Fans of live music are in for a treat this weekend as the hitmaking country powerhouse, Lonestar, will take the stage at the Center for The Arts (CFTA) on West Main Street in Grass Valley, on Saturday, July 20, 2024.
Lonestar formed in 1992 after five musicians from Texas met up in Nashville and began churning out hits a few years later, beginning with their debut single, “Tequila Talking” followed by their first number-one hit, “No News” in 1996. Their 1999 album “Lonely Grill” included four number-one hits “What About Now,” “Smile,” “Tell Her,” as well as the crossover power ballad “Amazed,” which spent eight weeks at the top of Billboard’s country chart and on Billboard’s Hot 100. Other notable hits from Lonestar include “I’m Already There,” “Mr. Mom,” “Everything’s Changed,” and “My Front Porch Looking In.”
The band has released more than a dozen albums, amassing over twenty hit singles. Lonestar spent the mid-1990s and early 2000s on high rotation at country and pop music stations across the nation. Lead guitarist Michael Britt joked their success was a bit of a surprise, “We just didn’t want to get real jobs at first, and then the more you get into it, you just set other goals. It just kept going and going and going and now we don’t know how to stop.”
Drummer Keech Rainwater concurred, “You climb one mountain and then you look over the horizon and there is another mountain, and you get to the top of that and there is a bigger mountain, and you just keep on going.”
As a result, the group had been touring for over twenty years when the pandemic forced a pause, Britt said, “I hate to say it, but I enjoyed our Covid break year because we had gone twenty-five years without of break of more than three or four weeks at a time, so to have a whole year off with family was something I really appreciated.”
He said touring seems to have gotten back to normal and it seems to be picking up and once the band did get back on the road it was with renewed energy, “I feel like we are having more fun now and working more. We are in a really good spot in our career because we are able to do what we love at a high level.”
Asked about a preference for large venues and those closer to the size of CFTA, the two band members said they have two types of shows geared to the audience’s size. Britt said in this case, size doesn’t matter, “It’s all about the people. If the people are having fun, it doesn’t matter if it’s 20 or 20,000. We are going to have fun if people are enjoying what we are doing.”
Rainwater added, “Whenever we come to California, we just experience so much audience appreciation. It seems like the Californians really love to come see Lonestar.”
Not ones to rest on their laurels, the band continues to record new material and has revisited some of those hot hits, this time featuring new vocalist Drew Womack, explained Britt, “Last year we came out with our ‘Ten to 1’ record which is basically re-recording all our number one hits. We made those years ago and we slowly changed them over time. We want people to go home from a show and be able to buy our music having it sound as it sounds now. So that was one of our main goals.”
Audience members will enjoy their favorites and can expect some newly recorded “Iconic” material as well, said Rainwater, “We were talking about albums to make and the idea came up to do some of our favorite female songs that you can’t deny, that are super huge hits, but doing a male version of them, kind of like the way Luke Combs did with ‘Fast Car.’”
The result is a Five-Song EP that covers Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” Pink’s “Try,” Eurhythmic’s “Here Comes the Rain Again,” and Fleetwood Mac’s “You Make Loving Fun.” Rainwater said Womack was instrumental in coming up with the idea, “Drew was hugely instrumental in coming up with the idea of doing a limited EP where each band member would pick their favorite iconic song from a female artist from any genre.” The band has already released “Here Comes the Rain Again” which is being well received.
The Penntucky Country Music Series, created this year with the intention of attracting a large crowd to an outdoor venue with a “country” vibe, hit a snag out right out of the gate. Originally scheduled to take place on the Penn Valley Rodeo grounds with Lonestar this weekend, the concert is being moved and will take place indoors at The Center for the Arts (CFTA) on W. Main Street in Grass Valley. Concertgoers and band members will appreciate the intimate, cool setting!
“I hope people will buy tickets because I feel like this is the best we have ever sounded. I don’t know what it is about right now, but we are all in a good spot and everything is just clicking,” concluded Britt. “I think it’s a great show. You’ll hear lots of songs you know, lots of number ones, some covers with ‘Iconic,’ and then we do a rock medley. There is something for everybody, even if they are not die-hard country fans.”
Opening for Lonestar is country music favorite, Robby James and the Streets of Bakersfield.
Next up for the series is Sawyer Brown on September 20. That concert will take place at the Penn Valley Rodeo setting. Tickets to both shows are still available as of time of print.
KNOW & GO WHO: The Center for the Arts Penntucky Country Music Series WHAT: Lonestar with Robby James and the Streets of Bakersfield opening WHERE: 314 W. Main Street, Grass Valley, CA 95945 WHEN: Saturday, June 20, 2024. Doors 6 p.m.; Opener 7 p.m.; Lonestar: 8 p.m. HOW: Buy tickets for both Lonestar and Sawyer Brown and save https://thecenterforthearts.org/ {related_content_uuid}df690356-e40c-4322-b839-6e2efcc14554{/related_content_uuid}
ON THE COVER Lonestar, the first to headline the Center for the Arts’ new Penntucky Concert Series, will perform at the Center for the Arts on Saturday, July 20, 2024. {related_content_uuid}84496846-a497-4c26-a340-6dbce435d2d3{/related_content_uuid}
