Chris Stapleton Preps New Album, Announces Massive Tour
It don’t matter who’s on country radio, Chris Stapleton is still the current king of country music when it comes to recognition and album sales. A solid 16 months since he shocked the world at the 2015 CMA Awards, and he is still the perennial chart topper on the country albums charts with Traveller most every week, and there is no signs of it slowing down soon. Nonetheless, he’s already prepping a new album. Though no title, track list, or cover art has been revealed just yet, it has been confirmed that the new Stapleton album will be delivered on May 5th.
May 5th is also when the 2nd leg of a huge nationwide tour will commence, with new dates just announced. Heretofore, Chris Stapleton’s live dates have been in bouts and spurts, but in 2017 he will be touring the country extensively. Even more exciting is who he’s bringing out on tour with him, following the now fashionable model of not going for the tier two mainstream country talent, but traditional and independent up and comers.
Lindi Ortega, Brent Cobb, Anderson East, Margo Price, Brothers Osborne, Maren Morris, and Lucie Silvas all support, along with some shows with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. You can see the full dates below.
March 9 – Houston, TX Rodeo Houston
March 18 – London, ON Budweiser Gardens*
March 19 – Ottawa, ON Canadian Tire Centre*
March 22 – Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre*
March 24 – Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome*
March 25 – Edmonton, AB Rexall Place*
March 27 – Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena*
March 28 – Seattle, WA Key Arenaâ€
March 30 – Las Vegas, NV Pearl Theater – Palms Casino Resortâ€
April 6 – Columbus, GA Columbus Civic Centerâ€
April 8 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL Tortuga Music Festival
April 20 – Roanoke, VA Berglund Center‡
April 21 – Pikeville, KY East Kentucky Expo Center‡
April 22 – Pikeville, KY East Kentucky Expo Center‡
April 27 – Columbia, MO Mizzou Arena+
April 28 – Cape Girardeau, MO Show Me Center+
April 29 – Bloomington, IL U.S. Cellular Coliseum+
May 5 – Alpharetta, GA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre§
May 11 – Virginia Beach, VA Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at VA Beach§
May 12 – Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek§
May 13 – Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion§
May 18 – San Diego, CA Mattress Firm Amphitheatre§
May 19 – Phoenix, AZ Ak-Chin Pavilion§
May 20 – Los Angeles, CA The Forum§
May 23 – Denver, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre§
June 1 – Fresno, CA Save Mart Center at Fresno State§
June 2 – Mountain View, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre§
June 3 – Wheatland, CA Toyota Amphitheatre§
June 9 – Southaven, MS BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove#
June 10 – Birmingham, AL Oak Mountain Amphitheatre#
June 15 – Charleston, WV Charleston Civic Center#
June 16 – Cincinnati, OH Riverbend Music Center#
June 17 – Indianapolis, IN Klipsch Music Center#
June 22 – Tulsa, OK BOK Center#
June 23 – Manhattan, KS Country Stampede
June 24 – North Platte, NE Nebraskaland Days
June 29 – Chicago, IL Wrigley Field†â€
July 5 – Milwaukee, WI Summerfest†â€
July 6 – Milwaukee, WI Summerfest†â€
July 14 – Mansfield, MA Xfinity Center#
July 15 – Hartford, CT The XFINITY Theatre#
July 16 – Darien Lake, NY Darien Lake Performing Arts Center#
July 20 – Holmdel, NJ P.N.C. Bank Arts Center#
July 21 – Wantagh, NY Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater #
July 22 – Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live#
July 28 – George, WA Watershed Festival
July 29 – Central Point, OR Country Crossings Music Festival
July 30 – Mountain Home, ID Mountain Home Country Music Festival
August 3 – Duluth, MN AMSOIL Arena**
August 4—Prairie Du Chien, WI—Country on the River
August 5 – St. Louis, MO Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre**
August 10 – Hershey, PA Giant Center**
August 11 – Pittsburgh, PA First Niagara Pavilion**
August 12 – Philadelphia, PA BB&T Pavilion**
August 17 – Toronto, ON Budweiser Stage**
August 18 – Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center**
August 19 – Clarkston, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre**
August 25 – Gilford, NH @Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion**
*with special guest Lindi Ortega
†with special guest Maren Morris
‡with special guest Brent Cobb
+with special guest Lucie Silvas
§with special guests Brothers Osborne and Lucie Silvas
#with special guests Anderson East and Brent Cobb
**with special guests Margo Price and Brent Cobb
††with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Gabe
February 16, 2017 @ 11:17 am
This year just keeps getting better, and it’s only February
WestTexasRain
February 16, 2017 @ 11:48 am
Just random but why the fuck does Spotify have Chris Stapleton in a red dirt country music playlist.
Anyways I’m not a Chris Stapleton fan but at least he had Talent hope he keeps being successful.
Brian
February 16, 2017 @ 12:00 pm
I think it’s mostly because the Texas/Red Dirt scene started playing his music a while before he hit it big on the CMAs. The same is true for fellow Kentucky acts like Sturgill Simpson and Chris Knight. They also fairly regularly play bands from outside the strict geographic area like American Aquarium who started in North Carolina.
