By Joseph T. O’Connor Explore Big Sky Managing Editor
BIG SKY – Robert Earl Keen will take the stage in Big Sky as the main attraction during a multi-act concert on the final day of the Professional Bull Riders event this summer.
The Saturday Aug. 1 concert will follow two days of PBR and will feature a number of bands that Big Sky residents and visitors won’t want to miss. The Jamie McLean band will be one of the opening acts for Keen, and additional performers will be announced in the coming weeks.
Keen, the eclectic singer-songwriter with roots spanning from country to rock and folk to bluegrass, has 18 albums under his belt and recently played on March 20 at the Jackson Hole Rendezvous Festival in Jackson, Wyo.
“It was high-energy country rock and filled the main street of Jackson Hole with fans singing along with [Keen’s] classic tune, ‘The Road Goes On Forever,’” said Eric Ladd, Outlaw Partners CEO and publisher of EBS. “He’s a polished and seasoned performer.”
To see Keen under the shadow of Lone Mountain will be a major summer highlight, Ladd says.
“It’ll be the largest music festival to come to Big Sky since Willie Nelson,” he said, referencing the 2010 show in the community park.
Tickets for the concert, as well as the PBR, will go on sale June 1 and typically sell out quickly.
The Big Sky PBR last summer was named Touring Pro Division Event of the Year for the second year running. The event this summer moves up a notch onto the BlueDef Velocity Tour, a division that “has become the second most important bull riding tour in professional sports” behind the Built Ford Tough Series, according to the official PBR website.
Visit bigskypbr.com for the most up-to-date information.
