Break out the western attire—the boots, denim, Stetsons and statement-making brass buckles. The North Bay is getting ready to rock, country-style.
From June 27 to 29, the Sonoma County Fairgrounds comes alive with performances by 24 of country music’s top performers and emerging talent. The event is a collaboration between Impact Entertainment and Santa Rosa-based Amaturo Sonoma Media Group (ASMG), parent company of Froggy 92.9 and several other local radio stations [as well as publisher of NorthBay biz]. “This year will be the festival’s 10th anniversary,” says Lawrence Amaturo, president of ASMG. “It’s the largest country music festival in Northern California. In 2024, the event attracted 27,000 fans from 34 states and four countries.”
From the time the first act steps onto the stage until the lights dim three days later, the music-filled event seemingly unfolds without a hitch. But to make it happen, much effort, coordination and teamwork are required—beginning not long after the encores wind down on the previous year’s festival. Over the course of nearly a year, artists are booked, vendors arranged and stages built. “It takes a village to make it all happen,” says Drew Jacoby, executive producer for Impact Entertainment.
Country music is cool again…
It’s the fastest growing music genre in America. Spotify reports that country music listening has increased 110% over the past five years. According to music data tracker Luminate, streaming grew by 23.5% in 2023, adding 20 billion more country music streams. Last July, the Wall Street Journal reported, “Country music is having its biggest boom in 30 years, with an unusual number of artists topping the charts, dominating streaming, striking branding deals and selling out shows.”
Several factors are at play behind the genre’s rapid growth.
In the old days, record labels and country radio drove the business. Now streaming and social media, influenced by Gen Z and millennials, have made it easier for artists to bypass the record companies and jumpstart their own careers. “What’s different about this country boom is that it’s mostly fans in the driver’s seat,” says Melinda Newman, Billboard magazine’s executive editor for the West Coast and Nashville. “The audience is the gatekeeper. Country hasn’t been here before.”
In addition to streaming and social media, the melding of genres and artist crossover has brought in new fans. Some say it began in 2006, when a 16-year-old Taylor Swift released her debut album Taylor Swift—a blend of traditional country and a youthful, modern sound, introducing her young followers to the country music genre. The album’s lead single Tim McGraw charted on Billboard’s Hot 100 and reached number six on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs. Though now a pop music superstar, Swift got her start touring as an opening act for Rascal Flatts, George Strait, Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.
Today, crossovers into country music are common. R&B, hip hop, pop artist Beyonce donned a cowboy hat and western attire for the cover of her 2024 album Cowboy Carter. The album reached number one on Billboard 200 and won multiple Grammy awards, including Best Country Album and Album of the Year. Last year also saw American Nigerian singer Shaboozey not only featured on two tracks of Cowboy Carter, but his own country-meets- hip-hop single, A Bar Song (Tipsy), settle in for 38 weeks (as of press time) at number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
The blending of genres, social media and streaming have also led to a geographic shift in music tastes. Country music is less regional—no longer reserved for rural audiences, but expanding its influence in metropolitan areas. Acclaimed country music singer-songwriter Lainey Wilson performed to a sell-out crowd last year at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. Her opening act for that event: Country Summer 2025’s own Ian Munsick, who’s performing at this year’s festival on June 29.
When country came to Sonoma County
In 2013, when Amaturo acquired several local radio stations and established ASMG, he met with his team and inquired as to any unique or special projects they wanted to undertake. Staging a music festival turned out to be that special project.
And the timing could not have been better. Up-and-coming country duo Florida Georgia Line had appeared at the Sonoma County Fair, and ASMG’s country station, Froggy 92.9, helped publicize the show and had gotten to know its promoter, Alan Jacoby. The burgeoning relationship with Jacoby led to a business collaboration—and Country Summer Music Festival was born. Jacoby, with over 30 years in the entertainment business, provided event-management expertise while Froggy offered access and promotion in the local market. But just as Country Summer was gaining real momentum, the pandemic hit and the 2020 festival was canceled.
And far-worse news was on the horizon. In 2021, Jacoby died due to complications from COVID-19.
Jim Murphy, ASMG VP programming and operations, recalls Jacoby as “a good friend to all of us.”
“His leadership and vision were essential in making Country Summer a success,” says Murphy. These days the festival features an AJ Signature Row in honor of Jacoby’s legacy.
Drew Jacoby, Alan’s son, stepped in to take over Impact Entertainment management. “It’s a pleasure working with Drew,” Murphy says. “He grew up in the business. He learned from the best.”
Impact Entertainment has responsibility for operations, management, logistics and the booking of talent while ASMG promotes the event, consults on the lineup, and the Froggy 92.9 sales team solicits sponsors.
Changes in 2025
Outside of sporting events, post-pandemic audiences have been slow to fully return to entertainment venues. It’s a nationwide trend—last year, neither Coachella nor Burning Man sold out, the first time either of those festivals has been left with extra tickets in years. Country Summer hasn’t been immune: Attendance was down 10% from a peak of 30,000 in 2019, according to Drew Jacoby.
“Some of that decline can perhaps be attributed to the economy and inflation, where there’s less discretionary income for entertainment,” Jacoby says. “We’ve addressed that by lowering the price of general admission tickets to $85 per day with no add-on fees. That works out to about $10 per performance,” he says. They’ve also changed the date. The festival used to take place on Father’s Day weekend, when some performers and fans preferred to be home with family. This year, Country Summer takes place the last weekend in June.
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Here’s a look at some of the most anticipated performers at Country Summer 2025:
Sam Hunt
Sam Hunt is the opening day headliner on Friday, June 27. The Georgia-born singer-songwriter got his start writing songs for such names as Reba McEntire, Keith Urban and Kenny Chesney, before debuting his own album, Montevallo, in 2014. His sophomore album, Southside, was released in 2020, featuring the songs “Body Like a Back Road,” “Downtown’s Dead” and “Drinkin’ Too Much.”
