McGraw Back On His Own For Summer Tour

Tim McGraw will return to the road this summer as a solo headliner after two years co-headlining with his wife, Faith Hill. The Live Your Voice outing begins May 9 in Tampa, Fla., and will feature support from Jason Aldean and Halfway to Hazard. KC Masterpiece and Kingsford are sponsoring the tour. Live Nation is promoting, under Brian O'Connell's direction, and the tour will play primarily LN sheds. McGraw will play one-off headlining dates at several festivals prior to the tour, including the Houston Livestock & Rodeo on March 3, his debut appearance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival on April 27 and the Stagecoach Festival in Indio, Calif., on May 4. The multi-tiered KC Masterpiece and Kingsford sponsorship deal was brokered by Laura Hutfless at EchoMusic, Marcie Allen Cardwell, president of MAC Presents, McGraw's manager Scott Siman, marketing manager Charles Mordy at Kingsford, brand manager Eric Carlock at KC Masterpiece, and KC/Kingsford group PR manager Drew McGowan. McGraw's agent is Rod Essig at CAA. The two brands will present the VIP Pre-Show Party, where McGraw performs a private acoustic set prior to each show. Fritos will be the "Official Snack" of the tour and the presenter of the "StyleSonic Stage," which will feature artists chosen by McGraw who will perform prior to the start of each concert, including Lance Miller and Catherine Raney. As a special promotion, McGraw is making StyleSonic music available for free download to everyone who buys a ticket to the tour this year. More details will be made available on TimMcGraw.com prior to the start of the tour. McGraw has become known for innovative, multi-faceted sponsorships. Last year, the Jeep sponsored Soul2Soul II tour captured the inaugural Billboard Concert Marketing & Promotion Award at the Billboard Touring Conference, determined by more than 30,000 online votes from both fans and the industry at Billboard.com and Billboard.biz. With about $150 million in ticket sales, McGraw and Hill's Soul2Soul II tour is the top-grossing two-year country tour ever.