CURRENT SINGLE: “Heaven by Then” with Blake Shelton, featuring Vince Gill
Brantley Gilbert recently announced that he will be opening for Nickelback on their Get Rollin’ Tour, kicking off this summer. The first question a lot of people have when they hear about this pairing is how did they meet and where did the idea to tour come from? Brantley says, of course there were managers and teams involved in a lot of discussions, but then he and Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger spoke and it was a done deal.
Brantley & Nickelback – how met :35
Chad Kroeger – “Our first meeting was on a phone call. I was on a boat in the Bahamas, and he was on the side of a mountain in Montana in a snowstorm with a rifle in his hand. I called him up, and I was like, ‘Hey, should we do this?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t totally know what you said, but I think we should totally do this.’ And I’m like, ‘I think we should do this,’ you know.”
Brantley Gilbert – “We’re doing it! I mean, let’s be honest, we didn’t see each other on the sidewalk and kinda organically decide that we should go on tour together.”
Chad – “Start telling that one if you want. We were walkin’ dogs. ‘Hey, we should go on tour together. We should absolutely go on tour together.’”
Brantley – “‘I like your shoes man. Should we tour?’ (big laugh)”
Touring with artists outside of country music isn’t new for Brantley Gilbert, who just toured with the rock band Five Finger Death Punch at the end of last year. But Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger explains why his band wanted to invite Brantley to open for them.
Brantley & Nickelback – why Brantley :34
“Probably because he has a little bit more of a rock edge to him, so it wasn’t that far off. You know, instead of going back to the same seven bands that have always been opening up for us for the last, I don’t know how long – and we can sit here and list ‘em, and you’ve seen them cause we’ve done multiple tours, not only on this continent, but all over the world with those same seven, eight artists. It’s like, let’s try something different. Like, why do we have to keep going back to the same well? Why don’t we expand this? Let’s open this thing up a little bit more instead of just going back to the same place.”
Plus, Chad feels like by inviting Brantley to open for Nickelback, it will break up the monotony that usually happens when bands who all play similar music tour together.
Brantley & Nickelback – mixing up sounds :33
“Instead of three bands that are all rock, or three bands that are all country, it’s like well why can’t everybody come and sing along to an entire night of songs that aren’t played on the same radio stations? I love that. I absolutely love that. Because then you’re just not just getting three artists that are all doing the exact same thing. By the end of that show, you’re like, wow, I just heard four hours of the same music just go by. You know, so now the show’s gonna ebb and flow. Now you’ve got all these different things going on, and I just… to me that just makes me incredibly happy.”
And Brantley feels like the combination of him and Nickelback is going to give fans so much more than they would usually get from a concert.
Brantley & Nickelback – more than a show :25
Brantley Gilbert – “What it feels like to me is, as opposed to puttin’ on a show, like, we’re building an experience. And when this tour hits the ground – and we’ve all been to shows – I don’t think people are gonna feel like they came to a show. I think they’re gonna feel like they got the whole experience.”
Chad Kroeger – “You just got me excited and I’m on the tour. I’m like, I want to see that show!”
Brantley – “Let’s start a band. We’re gonna start a band.”
Chad – “We’re puttin’ the band back together! (laugh)”
The Get Rollin’ Tour kicks off June 12 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and will run through August 30th. Tickets for all shows are on sale now through Ticketmaster