Kane Brown
The Saturday, June 28 headliner, Kane Brown, hails from Chattanooga, Tennessee. The early life of the 31-year-old reads like the lyrics to a country song. When Brown was 3, his father was handed a 99-year prison sentence for burglary and rape. As a youth, he and his mom traveled across Georgia as she looked for work, occasionally living out of the back of a car. As an outlet, Brown turned to country music. After garnering a following on social media, Brown produced a 2015 EP funded though Kickstarter. It quickly caught on and rose to No. 22 on the Billboard Top Country Album chart, leading to a contract with RCA Nashville. On his 2022 album Different Man, he and wife Katelyn Brown collaborated on the love song, “Thank God.” And there’s another duet from the couple, “Body Talk” is on Kane’s recently released album The High Road.
Dustin Lynch
Dustin Lynch closes the festival Sunday, June 29. The Tennessee native’s self-titled 2012 debut album reached number one on the Top Country Albums chart and he’s never looked back. His sixth album, Killed the Cowboy, came out in 2023.
Ian Munsick
Ian Munsick performs Sunday, June 29. Munsick grew up on a ranch in Wyoming, hailing from a long line of cowboys, ranchers and musicians. That western upbringing serves as the inspiration for much of his music. At age 10 he began playing alongside his father, Dave, and older brothers Tris and Sam as The Munsick Boys.
His second album is 2023’s White Buffalo. The lead single, “Long Live Cowgirls,” is a duet with Cody Johnson and was named among the Amazon Music Best Country Songs of 2022.
As the New Yorker put it in a 2024 profile headlined, “Ian Munsick Puts the Western Back In Country”: “[His] considerable appeal is that he doesn’t quite fit in. He has a growing fan base to match his growing catalog of great songs about being lovesick or homesick or some combination of both. Yet he sings not in a sturdy Southern baritone but in a high, transfixing tenor, which grows even higher when, from time to time he shifts into a mournful howl.” Seems only fitting that his 2021 debut is titled Coyote Cry.
Gabby Barrett
Gabby Barrett is performing on the festival’s June 17 opening night. She and musician husband Cade Foehner met in 2018 as contestants on American Idol. (Both ended up in the top five.) They married in 2019 and have three children. Barrett followed her American Idol appearance with the release of the single “I Hope.” The song caught the attention of singer-songwriter Charlie Puth and together they did a remix that was nominated in 2020 for single of the year by the Country Music Association. Barrett’s most recent album is 2024’s faith-inspired Chapter and Verse. An album single, “You’re My Texas,” co-written with Miranda Lambert, is a tribute to husband Cade.
Mitchell Tenpenny
Mitchell Tenpenny takes the stage Saturday, June 28, bringing his brand of country-pop to Santa Rosa. The Nashville-born singer-songwriter has released such chart-making songs as “Drunk Me” and “If the Boot Fits.” His most recent album, The 3rd, came out in 2024.
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Special setting, special moments
“Many of our artists are used to performing in large outdoor arenas before crowds of 40,000 to 60,000 people,” Amaturo says. “Our setting at the fairgrounds is more intimate. There’s fewer people and excellent acoustics. There’s a raised ramp that extends out from the stage where performers can move out and sing along with the fans.”
Country Summer is known for its special moments. One of those occurred when Blake Shelton performed at the 2022 festival. “That just happened to be his 46th birthday,” Amaturo says. “And to everyone’s surprise [Shelton’s spouse and No Doubt singer] Gwen Stefani appeared on stage, presented Blake with a cake and sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ Doesn’t get much better than that!”
For Santa Rosa’s Valerie and Eric Andersen, the festival has become a family affair—an event looked forward to every year. “We’ve been fans of country music our entire lives,” Valerie says. “Our first date was a Tyler Farr concert.” The couple has attended nearly every festival since its inception. (She missed 2014, though Eric made it.)
“What keeps us coming back is the great live music so close to home. You can’t beat driving 15 minutes to see performers like Toby Keith, Blake Shelton, Eric Church and Lynyrd Skynyrd.”
The Andersens have their own special festival moment. Backstage, following a Tyler Farr meet-and-greet in 2018, they got engaged. “I’d been wanting to propose to Valerie for a very long time,” Eric says. “Country music and concerts were a huge part of our lives. So, I came up with an idea and with the help of the amazing Froggy staff, I was able to pull it off.”
Valerie adds, “Seeing Tyler Farr on our first date and Country Summer being something we look forward to every year, it all made sense!”
And now the festival has become a family affair. When Tyler Farr came back to the festival in 2023, he got to meet the Andersens’ 5-month-old son Charlie. “It was his first concert,” Eric says. “Since then, Charlie has been to two more festivals”
Adds Eric, proudly: “And this year he’ll be joined by baby brother Johnny.”
Now, that truly is a Country Summer family.
For info and tickets, visit countrysummer.com.
Need to Know Info
Country Summer 2025 takes place June 27 to 29 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa. Headliners include Sam Hunt (Friday), Kane Brown (Saturday) and Dustin Lynch (Sunday. The full lineup is at countrysummer.com.
General admission three-day pass is $225; single day tickets are $85.
Reserved seating three-day pass is $450, $600 and $690; reserved single day are $175, $215 and $250.
Additional viewing options in The Pit, on the Platinum Viewing Deck, in AJ’s Signature Row and as a Country Club VIP are available as well. Visit countrysummer.com for information.
The Sonoma County Fairgrounds are at 1450 Bennet Valley Road in Santa Rosa.