Luke Bryan kicked off his 11th annual Farm Tour on Thursday, Sept. 26, performing six shows in five states throughout rural America. Proceeds from the tour go to providing scholarships for students from farming families, who are attending a local college in the area. The 43-year-old has already given away more than 60 scholarships as part of his Farm Tour, and is proud to contribute to what could otherwise be a challenging situation for farming families.
“American farming is just a hard life and we wanted to leave something behind in each community and this felt like the best way to do that,” Bryan shared with Midwest Living. “Hopefully everyone who came to the show left their cares behind for that one night too.”
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Bryan grew up in the small town of Leesburg, Georgia, which is why he chose to visit other small towns for his Farm Tour, which he sets up in a field for each tour stop.
“I wanted to be able to bring a big town concert into a small town,” Bryan said. “Growing up we always had to travel to get to a big arena-sized show. Then when I was able to put a spotlight on the American farmer it made it even more meaningful.”
Bryan might use a farmer’s field, but he vows that it isn’t inconvenient to the owners.
“We spend a lot of time with the family to ensure we are communicating what it will take to pull off a great show,” Bryan explained. “It is like erecting a city – and our goal is to leave the farm as we found it, if not better.”
Bryan has performed in large arenas and stadiums all over the country, but finds the Farm Tour just as special to him as selling out large venues, if not more.
“Farm Tour is just a different kind of show all the way around,” Bryan noted. “We are setting down a small city on these farms, and our team just has a different level of excitement. The energy level for me goes up as I hit the stage and I can see how we have transformed the pasture land into a full-fledged music festival.”
Bryan partners with Bayer for their Here’s to the Farmer campaign, which helps provide the scholarships. For every #HeresToTheFarmer share, Bayer will also donate one meal to a hungry American through Feeding America. Find more information at LukeBryan.com.
Photo Credit: Getty / John Shearer
