Luke Bryan brings Farm Tour to local community
Fans came to watch country singer Luke Bryan on his Farm Tour in Greenback after having to reschedule the original Oct. 2 date due to weather.
Creative Common's- Keith Hinkle's image on Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LukeBryanApr10.jpg
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Over 20,000 fans came out to “Kick the Dust Up” with country music superstar Luke Bryan as he brought his seventh annual Farm Tour to Blount County on Monday, Oct. 12.
Country fans came from miles away to see the two-time Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, packing every corner of Maple Lane Farms in Greenback, Tenn. for the second year in a row. After having to reschedule the show from its original Oct. 2 date due to bad weather, Bryan and the farm staff were determined to give fans a show worth remembering.
Even though Bryan unfortunately came down with a bad case of laryngitis Monday morning, he did not disappoint fans with his performance.
“Even though you could tell he was really sick and some parts just didn’t sound as good as they normally do, he still put on a great show,” said Greenback local Shawna Hammontree.
Hammontree lives right across the street from Maple Lane, and has attended both Farm Tour shows.
“I didn’t used to be a real big fan, but after seeing him these past two times, I’ve definitely changed my mind,” Hammontree said. “He’s an amazing entertainer, sick or not.”
This year marks Bryan’s seventh year touring with Farm Tour. He schedules a series of shows each fall in small rural communities in order to raise money and support for local farmers while also contributing to local scholarship funds.
“In each town, there’s a local college that’s affiliated with the Farm Tour and we give a scholarship out to a kid wanting to attend that college that’s from an agricultural background,” Bryan said in a 2013 interview with “CMA Hot 20 Countdown.” “It’s just a little something that we can do to make the Farm Tour even that much more special.”
While on stage in Greenback, Bryan presented a $5,000 check to Bob Schmidt, the owner and operator of Maple Lane Farms, followed by a speech about how much he appreciates what Schmidt does for the Blount County community.
The goals of Farm Tour are very important to Bryan himself, but might even be more important to his fans. Brooklyn Howard, a UT student and Blount County native, is a huge supporter of Farm Tour.
“I think that local farms and businesses are the back bone of our nation, and it’s humbling to see that Luke feels the same way, no matter how famous he is,” Howard said.
Bryan has also enlisted help from huge agricultural company sponsors like Bayer Chemical and Red Gold Tomatoes. The sponsors help to keep the tour up and running, while also keeping tickets cheap, and allowing the singer to use more money for the farms and scholarships and less on typical tour costs.
The Farm Tour has provided 32 students with college educations and over 30 different farms financial support over the past seven years.
For more information on Luke Bryan and Farm Tour, visit his official website.
Edited by Taylor Owens
Featured image by Keith Hinkle on Wikimedia Commons, obtained using creativecommons.org
Alley is a junior at UT majoring in journalism and electronic media. She has a passion for pop culture like no other and hopes to one day work on red carpets interviewing all of her favorite celebrities. When not writing for the Tennessee Journalist, you can probably find Alley live-tweeting award shows or sharing photos of her cat, Hedwig, on Twitter.
