40 million times, and almost 21 million of those streams are derived from "Anything Like You Dance." On Jun. 10, 2022 Fulcher released his debut album Spray Painted Line, featuring the hit songs "Love Ya Son, Go Dawgs," referencing the CFP National Champions, the Georgia Bulldogs, "Girl in It," and "Anything Like You Dance."

ABOUT NICOLLE GALYON:
Nicolle Galyon is an award winning, multi-Platinum singer, songwriter and producer from Sterling, Kansas and one of Nashville’s most successful and respected voices. Adding to her already triumphant career as a songwriter, Galyon released her long-awaited debut album, firstborn, earlier this summer via her own label, Songs & Daughters. A striking personal statement, firstborn is Galyon’s life story in song form and continues to receive widespread critical attention. Of the record, The Tennessean praises, “a star-making statement all her own that reckons with her humanity and humility in equal measure,” while Variety declares, “firstborn is not aimed at giving her a tenth No. 1 but at putting her own lyrical voice in the top position for the first time in her career.”

Across her twenty-year career, Galyon has penned nine No.1 hits including Miranda Lambert’s ACM Award-winning “Automatic,” which went on to win NSAI Song of the Year, as well as and Dan + Shay’s multi-platinum, ACM Award-winning “Tequila.” Additionally, Galyon has received Grammy and CMA Awards nominations, earned a Triple Play Award and was honored by BMI as their 2019 Songwriter of the Year. In addition to her work as a songwriter and artist, Galyon founded the female-focused label and publishing house, Songs & Daughters, in 2019, which includes artists Hailey Whitters, Tiera Kennedy, Madison Kozak and Lauren Watkins. Galyon is heavily involved in the CMA Foundation’s music education initiative, has served as an NSAI Board Member, a CMT Next Women of Country mentor and founded The Autobiography Scholarship to provide students of her alma mater Sterling High School with college scholarships. She was also named 2020 Kansan of the Year for her continued service and commitment to her home state, which includes partnering with SongFarm and Save The Music to install a recording studio in Sterling High School and others throughout the country.

ABOUT CHRIS LANE:
Introducing "a decidedly more country sound" (MusicRow), Chris Lane is launching his next chapter with over 1.4 BILLION on-demand streams and three #1s to date - platinum "Big, Big Plans," 3X platinum "I Don't Know About You," and platinum "Fix." After a spree of releases in 2021 and 2022, Lane's catalog has expanded with hits like latest collaboration "Dancin' In The Moonlight" with Lauren Alaina, "Howdy," "Stop Coming Over," "Summer Job Money," "Fill Them Boots," "Ain't Even Met You Yet," HIXTAPE: Vol. 2 smash "Small Town On It" with Scotty McCreery, and Dustin Lynch duet, "Tequila On A Boat." The Kernersville, N.C. native has appeared on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, TODAY, The Bachelor, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers and CONAN, and was featured in PEOPLE's 2019 Sexiest Man Alive issue. He's scored nominations at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, ACM Awards, and Radio Disney Music Awards. Lane just wrapped his headlining Fill Them Boots Tour, will join Kane Brown for part of his international Drunk or Dreaming Tour this fall, after previously sharing the bill with A-list acts like Florida Georgia Line, Brad Paisley, and Dan + Shay.

Grand Ole Opry Celebrates Second Annual Opry NextStage Live In Concert

Sunday night, the Grand Ole Opry celebrated its second annual Opry NextStage Live In Concert with performances by select members from the 2022 NextStage class. The star-studded group included BRELAND, Restless Road, Elvie Shane, Conner Smith and Nate Smith.

Highlights from the evening include Conner Smith’s standing ovation for his song “Dear Grand Ole Opry” which he quoted on stage as being “a love song to the Grand Ole Opry” as well as Elvie Shane’s performance of his platinum record, “My Boy.” The crowd also received special performances by the host of the evening, platinum selling NextStage alumna, Priscilla Block as well as fellow NextStage alumna and 2022 Grammy nominee, Hailey Whitters, who sang her chart topping single, “Everything She Ain’t.”

On stage, Restless Road remarked, “We feel so honored to be on stage here, being an Opry NextStage artist is absolutely unbelievable and to get to stand on the same stage as many of these other artists who are here tonight is an absolute blessing.”

The NextStage Live In Concert event is an opportunity to showcase some of country music’s top rising stars who have been a part of the NextStage artist discovery program. Highlights of the 2022 class include BRELAND receiving his first CMA nomination for “Musical Event of the Year” alongside artists Dierks Bentley and Hardy, Nate Smith’s Top 12 placement on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs Chart for his single “Whiskey On You” and Callista Clark being named the youngest member of CMT’s Next Women of Country in the 2022 class.

The complete Opry NextStage 2022 class included BRELAND, Callista Clark, Restless Road, Elvie Shane, Conner Smith, Nate Smith and Morgan Wade.

