Bands Under The Radar (BUTR)

The Lynchburg Music Fest “Where Music Meets Whiskey” is where you will find me this weekend Oct 2-4, 2020 in Lynchburg, TN–also famously known as home to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery.

This may be the biggest music festival of 2020 since basically every other festival has been cancelled due to Covid-19. The event site is 100+ acres of open air for increased visibility and social distancing.

The country music festival headliners are Justin Moore, Kip Moore, Josh Turner, Riley Green, Danielle Bradbery, and Travis Denning.

To celebrate life starting to get a little closer back to normal, I made a LMF 2020 playlist to get you excited for the event or to just listen and live vacariously! Stay safe. #LMF2020

The only thing crazier than true crime is zoo crime. Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is a true crime documentary about the life of zookeeper Joe Exotic released on Netflix on March 20. The series focuses on big cat conservationist Carole Baskin and big cat collectors such as Exotic, whom Baskin accuses of abusing and exploiting wild animals.

Although Joe Exotic’s musical pursuits were glossed over in the miniseries, the videos released from 2013-2015 on Exotic’s YouTube channel touch on everything from love and loss, exotic animal ownership and a biker gang that takes in neglected children.

The songs are actually catchy and well-written. The vocals are reminiscent of the mullet-and-10-gallon-hat-sporting twang stars of 90’s country. It would be really impressive if Exotic was actually singing them. However, following the release of “Tiger King” it was revealed that many of Exotic’s songs were actually written and performed by Danny Clinton and Vince Johnson of The Clinton-Johnson Band, who purportedly struck up a partnership with Exotic to write a theme song for his reality show.

Though all of Exotic’s songs may not be a result of his own creativity, the music videos certainly are. They are biographical, tiger-saturated, wacky, and hilarious. His Top 10 music videos are a must watch. If you enjoy the videos you also might enjoy this Tiger King inspired Spotify playlist.

The series is ranked as one of Netflix’s most successful releases to date with Nicolas Cage set to star in a scripted series centered on Joe Exotic based on the Texas Monthly article “Joe Exotic: A Dark Journey Into the World of a Man Gone Wild,” by Leif Reigstad. This is the second scripted series about the bizarre world of “Tiger King.” The first scripted series is based on the Wondery podcast “Joe Exotic” with Kate McKinnon attached to play Carole Baskin.

With Tiger King’s popularity comes memes of course. Compiled below are 20 of the best Tiger King memes floating around the internet for your viewing pleasure. This is much needed comic relief in a time where the coronavirus and pandemic are controlling our lives. Tiger King could not have arrive at a more perfect time.

There are over 80 major country music festivals happening around the world in 2020.

Every festival is listed below in chronological order from January through December.

Also included are some major rodeos and radio stations that put on big events with country superstars.

There are new country music festivals being added all the time so this project is a constant work in progress.

This is the most comprehensive Country Music Festival list that exists on the Internet.

Click on the country events below there is a Spotify playlist for every festival. Happy listening!

There is a Spotify playlist for every festival click the logos.

