Brad Paisley to headline B.C.'s largest country-music festival

Country superstar Brad Paisley wowed the crowd when he played Kamloops' Interior Savings Centre in January 2006. Paisley will headline the closest country-music festival to Kamloops this year — the Rockin' River Music Festival in Mission in August.

KTW FILE PHOTO

News For You  

• Heroic efforts earn police awards
• Review: Good Timber a rollicking musical-history lesson well worth taking
• UVic program promotes fitness, offers free coaching
• Police briefs: Woman allegedly sexual assaulted by intruders
• City of Victoria top earners' salaries revealed

Share this story

Tweet

Fans longing for the glory days of the Merritt Mountain Music Festival may want to pencil in Mission as a summer destination.

One of the world's top country acts will be headlining the annual Rockin’ River Music Festival in the Fraser Valley town.

Brad Paisley will anchor the three-day August country-music festival (Aug.15, 16 and 17) that has already announced Big and Rich and Joe Nichols as formidable acts to appear this year.

“We’re tremendously excited to have Brad Paisley headline the fifth annual Rockin’ River festival,” concert organizer Kenny Hess said. “Brad Paisley is one of the world’s top country acts and having him at Mission Raceway will be the Lower Mainland’s top country show of the year.”

Paisley's Southern Comfort Zone is sitting in the 12th spot on the Billboard country charts. The song will be on his upcoming album Wheelhouse, which will be released on April 9.

The native of West Virginia has had 20 singles at the top of the charts

Paisley has a long list of hits — including Whiskey Lullabye, Remind Me, Mud on the Tires, Water, I'm Still a Guy and Water — and has won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards and 14 Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year for 2010.

Paisley released his first book, Diary of a Player, in November 2011 and it took a spot on the New York Times bestseller list for two weeks.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have Brad Paisley at our festival,” Hess said. “We are ready for the biggest party this Valley has ever seen.”

Rockin’ River Music Festival tickets and camping are available online at rockinriverfest.com as of Monday, Feb. 4.

For more information on the festival, check out rockinriverfest.com, facebook.com/rockinriver, email info@rockinriver.com or call the Rockin’ River Hotline at 604-733-2235.