Lee Brice, Academy of Country Music “Single Record of the Year” artist and producer, will be the first country artist to headline Colorado State University’s fall RamFest, set for Friday, Aug. 28, at CSU’s Intramural Fields.
Brice’s “Drinking Class” – already an RIAA Gold certified digital track – recently became the No. 1 country song in the nation and follows the ACM-winning “I Don’t Dance” as the second consecutive hit from his September 2014 album, I Don’t Dance.
“In past years, we have brought hip hop, rap, and pop artists, so this year we wanted to focus on serving another population of students,” said Sydney Boyle, external relations and public relations coordinator for RamFest. “When looking for a country artist, Lee Brice was an obvious choice. He has broken the record for longest run on the country charts and has had four No. 1 Billboard Country songs in past years.
This year’s headliner was selected based on market research conducted by Ram Events.
“We chose to look at a country artist this year because our market research has consistently listed country in the top three genre choices among students,” said Boyle. “We collected this information through our trends survey sent out to a random selection of 1,000 students, a text-in campaign, and surveys completed at other Ram Events programs.”
Tickets go on sale May 18. Of the 12,000 tickets available for the show, 6,500 are CSU student-priced at $10. The remaining 5,500 general public tickets are $35. CSU students can purchase general public tickets should student-priced tickets sell out. All tickets are first-come, first-served and can be purchased online.
About RamFest
RamFest is an annual effort by Ram Events to bring nationally recognized speakers, musicians, comedians and other performers to CSU in either fall or spring.
Ram Events, a new organization created from a merging of Diversity and Social Justice Programs and ASAP, aims to create an all-inclusive programming board that meets the needs of CSU’s diverse student body. Ram Events strives to provide students with diverse and affordable events that both entertain and enrich the CSU experience.
About Lee Brice (provided by Shore Fire Media)
Lee Brice’s 2014 I Don’t Dance (Curb Records) marked his first No.1 Billboard Country debut. In addition to the No. 1 success of “Drinking Class” and the album’s title track, the “evocative, rough-edged singer” (New York Times) recorded his third studio album in Nashville, writing and producing 13 of the deluxe edition’s 16 songs, and playing almost every instrument. “Nobody in Nashville writes better love songs right now than Brice,” says USA Today.
Much of that praise is a testament to Brice’s ability as both a songwriter – his “More Than A Memory” as recorded by Garth Brooks was the only song in Billboard’s radio chart history to debut at No. 1 – and as an interpreter of songs, as his rendition of “I Drive Your Truck” won “Song of the Year” honors at both the ACM and CMA Awards. As a songwriter, Brice also has notched No. 1 honors (as well as an ACM Award for Song of the Year in 2011) with “Crazy Girl” for Eli Young Band, and as an artist with “A Woman Like You.”