Cool Lester Smooth
February 16, 2017 @ 4:49 pm
Yeah, I also think his bluesy/rootsy, guitar driven music jibes pretty well with the Red Dirt sound.
Mike W.
February 17, 2017 @ 3:00 pm
Agreed. Can you imagine going from Stapleton to Luke Bryan, FGL, or Aldean (his semi-decent “Any Ol’ Barstool” not withstanding)? Stapleton’s sound falls much more in line with bands like Turnpike Troubadors, Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers, etc.
Cool Lester Smooth
February 17, 2017 @ 3:03 pm
“What does Chris Stapleton have to do with Whiskey and You by Jason Eady?!!!”
D
February 22, 2017 @ 5:03 am
I cannot imagine going from Stapleton to Luke Bryan, Keith Urban and Jake Owen (never heard of him to be fair), thus I won’t be at my local “country” music festival where Stapleton headlines with said others.
hoptowntiger94
February 16, 2017 @ 12:29 pm
Not a huge Stapleton fan, but I’ve come a long way. And I won’t miss this one.
CCRR
February 16, 2017 @ 12:43 pm
Noooooo I will be out of town when he’s in my city! Dammit. Guess I will have to pick a nearby city and do some traveling.
seak05
February 16, 2017 @ 12:46 pm
I’m a bad person, but sort of amused that country awards show critics are going to have to choose between Miranda and Chris next year. They love them both so much, I’m a little worried their heads will explode.
CountryCharm
February 16, 2017 @ 1:03 pm
I’m hoping for a few more surprise albums just to muddy the waters even more.
Robert St
February 16, 2017 @ 1:06 pm
Love him or hate him, he has shown a real effort to include female artists on his tours. Jamey Johnson is one of the few others I can also say that about. As much as some of us bash the mainstream for its treatment of female artists, some of the anti- mainstream clique is just as lacking in this regard.
Doug Carrion
February 16, 2017 @ 1:30 pm
Doug C and the Blacklisted would love to do it..
Sam Cody
February 16, 2017 @ 1:39 pm
I got a hold of the track list:
1. My Whiskey Can Beat Up Your Whiskey
2. Never Met A Whiskey I Didn’t Write A Song About
3. Even If The Song’s Not About Whiskey, I’ll Find A Way To Squeeze The Word In At Least Once
4. Whiskey, Whiskey Whiskey
5. Whiskey (Slight Return)
6. Whisk Me Off For A Whiskey
7. My Woman Left Me For A Craft Beer Drinker
8. Dried Whiskey In My Beard
9. Hmmm, What Shall I Have To Drink Tonight
10. Cupcakes and Sunflowers (just kidding) WHISKEY!!!
And as an added bonus, every song will feature that one Dave Cobb guitar riff that he plays on every song of every album of every artist he produces.
…despite that though, for some reason…still looking forward to it. Ha!
CCRR
February 16, 2017 @ 1:45 pm
LOL! I love a Stapleton…but this is hilarious, I don’t care who you are.
CCRR
February 16, 2017 @ 1:46 pm
“I love a Stapleton”?? Thanks iPhone for making me sound like an idiot once again…
Jack Williams
February 16, 2017 @ 1:53 pm
Amazon Bonus Track:
Egg McMuffin, Hash Browns, and a Dark Whiskey
I love Stapleton too, but this is fun.
Storiesofyou
February 16, 2017 @ 2:12 pm
Traveller 2: Kentucky Filled Suitcase.
I’d buy it. I’d love it.
FeedThemHogs
February 16, 2017 @ 2:33 pm
I think Gary Stewart already cut most of these songs actually
Acca Dacca
February 16, 2017 @ 2:41 pm
Target exclusive bonus track: “I Might Be an Asshole, But I Still Drink Whiskey” (featuring David Allan Coe).
******
Your original track listing was very funny to me, and it seems I’m not the only one. All joking aside, I’m stoked for this new album. Stapleton’s the one of the two country music “saviors” I can whole-heartedly get behind.
Robert St
February 16, 2017 @ 2:53 pm
As a fan, I got a big laugh out of this, especially since he is offering a VIP whiskey tasting on this tour. If only he’d asked me, I’d have suggested Dustin Sonnier as an opener for such a tour 🙂
the music police
February 16, 2017 @ 3:11 pm
You forgot Whiskey
Andrew
February 16, 2017 @ 3:56 pm
I was going to make a joke that he will also be covering Gary Allan’s “Drinkin’ Dark Whiskey” but then I thought.. “I wonder whether Stapleton wrote that???” and I checked it out on the wikipedia page.. and yup.. Stapleton wrote it.. ha !
Jack Williams
February 16, 2017 @ 4:07 pm
Yep. It’s on the first Steeldrivers albm.
