Chris Stapleton Plans to Keep Concerts ‘Cozy’ on Upcoming Tour

Chris Stapleton may be playing bigger venues this year, but he hopes to keep his shows cozy and intimate for fans.

Chris Stapleton Plans to Keep Concerts ‘Cozy’ on Upcoming Tour
Chris Stapleton; Mike Windle/Getty Images

Chris Stapleton’s music is unlike any other that you will see on the charts today, and as the award-winning singer has just released his new album From A Room, Volume 1, he will also be on the road to promote it. The singer hopes to bring fans a show that – even in the biggest of settings – will lose none of its intimacy. He knows that’s easier said than done.

“The set all functions from a sonic place,” Stapleton tells Sounds Like Nashville and other media. “People look at it, and it looks like a Thunderdome, and they don’t know what it is. It’s a giant diffuser, that is meant to tune the stage every night. We cut out all the bad bass and all the bad high. It helps us hear better on stage, and we don’t have to use inner ears, but hopefully, it gives more consistencies sonically in the show. After we built it, we put some lights on it.”

Whether the crowd numbers in the hundreds or thousands, he and his crew plan to approach the live performance much the same. “We still stand basically in the same configuration that we would use in a 300-seat club. We’re just in a bigger room, and have made a little room on stage that hopefully makes us feel a little more cozy, and hopefully the result is that we try to create some of that feeling in a much larger room.”

Stapleton realizes that there are differences between playing the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and some place like Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. Making them equal is something he finds a challenge, though it’s one he is going to try to meet head-on.

“You find out really early that basketball arenas and hockey arenas aren’t designed to sound good. That’s just not what they are made for. They are made to play basketball and hockey in. When you’re playing these places, people are paying more for tickets and sitting farther away. So, you feel a responsibility – at least I do – to try to make that experience musically and sonically, the best that it can be,” he says. “I figured out very early – long before I headlined that those places are probably the most challenging places to play music. Dreaming up things on napkins over the years, I always would draw things and try to come up with ideas to make things better and easier to play on and in, and hopefully have the result of something that sounds better out front. This is a march in that direction, and hopefully it will achieve some of that.”

Opening the show for Stapleton would be a variety of artists, such as Maren Morris, Brent Cobb, Brothers Osborne, and Marty Stuart and The Fabulous Superlatives. The singer said there was only one classification he had in who he wanted on the show with him.

“People and music that we love,” he said. “Those were the pre-requsites. If either of those didn’t apply, it probably wasn’t someone that we would ask to come on the road with us. Everybody we have out with us are wonderful people, and are great musicians. It’s music that we listen to at the house.”

If you might be surprised that Stuart is filling some of the opening slots, you’re not alone. Stapleton considers having such an entertainer as Stuart on the bill a blessing.

“I’ve known Marty a lot longer than I’ve known most of those folks. I’ve written songs with him on and off for the better part of a decade. I’m perfectly aware that I should be probably be playing before him, but he was gracious enough to come and be a part of our show. I really wanted to bring somebody into our tour that has the kind of history that he has, and to showcase that – to make a bridge. It’s important that people who have never heard Marty Stuart hear him – just like it’s important for people who have never heard of Brent Cobb to hear him, but in a different way.”

At the same time, Stapleton still fills slots as an opening act from time to time. He kicked off a show for Guns N’ Roses in Nashville back in July 2016, and will be opening shows later this year in Chicago and Milwaukee for Tom Petty. He’s definitely looking forward to that experience.

“Isn’t that something? I’m a huge Tom Petty fan, and he’s one of my favorites. His Wildflowers record is possibly my favorite record of all time. This is something that his people and my booking agents have been working on for some time, or so they told me. Why wouldn’t you do that? I’d buy tickets to Tom Petty, so I am certainly happy to be on a bill with him. It will be fun to see what happens. Sometimes, when you throw us together with someone outside of the genre, you don’t know what is going to happen. We opened for Guns N’ Roses here at Bridgestone, but it was okay. People liked it, and hopefully, there was some discovery in the middle of that.”

