Brad Paisley will perform for free for a concert series on select college campuses.
The “Country Nation College Tour” presented by Zaxby’s with Brad Paisley is set to hit select colleges along with the 2015 football season. It will begin in Blacksburg, Virginia on September 6 on the Virginia Tech campus with special guest Eric Paslay.
“Music and sports are passions of so many people—Zaxby’s included—and we couldn’t think of a better way to unite the two this fall,” said Zaxby’s CEO and co-founder Zach McLeroy.
“We’re even more passionate about the guests and communities we serve, and this sponsorship is a perfect opportunity for us to give back to our fans.”
“We’ve been involved with college sports for a long time—Zaxby’s was, after all, started in a college town,” McLeroy said.
“But we’re amping it up this football and basketball season by partnering with 30 Division I colleges throughout our footprint. We’re excited to play a role in something that means so much to so many.”
Other dates announced are September 10 – The University of Texas with three time Grammy nominee and Texas native Pat Green as special guest, September 11 – Baylor University with the comedy band The Raging Idiots (which features special guest Bobby Bones and Eddie from iHeartMedia’s national country radio program The Bobby Bones Show), and September 12 – University of Arkansas, also with The Raging Idiots as the special guest. Details on each show, as well as additional university dates, will be announced in the coming weeks.
The tour was named after Paisley’s next radio single “Country Nation” from his album Moonshine In The Truck, which will hit country radio on August 31. “Country Nation” was written by Paisley and his longtime collaborators Chris DuBois and Kelley Lovelace. A celebration of the blue-collar spirit and America’s passion for sports, the song weaves-in a shout-out to 18 college sports mascots.
Paisley plans to once again serve as a spokesperson for “College Colors Day,” a nationwide celebration of the new college football season, which was created by IMG. He has also appeared as a celebrity guest picker on the ESPN show “College GameDay” at West Virginia University (video below).