Florida Georgia Line, Tim McGraw, Lauren Alaina, Dan + Shay, Old Dominion and Luke Combs are just a few of the artists scheduled to take the stage at the upcoming iHeartCountry Festival. The one-day event will be held on May 4 at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
“I look forward to the iHeartCountry Festival every year,” said Bobby Bones, who holds the title of both Vice President and Creative Director of iHeartCountry as well as Executive Producer and Host of iHeartMedia’s The Bobby Bones Show. “It’s always special to have so much of the country music community together in one place, including some really talented new artists we have been supporting on Women of iHeartCountry.”
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Bones, who will perform with his group The Raging Idiots, has been an outspoken champion of female artists, speaking out when his former girlfriend, Lindsay Ell, was the only woman nominated for the CRS New Faces Show. Bones is taking his stand even further by featuring a special live performance music collaboration featuring today’s emerging Women of iHeartCountry.
“There are 13 acts up for ‘new faces’ and one woman,” Bones wrote on social media after a dozen male artists were in the running for the coveted New Faces performance slot along with Ell. “Just one. This is just in the voting. Not even the final list,” Bones wrote. “Our industry is at times amazing. At other times (like this instance) full caveman mode.”
“Other men in the industry on different platforms have questioned my ‘over the top’ actions like creating a national show to promote only female artists,” he continued. “Even taken public shots at me. If I have to get even more obnoxious, I will. I’m more disappointed in a great format than I am pissed. But I am pissed too.”
Bones picked all female artists, including Abby Anderson, Caylee Hammack, Lauren Jenkins, Tenille Townes and Rachel Wammack, for his “Class of 2019” artists, and vows to do all he can to continue giving female artists a platform.
“If I get the ‘there’s one one woman that qualified’ one more time… The reason only one qualified is because the system is broken,” Bones said. “Be a part of the fix. Not part of the problem. Your rules aren’t the Constitution.”
Other artists performing at the iHeartCountry Festival include Tenille Townes and Chris Janson, with more expected to be added. More information can be found by visiting the iHeartCountry Festival’s website.
Photo Credit: Getty images/Tim Mosenfelder
