NASHVILLE – Reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year and four-time GRAMMY winner Keith Urban will headline Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville (#Nashville NYE) for a fourth year in a row, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp announced today. Urban will lead an all-star and diverse lineup that includes Americana powerhouse Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit; English rock band The Struts; Americana award winner and 2019 nominee Amanda Shires, who is also a member of The 400 Unit and critically-acclaimed new band The Highwomen; and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The 11th annual event will take place at the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park and is free and open to the public.
“From the very beginning, our goal was to have a long-term partnership with Keith, and, as we expected, his leadership, talent and involvement has been invaluable to the event’s success,” said Butch Spyridon, President and CEO, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. “As you would expect from a consummate professional like Keith, every year the show is completely different and fresh, and we can’t wait to see what he brings to ring in 2020.”
“Nashville’s New Year’s Eve is hugely successful at drawing visitors from around the globe. Events like this underscore how the hospitality industry adds so much to the local Nashvillian’s quality of life through visitor spending and tax revenues that support city services,” Mayor David Briley said. “And local residents don’t need to fly to London or New York to experience a world-class event; they can simply take a short ride to Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park.”
Last year, the Nashville concert was featured on “NBC’s New Year’s Eve” national broadcast that was live from Times Square in New York City. It was the most successful New Year’s Eve event for Nashville with an all-time high $23 million in direct visitor spending over 2017’s $22.3 million. Attendance was approximately 175,000 to 200,000, a record attendance over 2015’s 150,000.
Gates at Bicentennial Mall will open at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 31 with DJ Case Bloom providing entertainment before the Music Note is raised. The Fisk Jubilee Singers, an ensemble of students from Fisk University, will kick off the live music with a selection of Spiritual music. The show’s highlight will be the traditional Music Note Drop and accompanying fireworks display to usher in the New Year. GRAMMY-winner DJ Dave Audé also will be part of the lineup.
The NCVC is offering two visitor packages for purchase:
• The Nashville New Year’s Eve Celebration Package is on sale now and includes choice of hotel and a NYE Party Pack for a great value. Check out the details here and book early while rooms are still available.
• The returning Music City Gold Circle Party includes exclusive concert viewing area, food and beverage, indoor/outdoor party space, custom party favors and more. Limited tickets available. Tickets will go on sale on Monday, Oct. 14.
Jack Daniel’s Music City Midnight: New Year’s Eve in Nashville is produced by the NCVC for the city of Nashville and presented by Jack Daniel’s. Partners include Advance Financial, Anderson Benson, Nashville International Airport, Nashville Farmers’ Market, Tennessee State Parks, Dr Pepper, Korbel, Budweiser and Bud Light.
Keith Urban
Keith Urban is a four-time GRAMMY Award winner, the reigning CMA and ACM Entertainer of the Year and two-time 2019 CMA Award nominee (Entertainer of the Year and Male Vocalist). He released “We Were” on May 14 as his first new single of 2019. It comes after the 2018 release of Graffiti U and his acclaimed “GRAFFITI U WORLD TOUR,” which played to more than a million fans in seven countries on three continents. Graffiti U debuted at No. 1 on charts in the United States, Canada and Australia, is Urban’s ninth studio recording and follows one of the most successful releases of his career, 2016’s RIPCORD, which had five No. 1 songs including “Blue Ain’t Your Color,” which won Best Single at the 2017 CMA Awards and Favorite Country Song at the American Music Awards, where he also collected trophies for Favorite Country Album and Favorite Male Country Artist. He’s had an album simultaneously atop the all-genre charts in the U.S., Canada and Australia twice and is the only male country artist to have achieved the mark even once.
