Country Concerts Roil Nashville's Ravaged Music Industry

Fellow musicians and fans alike are criticizing country artists who performed at outdoor concerts this past weekend where social media pictures showed large, tight crowds without masks, even as COVID-19 cases resurge in the United States.

The Associated Press reports Country singer Chase Rice posted video of his concert in East Tennessee with the words “We Back,” on the same week state health officials reported the biggest one-day jump in people testing positive for the coronavirus.

Country star Kelsea Ballerini called Rice “selfish” for risking people’s health by playing in front of a large crowd. Americana star Jason Isbell also indirectly piled on, saying some country artists were “so broke” they played concerts over the weekend “regardless of what might happen to their non-isolated, maskless audience!” Country singer Mickey Guyton said video of the crowd at Rice’s concert made her sick to her stomach.

Rice addressed the controversy on Monday in a social media post in which he said, “There’s a lot of varying opinions, lot of different opinions on COVID-19, how it works with live music, crowds.” He said that fans’ safety is a huge priority and said his next show will be a drive-in show in Kentucky. He asked fans to “please go by the rules, please go by the laws.”

Chase Rice just played a concert to an enormous crowd of unmasked fans here in Tennessee. For once, I am at a loss for words. pic.twitter.com/wB47u1EaFd

— Lorie Liebig (@lorieliebig) June 28, 2020

The owner of the venue where Rice played in Tennessee said the concert was approved by both city and county officials.

“We are reevaluating the series from the top to bottom following the inaugural show on June 27 -- from implementing further safety measures, to adding stanchions, to converting the space to drive-in style concerts, to postponing shows,” said Brian May, who co-owns the former Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, where the concert was held.

May said the venue has a normal capacity of 10,000, but only 954 tickets were sold in advance and state guidelines allowed for 50% capacity in an outdoor venue. May also said they asked all guests to wear masks and had signs encouraging social distance.