‘The Road’: Gretchen Wilson Shares Why the Competition on New CBS Show is ‘Completely Different’ Than Anything She’s Seen (Exclusive)

A new reality singing competition series is coming to CBS, and country star Gretchen Wilson revealed what sets it apart from others.

The Grammy winner is the tour manager for the upcoming show The Road, which is headlined by Keith Urban and executive produced by Blake Shelton.

The three participated in a virtual press event for CBS for The Road, premiering on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 9 p.m. ET. The Road will follow 12 emerging musicians as they compete as opening acts for Urban at music venues across the country. He, Shelton, EP Taylor Sheridan, and other country stars will mentor the musicians as they perform in front of a live venue audience and determine who advances to the next city. At the end of the season, only one will walk away with a grand prize.

While there are a handful of past and present singing competition shows, The Road is not like the others for a number of factors. Wilson told PopCulture during CBS’ press event that this competition “is completely different than anything I’ve ever seen, uh, on television. So I would have to say that it’s gonna be different for everybody who views it. The rest of the shows are exactly the same. I’m guessing that these competitors go back to a really nice hotel room and sleep in a really fancy space, and then they come into kind of a studio set every day. This is a lot more real-life situation.”

“They have to tour across the country on a bus,” she explained. “It’s kinda crowded. You get to know each other very well. Sometimes you get to know a little more about each other than you really ever wanted to. And everything about this, the way it’s filmed, the way it feels.”

Wilson also admitted she almost started crying while watching the promo for the series as she remembered “every little moment that we had out there with all of these musicians. The nerves and just the real world behind the scenes, I think, is what sets this apart. The behind-the-scenes that you don’t really get to see, the real rawness of it is different from anything else that I’ve ever seen.”

Fans will soon be seeing what The Road is all about when the new series premieres on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 9 p.m. ET, streaming the next day on Paramount+. Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios, Lucky Horseshoe Productions, 101 Studios, and Bosque Ranch Productions, The Road is executive produced by Taylor Sheridan for Bosque Ranch Productions, Blake Shelton and Lee Metzger for Lucky Horseshoe Productions, David Glasser for 101 Studios, and Keith Urban.