WHERE: Grand Ole Opry House

WHEN: November 20, 2022

Photo Credit: Lindsey Patkos

About Opry NextStage
Developed by Opry Entertainment Group in 2019, Opry NextStage, presented by Geico, invests in the discovery of new artists and highlights one up-and-coming artist per month with featured original content, an Opry performance and support across the brand’s platforms, which include the Opry, Ryman Auditorium, WSM Radio, Ole Red and Circle Network. With a pulse on what is next in the Country music format and a deep commitment to supporting burgeoning talent, NextStage has cemented a strong track record in just three short years. The two previous NextStage classes have featured artists such as Parker McCollum, Lainey Wilson, Riley Green and Tenille Townes who all went on to earn ACM New Male and Female Artist of the Year trophies following their Opry NextStage debuts.

About the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville, Tenn. The Opry can be heard at opry.com and wsmonline.com, Opry and WSM mobile apps, SiriusXM, and its flagship home, 650 AM-WSM. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP). For more information, visit opry.com.

Grand Ole Opry Announces Initial Artists for Opry NextStage Class of 2022

Lineup Includes Elvie Shane, Morgan Wade & BRELAND

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Today, the Grand Ole Opry announced its initial artists for its Opry NextStage Class of 2022, an artist discovery program that spotlights Country music’s rising talent and highlights one artist per month with featured original content, an Opry performance and support across the Opry Entertainment platforms, which include the Opry, Ryman Auditorium, WSM Radio, Ole Red and Circle Network. Breakthrough artists Elvie Shane (May), Morgan Wade (June) and BRELAND (July) are the first three featured artists, with more to be announced throughout the year to complete the class with a total of seven artists. The artists shared their thoughts on the honor exclusively with the Tennessean.

“My Boy” singer Elvie Shane, who Billboard notes is “making the case for a new mainstay in country music,” made his Grand Ole Opry debut just over a year ago. He will return to the historic Opry stage on May 7 to mark his inclusion in the NextStage Class of 2022.

“The Opry has been at the forefront of keeping Country music alive and well since its inception,” says Shane. “I came from a place both literally and musically built on the same values and experiences. To be recognized by the Country music congregation that is the Opry is a huge honor.”

With a pulse on what is next in the Country music format and a deep commitment to supporting burgeoning talent, the program has cemented a strong track record in just three short years. The two previous NextStage classes have featured artists such as Parker McCollum, Lainey Wilson, Riley Green and Tenille Townes who all went on to earn ACM New Male and Female Artist of the Year trophies following their Opry NextStage debuts.

“Opry NextStage truly represents the depth of Country music and the future of the genre, and you’ll see that reflected in the composition of this year’s class—starting with these first three extremely talented artists who all come with their own unique artistry, perspectives, and backgrounds,” says Jordan Pettit, Director of Artist Relations & Programming Strategy for Opry Entertainment Group. “We are so excited to invest in this next generation of Opry performers who will help to shape the future of Country music and the Opry for many years to come.”

NextStage launched in 2019 with an inaugural class that included Green, Tegan Marie, Townes and Travis Denning. Last year’s class included Priscilla Block, McCollum, Niko Moon, Jameson Rodgers, Hailey Whitters, Wilson and Yola.

The Opry has helped launch the careers of countless artists, including Roy Acuff, Garth Brooks, Patsy Cline, George Jones, Loretta Lynn, Bill Monroe and Dolly Parton, to name just a few. Award-winning group Little Big Town made its very first public appearance as a group on the Opry stage in 1999, and Carrie Underwood cemented a place in Country music with her first Opry appearance less than two weeks after having been named American Idol in 2005. It was with this grand tradition of artist investment that Opry NextStage was created.

For more information on Opry NextStage, visit opry.com/nextstage.

About Opry NextStage
Developed by Opry Entertainment Group and the Grand Ole Opry, Opry NextStage, presented by Geico, invests in the discovery of new artists and highlights one up-and-coming artist per month with featured original content, an Opry performance and support across the brand’s platforms to tell their stories and expand their audiences. For nearly a century, the Grand Ole Opry has created opportunities for artists throughout the Country music spectrum to make strong connections with fans and fellow artists – on its stages and across its channels – from terrestrial radio to network television to the digital universe and to Circle Network. Audiences around the world look to the Opry to showcase the very best in Country music.

About the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry presents the best in country music live every week from Nashville, Tenn. The Opry can be heard at opry.com and wsmonline.com, Opry and WSM mobile apps, SiriusXM, and its flagship home, 650 AM-WSM. The Grand Ole Opry is owned by Ryman Hospitality Properties (NYSE:RHP). For more information, visit opry.com.

