Toby Keith will spend his Saturday night hanging out at the Bryce Jordan Center when he plays the next concert on his Ford Trucks-sponsored Hookin' Up & Hangin' Out Tour.
Keith is perhaps best known for the post-9/11 anthem, "Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue (The Angry American)," and the ensuing feud he had with country trio the Dixie Chicks. But even amidst controversy, he has had a wildly successful career, with six multi-platinum albums and 14 singles hitting number one on the Billboard country charts over his 13-year career.
His most recent album, White Trash with Money, is his first album released on his own label, Show Dog Nashville, and it has sold more a million copies. Singles "Get Drunk and Be Somebody" and "A Little Too Late" charted in the top ten on the country charts and landed on the Billboard Hot 100.
Tommy DiVito (freshman-communications) said Keith has great style for a country musician.
"I like his style; his music, of course, is awesome, but his patriotism is great," DiVito said. "He doesn't care what people think and he just writes from his heart. I like his music more than anything."
This will be Keith's third time headlining a concert at the BJC, having played the arena in 2002 and playing a sold-out show in 2004. However, difficulties in selling tickets to students for Saturday's show have led him to personally lower the ticket prices.
Director of Public Relations and Marketing for the BJC Bernie Punt said that on Tuesday morning Keith's promoter called him because Keith wanted to know how many tickets had been sold to students.
"I had to be honest with him and say there were only about 100 sold just to students," Punt said. "We've got a lot of adults coming, but I think tickets may have been too high for students who don't have a lot of money. If you're an adult with a job, it's no big deal, but students don't have that kind of money to spend."
Keith's promoter told Punt he would call him back in a few minutes after speaking to Keith.
"A little while later, I got a phone call saying Toby would personally lower ticket prices for students to $20," Punt said. "That's coming straight from Toby; he does all that stuff himself."
Punt said students can now purchase tickets
for $20, but they will only have access to the $47 seats.
"For the students that already got tickets, they'll have better seats than the discounted ones, because they'll be in the upper section and the tickets already sold were closer to the stage," he said. "But it was just a great thing he did so that students could see him."
DiVito said he thinks Keith was unselfish in lowering the prices.
"I think it's awesome," he said. "I think, especially in country music, you see a lot of guys who don't care about their wallets as much as they do their fans."
The country megastar will be joined by guest Joe Nichols as well as Keith's Show Dog Nashville record label mates RushlowHarris and Lindsey Haun.
Nichols, who had his biggest hit with 2003's "Brokenheartsville," is touring with Keith for the second time, having joined him on his 2005 Big Throwdown Tour.
His debut album, Man with a Memory, went gold, as did his most recent effort, III, on the strength of his hit single "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off."
"Joe Nichols has some hilarious songs," DiVito said. "The lyrics are just funny to listen to. It's very soothing, just good old music, good country music."
In addition to joining Keith for the tour, Haun will also star along with him in this year's film, Broken Bridges.
She also will appear on the soundtrack for the film, which features a collaboration with Keith on the title track and her first solo single, "Broken." The 21-year-old has previously appeared in a number of television series, including 7th Heaven, Alias and Malcolm in the Middle.
