Xtreme Muzik - The Tour featuring Big & Rich and Gretchen Wilson with special guests Cowboy Troy and Two Foot Fred rolls through town as part of our 5th anniversary summer outdoor concert series on Saturday, July 30th at 8pm.

When it comes to Big & Rich, there’s no need for a typical bio. You can get a telling of their early career—separate and together--from the folks at Warner Bros. Nashville, or by Googling the dynamic duo. Their back story hasn’t changed, so why retell it?

The story now is about the choices they’ve made as Big & Rich. In their mixing of traditional country sounds with hip-hop, rock, and the occasional Native American yell. Their employment, in their Muzik Mafia troupe, of a painter who works on a canvas during B&R shows, and of a former Foot Locker salesman, called Cowboy Troy, who’s become the most prominent black country performer since Charley Pride—with one major difference. Troy raps. In Spanish, sometimes. As does Big Kenny, doing a little “hick-hop.” And then there’re their social messages, including “Love Everybody,” flashing on big screens behind them, and emblazoned on the back of Big Kenny’s guitar.

And the whole Muzik Mafia thing? That was the informal jam session they set up in Nashville, a town notoriously not interested in looseness—at least not when it comes to the music industry. Kenny Alphin and John Rich grew it into a scene and, ultimately, into a stable of talent, with several of the participants including Gretchen Wilson joining them in the leap onto the radio, the charts, and concert stages. The Muzik Mafia has grown into a mini-empire and Big & Rich continue to crank out new music and new hits with their new CD called Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace.

To all appearances, Gretchen Wilson went overnight from talented obscurity to phenomenon. Her meteoric rise, the kind experienced by only a handful of artists in the past few decades, was that rare instance where talent and moment meet to form a cultural tidal wave. Still, she knows better than anyone the simple force that fueled it. "The reason I've been successful is that I've been genuine from the get-go," she says, "and I continue to try to do that. I'm an open book. “It helps that the identity she wears so guilelessly is one that resonates strongly with fans of country and Southern rock--the independent, take-no-guff, hard-working and hard-partying country girl.

Gretchen's ability to inhabit that persona publicly, as well as her flair for tailoring songs as gorgeously rough-edged as she is, have given her the kind of "I am what I sing" originality few women in country music history--Loretta, Tammy, Dolly and Tanya chief among them--have ever been able to achieve. Set as it was within the broader scope of the Muzik Mafia, a talented and audaciously original ensemble, and like-minded entertainers from Kid Rock to Hank Jr., her rise was part of a genuine musical and cultural groundswell. Her first single, "Redneck Woman," spent six weeks at #1; her debut album, Here For The Party, sold more than five million copies; she won across-the-board awards including a Grammy and ACM, CMA and AMA nods for best female vocalist; and she toured & continues to perform for large and raucous crowds around the world.

Tickets are $35 or $65 plus tax and an online/phone ticketing fee (this fee is waived when tickets are purchased in the Gift Shop). Tickets are on sale in the Gift Shop and online.

Gates open at 7pm and the concert starts at 8pm. Guests in the general admission section are welcome to bring a lawn chair. Seating is provided in the VIP section. No outside coolers allowed.

Concert open to all ages.

Additional VIP seats added! VIP tickets available through the Gift Shop only. Not available online. Stop in or call 877-677-3456, ext 1830 to order over the phone.