Country Megaticket season tixs to hot country tours

Mountain High Fest Jan 16-18 – Crested Butte, CO

Crash My Playa Jan 22-25 – Riviera Maya, Cancun, MEX

Island Time Fest Feb 5-8 – Isla Mujeres, Cancun, MEX

San Antonio Rodeo Feb 6-23 – San Antonia, TX

RODEOHOUSTON Mar 3-22 – Houston, TX

Round Up CMF Mar 7 – Simi Valley, CA

C2C Country To Country Mar 13-15 – London, UK

Luck Reunion Mar 19 – Luck, TX

CMC Rocks Mar 20-22 – Willowbank, Ipswich, QLD

Country Thunder Florida Mar 27-29 – Kissimmee, FL

ACM Party for a Cause Apr 4 – Las Vegas, NV

Coastal Country Jam Apr 6 – Huntington Beach, CA

Country Thunder Arizona Apr 16-19 – Florence, AZ

Tortuga Music Fest Apr 17-19 – Fort Lauderdale, FL

Stagecoach Apr 24-26 – Indio, CA

Live in the Vinyard Apr 29-May 1 – Napa, CA

Suwannee River Jam Apr 29-May 2 – Live Oak, FL

iHeart Country Festival May 2 – Austin, TX

Off The Rails May 4-5 – Frisco, TX

Key West Songwriters Fest May 6-10 – Key West, FL

Shaky Boots Festival May 8-9 – Atlanta, GA

Buckle & Boots CMF May 22-24 – Manchester, ENG

Rock the South May 29-30 – Cullman, AL

OakHeart CMF May 30 – Santa Barbara, CA

CMA Fest June 4-7 – Nashville, TN

CMA Fest @ Nissan Stadium June 4-7 – Nashville, TN

Carolina Country Music Fest June 4-7 – Myrtle Beach, SC

Born & Raised Music Festival June 5-7 – Pryor, OK

Country Thunder Iowa (Tree Town) June 12-14 – Forest City, IA

Trailblazer Festival (Taste of Country) June 12-14 – Hunter, NY

Winstock CMF June 12-13 – Winsted, MN

Headwaters Country Jam June 18-20 – Three Forks, MT

Moondance Jammin Country Fest June 18-20, 2020 – Walker, MN

The Country Fest 2020 June 18-20 – North Lawrence, Ohio

Country Jam June 18-21 – Grand Junction, CO

Barefoot CMF June 19-21, 2020 in Wildwood, NJ

Country Summer Music Festival June 19-21 – Santa Rosa, CA

Buckeye Country Superfest June 20 – Columbus, OH

Summerfest June 24-28, 30-July 5 – Milwaukee, WI

Country Fest June 25-27 – Cadott, WI

Country USA June 25-27 – Oshkosh, WI

Heartland Stampede (Country Stampede) June 25-27 – Topeka, KS

Dauphin’s Countryfest July 2-5 – Dauphin, MB, CAN

Country Stampede July 3-12 – Calgary, AB, CAN

FGL Fest July 4 – Indianapolis, IN

Country Concert July 9-11 – Fort Loramie, OH

Country Thunder Saskatchewan July 9-12 – Craven, SK, CAN

Hodag Country Festival July 9-12 – Rhinelander, WI

Windy City Smokeout July 10-12 – Chicago, IL

Cavendish Beach Music Fest July 10-12 – PEI, CAN

Country Jam USA July 16-18 – Eau Claire, WI

Country Thunder Wisconsin July 16-19 – Twin Lakes, WI

Faster Horses Festival July 17-19 – Brooklyn, MI

Forecastle Festival July 17-19 – Louisville, KY

Cheyenne Frontier Days July 17-26 – Cheyenne, WY

Night in the Country July 23-25 – Yerington, NV

Twin Cities Summer Jam July 23-25 – Shakopee, MN

Red Ants Pants Music Fest July 23-26 – White Sulphur Springs, MT

Country Fan Fest Jul 30-Aug 2 – Tooele, UT

Big Valley Jamboree July 30-Aug 2 – Camrose, AB, CAN

Rockin’ River Music Fest July 30-Aug 2 – Merritt, BC, CAN

Sunfest CMF July 30-Aug 2 – Cowichan Valley, BC, CAN

Musikfest Jul 30-Aug 9 – Bethlehem, PA

Watershed Music Fest July 31-Aug 2 – George, WA

We Fest Aug 1-3 – Detroit Lakes, MN

Oregon Jamboree Music Fest July 31-Aug 2 – Sweet Home, OR

Boots and Hearts Music Fest Aug 6-9 – Oro-Medonte, ON, CAN

Tailgate Fest Aug 15-16 – Fontana, CA

Country Thunder Alberta Aug 21-23 – Calgary, AB, CAN

Lucknow’s Music In The Fields Aug 27-29 – Lucknow, ON, CAN

Citadel Country Spirit USA Aug 28-30 – Chester County, PA

Pepsi Gulf Coast Jam Sep 4-6 – Panama City Beach, FL

Seven Peaks Fest Aug 30-Sep 1 – Buena Vista, CO

FarmJam Festival Sep 4-6, 2020 in Colville, WA

Santa Barbara CMF Sep 8 – Santa Barbara, CA

The Long Road Festival Sep 11-13 – Lutterworth, ENG

Hometown Rising CMF Sep 12-13 – Louisville, KY

iHeartRadio Music Fest Sep 18-19 – Las Vegas, NV

Pilgrimage Music Fest Sep 21-22 – Franklin, TN

93.1 WPOC’s Sunday In The Country Sep 29 – Columbia, MD

Las Cruces CMF Oct 11-13 – Las Cruces, NM

BMI Maui Songwriters Fest Dec 5-7 – Maui, HI

Hope y’all can attend at least one of these festivals this year. There’s plenty of options and lots of variety!

I’m going to do a few genre posts of all the playlists I curate. First genre up is Country / Americana since I’ve called Nashville, TN home for the past 11 years! Below are all the Country playlists on Spotify I curate. I’m always looking for new unsigned country. Please email butrmgmt@gmail.com if there is an artist or song you love.  Going to post a list of all the biggest country music festivals happening this year later this week so stay tuned!

Upbeat Country | Pure Country | 2000s Country |90s Country |Country Love | Country Breakup | Acoustic Country | Country Covers | Country Rap | Country EDM |  Beach County | Alt Country |Americana for Hipsters | Folking Sexy

Wanted to share my Upbeat Country 🍻 playlist with y’all that I curate on Spotify. It’s full of new and vintage country hits that will keep you dancin’ and tappin’ your foot all day!

Just added new songs from Carrie Underwood, Brothers Osborne, Chris Stapleton, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Morgan Wallen feat. Florida Georgia Line,  (Dan) Tyminski, Kip Moore, Chris Young, Kane Brown, Walker Hayes, Jessie James Decker, Jerrod Niemann, Chase Rice,  Jillian Jacqueline, Chris Janson, Dean Brody, and more!

Listen and follow Upbeat Country 🍻  on Spotify