In 2001, the Country Music Association honored Urban with its Horizon Award; he is one of only three in history to go on to win the CMA’s Male Vocalist of the Year, a title he’s captured three times, and the coveted Entertainer of the Year, which he’s captured twice. The 2015 CMA Awards brought Urban his third win for Vocal Event of the Year, which marked the first time in history that an artist has received the award in three consecutive years. Urban has also won 13 Country Music Association Awards, 11 Academy of Country Music Awards, four People’s Choice Awards and four American Music Awards. He is also a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
Urban’s musical virtuosity and fluidity has led to him collaborating with a diverse group of artists that includes Alicia Keys, Billy Gibbons, Buddy Guy, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Eric Church, John Meyer, Julia Michaels, Justin Timberlake, Miranda Lambert, Nile Rodgers, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones and Vince Gill. He’s long supported numerous charities. His “All For The Hall” benefit concerts for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum© have raised over $3.4 million. He is the first Ambassador of the CMA Foundation, is an advisory board member at the St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital and is a longtime supporter of The Mr. Holland’s Opus Fund and The GRAMMY Foundation. keithurban.net
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
Four-time GRAMMY winner Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit have been touring in support of their album The Nashville Sound (winner of GRAMMYs for Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song for “If We Were Vampires”) and the highly praised live set Live From The Ryman. Isbell has become one the most respected songwriters of his generation, with a penchant for articulating some of our deepest human emotions and creating poignant narratives inspired by the working class. Together with the mighty 400 Unit – Derry deBorja (keyboards), Chad Gamble (drums), Jimbo Hart (bass), Sadler Vaden (guitar) and Amanda Shires (fiddle) – they have become one of the strongest live acts on the road today. This fall will bring reissues of the group’s two earliest albums – 2009’s self-titled Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit and 2011’s Here We Rest – both remixed and remastered by GRAMMY Award-winning producer Dave Cobb. These records contain some of Isbell’s most beloved fan favorites, including “Alabama Pines,” “Codeine,” “Cigarettes and Wine,” “The Blue” and “Tour Of Duty.” jasonisbell.com
The Struts
The Struts released their sophomore album Young & Dangerous in the fall of 2018. On Young & Dangerous, The Struts let loose with the sing-along-ready and riff-heavy sound they’ve brought to stadiums and arenas all around the world. Young & Dangerous follows the 2016 release of The Struts’ debut album Everybody Wants. In just a few years, The Struts have found themselves massively embraced by some of the greatest icons in rock and roll history. Along with opening for Foo Fighters, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Guns N’ Roses, the U.K.-bred four-piece was also hand-picked by Mötley Crüe to serve as the supporting act for their last-ever performances, while Dave Grohl praised them as “the best band to ever open for FooFighters.” In addition to the support slots, The Struts have been on the road nonstop since their formation including worldwide headline shows and prestigious festival plays including Lollapalooza, Governors Ball, Bottle Rock, Isle of Wright and many more. Formed in Derby, England in 2012, The Struts are Luke Spiller (lead singer), Adam Slack (guitar), Jed Elliott (bass) and Gethin Davies (drums). thestruts.com
Amanda Shires
Amanda Shires is a member of the new country music supergroup The Highwomen that also includes Brandi Carlile, Natalie Hemby and Maren Morris. They released their self-titled debut album on Sept. 6, which was described by NPR Music as a “really fantastic record, I would expect to see this one on a lot of year end lists.” Nominated for the Americana Music Association’s 2019 Album of the Year, To The Sunset is Amanda Shires’ second album with GRAMMY award-winning producer Dave Cobb and represents an adventurous move with an edgier sound and attitude. Shires continues to push herself artistically and sonically, but the spotlight always shines brightly on her unmistakable songwriting style and emotive and distinctive vocals. Recorded at RCA Studio A, the new album finds Shires joined by a few special guests including Jason Isbell (guitar), Dave Cobb (bass) Peter Levin (keys), and Jerry Pentecost (drums). To The Sunset is the follow up to Shires’ critically acclaimed My Piece Of Land, which was released in 2016. My Piece Of Land became her most acclaimed album to date garnering high praise from outlets that included NPR, Associated Press, Rolling Stone Country, Entertainment Weekly, Garden & Gun, Texas Monthly and the cover of the Nashville Scene. Capping off a banner year in 2016, Shires was also the recipient of the Americana Music Association’s Emerging Artist Of The Year Award and made her solo national TV debut on Austin City Limits. amandashiresmusic.com
Fisk Jubilee Singers®
Fisk Jubilee Singers® are vocal artists and students at Fisk University in Nashville, Tenn., who sing and travel worldwide. The original ensemble introduced the Negro spiritual to the world in 1871 as they traveled and raised money to sustain Fisk University. The ensemble was also instrumental in preserving this unique American musical. During their early years of travel and performance, they sang for crowned heads around the world. The Fisk Jubilee Singers continue the tradition of singing the Negro spiritual around the world, and recently performed in renowned venues such as The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Smithsonian Institute, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum, The White House and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. In 2007 the ensemble also traveled and performed in Ghana at the invitation of the Department of State in celebration of Ghana’s 50th Independence anniversary. The two-time GRAMMY-nominated and Dove Award-winning Fisk Jubilee Singers have received numerous awards including the induction into the Music City Walk of Fame, the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. In 2008, the Fisk Jubilee Singers were awarded the 2008 National Medal of Arts by former President George W. Bush at the White House. The ensemble has collaborated with guest artists like CeCe Winans, Keb’ Mo’, Shania Twain, India.Arie, The Fairfield Four and Rodney Atkins and now has membership in the Academy of Country Music. fiskjubileesingers.org
The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp
The mission of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp is to maximize the economic contribution of the convention and tourism industry to the community by developing and marketing Nashville as a premier destination. Visit the NCVC’s website at www.visitmusiccity.com and follow us on social media: