Rock The South


Rock the South will return to Cullman, Alabama in 2023 from 20 - 22 July.

 will headline the 3-day event, with Zach Bryan, Cody Johnson & Riley Green joining the Kentucky native on the weekend. 

Alongside them, Bailey Zimmerman, Travis Tritt and Jo Dee Messina will appear, with Chase Matthew, Drake Milligan and Mackenzie Carpenter also joining the bill.

Madeline Edwards, J.R. Carroll, Ella Langley, Tristan Baugh round out the first wave of announcements, with more set to be announced in due course.

Here, we'll have all the up-to-date news on line-up announcements, confirmation of weekend dates and all the latest ticket and festival pass details for 2023.

Rock the South held a hugely successful event in August 2022, which saw sets from Morgan Wallen, Alabama, Hardy, Jimmie Allen, Matt Stell, Anne Wilson, Pecos & The Rooftops, Erica Ryleigh, Dee Jay Silver and more. 

Originally intended to be a one-year celebration of recovery from the horrific tornadoes that ripped through Alabama in 2011, Rock the South has continued to expand to become a massive celebration of this area and what it has to offer. 

Since the first event in 2012, Rock the South has given away nearly a million dollars to multiple community partners including Cullman City Parks and Recreation, The Link of Cullman County, Cullman Caring for Kids, Curts Closet, Alabama Veterans and many others.

The festival prides itself on giving back to the community and celebrating Southern culture.

For more information on tickets and for other country festivals set for 2023 and 2024 - head here.

Chris Stapleton, Zach Bryan, Cody Johnson and Riley Green to Headline Rock the South 2023

All the latest line-up announcements, date confirmations and ticket details for Rock The South 2023.

Rock The South 2023

Chris Stapleton grew up playing football in high school and studied engineering in college, before he left early and moved to Nashville to pursue music in 2001.

Stapleton wound up fronting the Nashville-based bluegrass band The SteelDrivers. Together, they released two albums, 2008’s self-titled debut and 2010’s Reckless. Shortly after the latter, he left and started a southern rock band called The Jompson Brothers, which he fronted until he was signed to Mercury Nashville in 2013 and began focusing on a solo career.

Stapleton released his debut album Traveller in 2015. It showcased his powerful vocals and equally powerful songwriting. He soon followed it with two back-to-back releases in 2017, From A Room: Volume 1 and From a Room: Volume 2.

Stapleton’s solo work has garnered Grammys, ACM Awards, CMA Awards, Billboard Music Awards and much more. Traveller swept the majors, taking home Best Country Album at the Grammys, Album of the Year at the CMAs, and Album of the Year at the ACMs.

In 2020, he released his fourth studio album Starting Over.

Home of all the latest news, information and coverage of Chris Stapleton on Holler.

Chris

Chris Stapleton is a powerful singer/songwriter in the world of country music and is an eight-time Grammy award winner.

Chris Stapleton: News, Songs & Reviews | Holler

Bryan has eschewed Music City’s preferred producers and writers, in favour of crafting a sparse, unpolished sound that elevates magical storytelling above all else.

In 2019, just like any other day after a shift, Bryan and his Navy buddies sat down for a jam session. Only this time, they decided to record Bryan playing ‘Heading South’ and upload it to his socials, thinking nothing of it.

The video quickly went viral, and paved the way for Bryan to sign a recording contract with Warner Records two years later in 2021. The candid, lo-fi video would go on to set the tone for Bryan’s rustic, bare-bones aesthetic.

Following the release of his first two albums, 

in 2019 and 2020 respectively, Bryan released his 34-track magnum opus, 

 in 2022. It debuted at No. 5 on the US Billboard 200, and set a new 2022 record for the most single-day streams for a country album on Apple Music and Spotify.

‘Something in the Orange’ was the fourth single from 

, and the hauntingly ominous track became one of the defining country songs of the year. It marked Bryan’s first entry onto the Billboard Hot 100, as well as propelling him to the pinnacle of the Billboard Top Songwriters chart later in 2022.

In the summer of 2022, Zach Bryan continued this momentum by putting out his pensive 

EP, a project that would again veer away from the well-worn path of typical summer country releases. 

He continues to build a reputation for his unrivalled rate of releases, which has been magnified by a string of singles towards the end of 2022, including, ‘Burn, Burn, Burn’, ‘Starved’, ‘Fifth of May’ and ‘The Greatest Day of My Life’. 

Following a blockbuster 2022 tour, which involved a captivating, snow-hampered show at Red Rocks Amphitheater, Colorado, Bryan has already been confirmed for a slew of 2023 festivals.

Home of all the latest news, information and coverage of Zach Bryan on Holler

Zach

Since being honourably discharged from the US Navy in 2021, Zach Bryan’s journey to country’s upper echelons has been as quick as it has been unconventional.

Zach Bryan: News, Songs & Reviews | Holler

Rodeo-men have taken on an almost mythical status in country music, standing as a touchstone for a simpler, freer way of life. Yet the majority of rodeo songs and Wild West tales have been spun by artists that were cowboys in appearance and nothing more.

That was, of course, until Cody Johnson and his band stampeded onto the scene with his untethered 2019 label debut, 

. It topped both the Billboard Top Country Albums and the All-Genre Digital Sales charts. In actual fact, this was Johnson’s fourth album, having released the previous three on his own label.

It betrays a sense of unbridled determination that Johnson honed in a non-musical arena. Born in Sebastopol, Texas, Johnson started out as a competitive bull rider, living out the harsh realities of a life that had been idealised in so many country hits.

Although his path would ultimately deviate away from the rodeo circuit and into the music industry, Johnson’s albums are pervaded by an underlying determination to bring ‘the cowboy’ back to Nashville. His fans - collectivised as CoJo Nation - celebrate Johnson’s unique authenticity in an industry that has often manipulated the cowboy aesthetic as a marketing device.

In the summer of 2021, Cody Johnson offered fans an all-access pass into his journey so far with the release of his 

 documentary, named after his 2020 Reba McEntire collaboration of the same name.

Later that year, Johnson dropped his acclaimed double album, 

, which captured the energy of the rowdy, high-octane live shows that the Texan has become known for. Two of the stand-out tracks, ‘‘Til You Can’t’ and ‘Human’, showcased Johnson’s ability to fuse down-home humility with a rip-roaring sense of carpe diem. For ‘‘Til You Can’t’, Johnson would go on to win the 2022 CMA Awards for Single of the Year and Music Video of the Year.

Johnson closes out 2022 with the release of 

, which consolidates his status as a relentless road-warrior. While he might now be riding atop the country music charts instead of a bucking bull, with each release, Johnson makes one thing abundantly clear: on a ‘Cowboy Scale of 1 to 10’, he’s unmatched.

Home of all the latest news, information and coverage of Cody Johnson on Holler

Cody

Cody Johnson's albums are pervaded by an underlying determination to bring ‘the cowboy’ back to Nashville. 

Cody Johnson: News, Songs & Reviews | Holler

Rock the South 2023: Line-Up, Dates & Tickets | Holler 

I call myself a spiritual lesbian, you will find me in a park, napping on a bark of wood, staring at the clouds for some creative inspiration. I am a HUGE Lady Gaga fan and she helped me come to myself when I didn't know what that meant. Music has always been my saviour, it's 55% of the reason why I wake up every day. Don't ask me about the 45%. I am a lover of love and quite a hopeless romantic at that but while that may sound sad, it's the birth of all my poems so, who knows? I could be another Taylor Swift tomorrow. I am a true believer of you attract the energy you carry and I spread kindness and love wherever I go. 

Adishri 

Contributor - Adishri Chengappa

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A handy, chronological list guide to the country music festivals taking place across the world in 2024 and 2025.

A handy, chronological list guide to the country music 

 taking place across the world in 2024 and 2025.

Rock The South 2023

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Chris Stapleton, Zach Bryan, Cody Johnson And Riley Green To Headline Rock The South 2023

Jeff Bridges Channels Caleb Pressley by Mispronouncing Morgan Wallen's Name at 2024 CMA Awards

Cody Johnson's Producer, Trent Willmon, Appears to Take a Dig at Shaboozey During 2024 CMA Awards

“Eighth?!”: Watch Luke Combs’ Hilarious Reaction to Chris Stapleton Winning CMA Male Vocalist of the Year Again