Rodney Atkins will hit the Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium stage Thursday evening looking to charm the Ohio University crowd with a mix of country twang and relatable lyrics.
Josh Thompson and Tyler Farr will join Atkins during the concert, which is part of the OU Performing Arts and Concert Series.
“(Country fans) will get three different things,” said Andrew Holzaepfel, senior associate director of the Performing Arts and Concert series. “(They’ll get a) proven star in Rodney Atkins with so many number ones and so many record sales. Then (they’ll get) Josh Thompson, with a completely different style of music with a solid fan-base, and then an up-and-comer, Tyler Farr, who I think we’ll see around in country music in years to come.”
Farr, whose debut album is currently on pre-order, opened for Jerrod Neimann and Lee Brice on The Higher Education Tour in 2011. Thompson, who is a singer-songwriter who values “raw emotions” in his music, according to his website, has two albums under his belt.
Atkins has been on the country scene since his first album dropped in 2003 and has gathered six No. 1 singles over the course of his career. He’s also received six nominations from the Academy of Country Music and two from the Country Music Association.
“With any successful song, you’ve got to sit back and ask yourself, why did this song connect?” said Atkins on his website. “With a lot of songs, the approach is about how perfect things are or how messed up things are—it’s one or the other. For me, real life is the ups and downs, and if I can, I like to get both sides of that in a song.”
Holzaepfel said he predicts that the concert will go well, as country concerts normally are popular in the Performing Arts and Concert Series.
“Our country artists comment how much they enjoy the venue,” Holzaepfel said. “The crowd is on their feet from beginning to end.”
The contract fee for the Atkins, Thompson and Farr package was $24,000. This will be covered by sales that are currently at or above 1,300 tickets.
eb104010@ohiou.edu
