Corey Smith Plots 2017 Great Wide Underground Tour
Fresh off a West Coast headlining tour, country renegade Corey Smith has announced his Great Wide Underground Tour, a cross-country trek kicking off January 19th in Monroe, Louisiana. In total, the outspoken singer-songwriter will visit 26 cities over the course of the pointedly-named winter tour.
“I’m very optimistic right now because it feels like tastes are beginning to shift again” Smith says in a release. “There are a lot of people who are disenchanted by the state of mainstream country, who are tired of being pandered to, sick of the cookie-cutter singles and crave genuine music that resonates on a deeper level.”
That’s not the first time Smith has taken the mainstream country music industry to task. His 2015 song “Fast Track” lampoons Nashville’s more commercial output, telling the story of a country hopeful primed for superstardom by a scheming record label.
“For a guy like me, it’s tough to be a critic because people automatically label me as a hater,” Smith told Rolling Stone Country of “Fast Track” in a 2015 interview. “That I’m just jealous because I don’t have a hit song on the radio or I’ve never won any awards. That’s not the case. The reality is [country music] has swung too far into this fake plastic place that is the antithesis of what country is.”
“Fast Track” was released shortly before Smith signed with Sugar Hill Records and released While the Gettin’ Is Good, his 10th and most recent album. An official release date for an 11th album has not been announced yet, though Smith is in the studio and has his sights set on 2017. Tickets for the Great Wide Underground Tour go on sale December 2nd, with a pre-sale beginning November 28th.
Corey Smith’s Great Wide Underground Tour dates:
- January 19 – Monroe, Louisiana @ Live Oaks Bar and Ballroom
- January 20 – Baton Rouge, Louisiana @ Texas Club
- January 21 – Little Rock, Arkansas @ Revolution Music Room
- January 25 – Starkville, Mississippi @ Rick’s Café
- January 26 – Oxford, Mississippi @ The Lyric Oxford
- January 27 – Tuscaloosa, Alabama @ Druid City Music Hall
- January 28 – Greenville, South Carolina @ The Blind Horse Saloon
- February 2 – Columbia, South Carolina @ Music Farm Columbia
- February 3 – Charleston, South Carolina @ Music Farm Charleston
- February 4 – Macon, Georgia @ Cox Capitol Theatre
- February 8 – New York, New York @ Bowery Ballroom
- February 10 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania @ Union Transfer
- February 11 – Cambridge, Massachusetts @ The Sinclair
- February 12 – Baltimore, Maryland @ Baltimore Soundstage
- February 17 – Birmingham, Alabama @ Iron City
- February 24 – Mobile, Alabama @ Saenger Theatre
- February 25 – Tifton, Georgia @ The Gin
- March 1 – Carbondale, Illinois @ Copper Dragon
- March 2 – Louisville, Kentucky @ Mercury Ballroom
- March 3 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Bogart’s
- March 4 – Bloomington, Indianapolis @ Bluebird Nightclub
- March 9 – Columbus, Ohio @ Newport Music Hall
- March 10 – Chicago, Illinois @ Joe’s Bar
- March 11 – Springfield, Illinois @ Boondocks Pub
- March 17 – Kissimmee, Florida @ Osceola Heritage Park
- March 18 – Savannah, Georgia @ The Stage on Bay