The inaugural Lasso Montréal festival in 2022 was pure country gold — a chance to celebrate the power of live music surrounded by 35,000 friends, family, and fellow fans at Parc Jean-Drapeau. And this summer’s edition looks to be an even bigger, unforgettable country event. On Aug. 18 and 19, Montreal’s Espace 67 festival site on beautiful Île Sainte-Hélène (a quick 10 minutes from downtown by metro) will once again be home to a massive hoedown to celebrate the power of live music — led by headliners Kane Brown and Chris Stapleton.
Friday night’s headliner Brown is the first artist to top all five main Billboard country charts at the same time. Born in Georgia before relocating to Tennessee as a young man, Brown found fame online, publishing videos of himself covering country legends like Alan Jackson, George Strait and Blake Shelton. His baritone voice has resonated with audiences worldwide, garnering him an unprecedented string of eight No. 1 Billboard Country Airplay songs. Kane has also forged new roads, collaborating with the likes of Khalid, Marshmello and Becky G, and playing around with trap beats, mixtapes, and more of a futuristic and diverse approach to country music. The young performer also launched his own record label, 1021 Entertainment, in a joint venture with Sony Music Nashville, and was the first male country artist to perform at the recent MTV Video Music Awards.
Saturday night brings Stapleton, one of country music’s finest singers, songwriters and guitarists. Born and raised in Kentucky, Stapleton ranks among the most authentic and successful country stars in the world. The multi-tasking multi-talent was recognized by the Academy of Country Music as the inaugural artist-songwriter of the decade, having written over 170 songs for a variety of country legends and newcomers, including six chart toppers. His debut solo album, 2015’s Traveller (recognised by Billboard as Top Country Album of the Decade) reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and was certified quadruple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Since then, every one of Stapleton’s albums has been a huge success — in 2018, he actually held the top three spots on the Billboard’s Top Country Albums charts with three different albums. His soulful countrified voice (which has been compared to the late Chris Cornell) has accompanied the likes of Taylor Swift, Brandi Carlile, Justin Timberlake, and Adele (to name a few), and his all-American roadshow is not to be missed!
More highlights from the upcoming festival:
Jake Owen, has been dominating the charts since he burst onto the scene in 2006. The Florida-born singer has 10 No. 1 singles to his name, and his honky-tonk baritone has been streamed over 2.5 billion times.
Brothers Osbourne are the real deal when it comes to rockin’ country! The duo of T.J. and John Osborne have six Grammy noms under their belts, four CMA Awards, five ACM trophies and a collection of some of the most infectious country hits to chart in the past decade,
Elle King is an absolute phenomenon — the four-time Grammy nominee has received high honors from the Country Music Association Awards as well as the Academy of Country Music Awards. The singer cites a varied list of musical influences, including Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Otis Redding, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and AC/DC, making for a very old school sound.
Pennsylvania-born Gabby Barrett is widely considered the face of Gen-Z country, having been named Billboard’s Top New Country Artist of 2020, an Amazon Music Breakthrough artist, and one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Music. In her meteoric rise to the top, she has amassed nearly two billion global streams and her debut, I Hope, was the most-streamed country song of 2020, highlighted as one of the Best Songs of the year by the Associated Press and Billboard, and won CMT’s 2020 Breakthrough Video of the Year award.
Multi-platinum Canadian artist Dean Brody has just come off arguably the single biggest year of his career, headlining multiple festival stages across the country. The popular singer/songwriter has collected an unprecedented 34 Top 10 singles; 18 CCMA Awards; two Juno awards, and his music has garnered over 425+ million streams around the globe.
General admission two-day tickets for Lasso Montréal 2023 start at $230 (including taxes and fees) at www.lassomontreal.com. Single-day tickets will go on sale at a later date. Keep up with Lasso on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