About Elvie Shane
A native of small-town Kentucky, early touchstones like Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle and John Fogerty joined Wheelhouse Records’ Elvie Shane’s Gospel roots to form the bedrock of his taste – along with R&B classics like The Temptations and modern superstars like Eminem. Shane’s new single “County Roads” is officially available at country radio now, and was one of the most added songs at country radio upon release. Co-written by Shane with Dan Couch and Oscar Charles, the new single is full of untamed energy, flying like an unguided missile of passion down “County Roads” and paints a picture of Shane’s early days in Grayson County, KY. Shane just celebrated multiple milestones with his hit single “My Boy” topping the charts at country radio and being certified GOLD by the RIAA. “My Boy” is taken from Shane’s just-released debut full length album BACKSLIDER. Shane co-wrote the set that embodies the crunchy hooks of classic rock, the nostalgia of country music as well as the emotional electricity of Gospel and R&B. Critics have already been quick to praise the cohesive set with the album landing on 2021 “Best Of” lists including Billboard, Rolling Stone and Nashville Scene. "If you listen to just one major-label debut by a dude this year, consider Elvie Shane’s” declared Rolling Stone, while Stereogum noted the record “forces you to rethink anything you think you know, or assume, about the genre’s Music Row bros.” Billboard also determined Shane is "making the case for a new mainstay in country music.” The singer/songwriter just announced he will launch his first-ever headlining run, with his MY KINDA TROUBLE TOUR set to kick off on 2/17 in Chattanooga, TN. The multi-city stint will see Shane play major cities including Chicago, IL, Nashville, TN and more, and will mark some of Shane’s first live performances of BACKSLIDER. Shane's picture-based lyrics and knack for storytelling lead to his signing with UTA and he has since opened for Jason Aldean, Toby Keith, Brothers Osborne Brett Young and Lady A, to name a few. Shane also just wrapped a stint on the road opening for Brooks & Dunn on their 2021 Reboot Tour.

About Morgan Wade
With a commanding voice -- raspy and earthy, yet bearing bruises and scars that convey vulnerability -- Morgan Wade cut a striking figure when she emerged with her debut album Reckless in 2021. Pitched partway between Americana and arena rock -- a distance she navigated with collaborator Sadler Vaden, the guitarist in Jason Isbell's 400 Unit -- Wade blended her influences in a distinctive, emotionally candid way. A native of the small Appalachian town of Floyd, Virginia, Morgan Wade was drawn to music as a child. She wrote songs in secret, never attempting a public performance until she was 19, after she suffered a breakup during her freshman year at Roanoke's Jefferson College of Health Sciences in 2013. Assembling a band via Craigslist, Wade cut her teeth performing in Virginia, eventually getting sober by the time she led her supporting group the Stepbrothers through the Puppets with My Heart album in 2018. Not long afterward, she received a lucky break. Wade played her hometown FloydFest in 2018, joining a roster that included Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit. There, she met Isbell's guitar tech, who gave one of her CDs to Sadler Vaden, the guitarist in the 400 Unit. The pair started a collaboration, adding Paul Ebersold as co-producer, and worked on material for an album. The single "The Night" appeared in 2019, followed by "Don't Cry" in 2020, with the Billboard-charting full-length debut Reckless appearing on Thirty Tigers in early 2021.

About BRELAND
With his PLATINUM debut “My Truck,” singer / songwriter / producer BRELAND has emerged as a bold new force on today’s music landscape. The newly named Breakthrough Artist by Amazon Music first popped off when the Hip-Hop and Country hybrid hit #1 on Spotify’s Global Viral 50 in 2019, and a remix featuring Sam Hunt landed on best-of-the-year lists from NPR to The New York Times. Debuting his brand-new song “Praise The Lord (feat. Thomas Rhett)” at the 2022 ACM Awards, the “symbol of Country music’s ongoing evolution” (Rolling Stone) will be featured on his highly anticipated debut album CROSS COUNTRY slated for release this summer. Featured on Dierks Bentley’s Top 5 and rising single with HARDY, “Beers On Me,” BRELAND also teamed up with Keith Urban for the buzzy track “Throw It Back.” Since signing to Bad Realm Records / Atlantic Records / Warner Music Nashville, he has collaborated with heavy-hitters such as Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts, Nelly, Blanco Brown, Lauren Alaina, and Chase Rice, and scored high profile looks on The Kelly Clarkson Show, ABC’s 2021 CMA Awards, ABC’s CMA Summer Jam, CMT Crossroads, ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS’ New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash, YouTube’s Artist on The Rise, and a Chevy campaign that launched during NFL’s season opener. Coined “1,000 percent the whole package” by Rolling Stone, he has three nominations for the upcoming fan-voted 2022 CMT Music Awards. He just wrapped Russell Dickerson’s ALL YOURS, ALL NIGHT TOUR and will hit the road this summer in addition to high-profile stages such as Tortuga Music Festival (4/9), Stagecoach Country Music Festival (4/29), Hangout Music Festival (5/21), and Tidalwave Festival (8/12). BRELAND is also recognized in the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum’s brand-new exhibit, American Currents: State of the Music.