Rascal Flatts Announces Farewell Tour
Life is a highway, but all road trips eventually come to an end
By kncitom on January 7, 2020
Wow…it seems like just last year we were interviewing Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus ahead of their appearance at the Calavaras Frog Jumping Jubilee. But that was all the way back in 2000, and their first single, “Prayin For Daylight” was still climbing up the charts. Since then, it’s been a heck of a journey: 11 albums, 37 singles, 14 #1 songs, several world tours and literally dozens of awards.
But now, that journey is about to come to an end. On CBS This Morning the boys announced their farewell tour, set to commence June 11 in Indianapolis. They will not come to Sacramento-maybe because they were here less than a year ago-but they will be at Shoreline on October 1st.
In a statement from their website, lead singer LeVox said, “When we started out 20 years ago, we could not imagine all of the people, places and gifts we would encounter. The greatest feeling ever, is being told that our music has been the soundtrack to their lives. What greater gift can an artist receive than to be told ‘I got married to “Bless The Broken Road,”’ or ‘We played “My Wish” at my graduation.’ That ‘“What Hurts The Most” is the song that made me love country music for the first time,’ or ‘“I’m Movin’ On” helped me get sober’ or even that ‘“Changed” made me call my family again after not talking to them for years.’ That’s why we create music and the reason we can’t wait to celebrate this incredible 20 year journey all year, with our fans who we love dearly. I don’t know what God has in store for the future, but I am excited to see what he has planned!”
Read more about their farewell tour, and what Joe Don and Jay have to say, here
For our part, we’ve been lucky enough to interview them probably over a dozen times and every time, they were funny, unpredictable and always, always, approachable and gracious. Two of our favorite moments with them? 1) One of the first times we interviewed them, Gary found out Pat had done a morning radio show at a rock station in Columbus, Ohio and realized that he and his dad used to listen and loved the show. “You were dirty!” he laughed.
2) We were at the ACM awards back in the early 2000s. At that time, there were a bunch of country radio stations that named themselves after animals–frogs, coyotes, grizzly bears, foxes, eagles, etc. So to poke fun, we started telling artists we were “Squirrel 105”. Rascal Flatts liked it so much, they ad-libbed an awesome little jingle that we still have after all these years.
Just five months ago they came by the New Country Soundstage and were as fun as always. Click below to watch.
Good ride, boys! Thanks for all the great music.