Jared S
February 17, 2017 @ 1:38 pm
And he’s played it at the two shows I saw last year.
justin casey
February 16, 2017 @ 5:51 pm
is whiskey, whiskey whiskey a cover of the john mayer song
Big Cat
February 17, 2017 @ 1:15 pm
But it’s beer with Luke Bryan, not whiskey
PETE MARSHALL
February 16, 2017 @ 3:15 pm
I am looking forward to buy the cd of Chris Stapleton. Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!
ElectricOutcast
February 16, 2017 @ 3:43 pm
Can I just say that I think the ACM’s just made the dumbest moves ever by not nominating Stapleton for Entertainer of the Year
albert
February 16, 2017 @ 4:31 pm
I just heard Dierks Bentley’s song BLACK on our local radio station for the first time . That thing should come with a ” Stupid ” warning .Surely we must be scraping the Bro bin’s bottom with this one cuz it actually rivals Sam Hunt in the ” No -idea- what-to- write -about-or-how-to-do-it ” department . The lyric isn’t even written in sentences ….and it took THREE writers to miss that fact. I don’t know what Kool -Aid Music Row has Bentley drinking but I’m getting down on my knees before bedtime tonight to thank the Big Guy up above for the other ‘Big Guy’ up above -Chris Stapleton .
Well there….my post was actually about Stapleton after all .
Mongo
February 16, 2017 @ 4:48 pm
Off topic but did everyone see Sturgill released a video for All Around You today.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wdlk3W_pfcI
Old Brett
February 16, 2017 @ 5:05 pm
Wow, I can’t believe he’s coming to Hershey, and with Margo Price and Brent Cobb, no less. We love us some terrible radio country ’round here (and the Hershey venues love booking it for us), so this is mighty refreshing.
Hunter
February 16, 2017 @ 8:30 pm
Can believe it. I’ll be there for sure
justin casey
February 16, 2017 @ 5:52 pm
so excited to grab a copy and listen to this on release day
any word on a lead single, is it possible that it’ll be broken halos
Dot
February 16, 2017 @ 7:03 pm
Decisions, decision. Holmdel with Anderson or Camden with Margo? Really want to see Anderson, but the theater is a pain to get to.
Kyle S
February 16, 2017 @ 9:33 pm
Completely unrelated but Trigger have you noticed that Stapleton’s version of Tennessee Whiskey is almost the exact same song as I’d Rather Go Blind by Etta James? I noticed it for the first time recently and was amazed haha!
christine martinez
February 17, 2017 @ 1:10 pm
so whats wrong with Texas ….all these new dates and only 1 Texas
Trigger
February 17, 2017 @ 1:30 pm
Stapleton did play a couple of dates in Texas last year, one or two maybe with Hank Jr. That may be the reason they’re trying to hit some other places.
Robert St
February 18, 2017 @ 7:22 am
I figure fall dates will be announced at some later point, since this tour just goes through August. The Texas dates could have some very cool openers, if the last couple of years are any indication. Going by memory, I think Wade Bowen, Quaker City Night Hawks, Whiskey Myers, and Jason Eady, each made an appearance or more on a Stapleton bill.
Mark
February 18, 2017 @ 7:55 am
I’m excited for this. But fear a sophomore slump. Was Traveller so good because it was the result of 20 years of songwriting? How do you even follow up such a success? ‘Broken Halos’ was kind of a disappointment for me. No doubt his talent can overwhelm his shortcomings; no matter what May will be interesting.
WestTexasRain
February 18, 2017 @ 8:52 am
Idk what people are hearing but I’ve heard Stapleton called “Traditional Country” and “Southern Rock” when I hear his music I hear blue eyed soul/R&B a newer day Ronnie Milsap. Maybe there’s something wrong with my hearing or I haven’t listened to enough of his music.
KGD
February 21, 2017 @ 8:15 am
Or maybe categorizing some of these guys, or at least some of their work, is a fool’s errand.
As far as I’m concerned if he’s going to electrify his Steeldrivers material when he plays it in concert, he should just leave it be. Their first album is one of my all-time favorites and changing those songs to essentially Country Rock/Southern Rock songs detracts from them.
:grumpyoldman:
witness
February 22, 2017 @ 8:58 am
Excited for his new album. Had no idea it was this close. Need more info on it
matthew rutledge
March 28, 2017 @ 8:16 am
Trigger, any news on the new album?
Trigger
March 28, 2017 @ 10:01 am
No. In fact I’ve been working on an article over the past few days about how Mercury is already bungling this Chris Stapleton release since we don’t even have a title for it yet, let alone a lead single which usually precedes a mainstream album by months. But I have a sense that we’re going to hear or see something tied to Stapleton’s performance on the ACM Awards on Sunday. He’s not going to come out and perform one of his old songs, at least I don’t think it’s likely with his new record so close. So I’m interested to see what the next few days have it store. If we still hear nothing by Monday, and Chris performs “Parachute” on Sunday, then it’s time for alarm bells.
matthew rutledge
March 28, 2017 @ 11:10 am
Thanks for the insight and feedback as always Trigger!