Stapleton is currently out on the road for his All-American Road Show. For more information, visit chrisstapleton.com. Fans can purchase his new album, From A Room: Volume 1, on iTunes now.

“CHRIS STAPLETON’S ALL-AMERICAN ROAD SHOW”
May 5—Alpharetta, GA—Verizon Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)
May 6 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)
May 11—Virginia Beach, VA—Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at VA Beach§
May 12—Raleigh, NC—Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek§ (SOLD OUT)
May 13—Charlotte, NC—PNC Music Pavilion§ (SOLD OUT)
May 18—San Diego, CA—Mattress Firm Amphitheatre§
May 19—Phoenix, AZ—Ak-Chin Pavilion§
May 20—Los Angeles, CA—The Forum§
May 23—Denver, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)
May 24—Denver, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre§ (SOLD OUT)
June 1—Fresno, CA—Save Mart Center at Fresno State§
June 2— Mountain View, CA—Shoreline Amphitheatre§
June 3—Wheatland, CA—Toyota Amphitheatre§
June 9—Southaven, MS—BankPlus Amphitheater at Snowden Grove#
June 10—Birmingham, AL—Oak Mountain Amphitheatre# (SOLD OUT)
June 11—Nashville, TN—CMA Music Fest
June 15—Charleston, WV—Charleston Civic Center# (SOLD OUT)
June 16—Cincinnati, OH—Riverbend Music Center#
June 17—Indianapolis, IN—Klipsch Music Center#
June 22—Tulsa, OK—BOK Center#
June 23—Manhattan, KS—Country Stampede
June 24—North Platte, NE—Nebraskaland Days
June 29—Chicago, IL—Wrigley Field†† (SOLD OUT)
July 5—Milwaukee, WI—Summerfest††
July 6—Milwaukee, WI—Summerfest††
July 14—Mansfield, MA—Xfinity Center#
July 15—Hartford, CT—The XFINITY Theatre#
July 16—Darien Lake, NY—Darien Lake Performing Arts Center#
July 20—Holmdel, NJ—P.N.C. Bank Arts Center#
July 21—Wantagh, NY—Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater#
July 22—Bristow, VA—Jiffy Lube Live#
July 28—George, WA—Watershed Festival (SOLD OUT)
July 29—Central Point, OR—Country Crossings Music Festival
July 30—Mountain Home, ID—Mountain Home Country Music Festival
August 3—Duluth, MN—AMSOIL Arena** (SOLD OUT)
August 4—Prairie Du Chien, WI—Country on the River
August 5—St. Louis, MO—Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre**
August 10—Hershey, PA—Giant Center**
August 11—Pittsburgh, PA—KeyBank Pavilion**
August 12—Philadelphia, PA—BB&T Pavilion**
August 17—Toronto, ON—Budweiser Stage**
August 18—Cleveland, OH—Blossom Music Center**
August 19—Clarkston, MI—DTE Energy Music Theatre** (SOLD OUT)
August 25—Gilford, NH—Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion**
October 6—Des Moines, IA—Wells Fargo Arena** (ON-SALE 4/7)
October 7—St Paul, MN—Xcel Energy Center** (ON-SALE 4/7)
October 19—Baton Rouge, LA—Raising Cane’s River Center Arena+ (ON-SALE 4/7)
October 20—San Antonio, TX—AT&T Center+ (ON-SALE 4/7)
October 21—Bossier City, LA—CenturyLink Center+ (ON-SALE 4/7)
October 26—Austin, TX—Austin360 Amphitheater+ (ON-SALE 4/7)
November 4—Grand Rapids, MI—Van Andel Arena+ (ON-SALE 4/7)

*with special guest Maren Morris
†with special guest Brent Cobb
‡with special guest Lucie Silvas
§with special guests Brothers Osborne and Lucie Silvas
#with special guests Anderson East and Brent Cobb
**with special guests Margo Price and Brent Cobb
††with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
+with special guests Marty Stuart and Brent Cobb