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Kevin Lyman, creator of the Vans Warped Tour, is building a new festival, brick by country brick.
Credit: Lisa Johnson
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Kevin Lyman has evolved, just like the music tours he promotes. Lyman, the creator of the hugely successful Vans Warped Tour, is going country for 2010. He's launching the Country Throwdown, a twangy version of the multi-stage Warped tour, that will run from May 13 through June 20. On the bill are Montgomery Gentry, Jamey Johnson, Little Big Town, Jack Ingram—and a slew of ways for fans to be exposed to new music and environmental projects.
Lyman got his start booking bands and working as a roadie for acts like the Untouchables, The Bangles and Bad Religion. He was later the production manager for rock and metal bands like The Germs, Metallica, Circle Jerks, Anthrax and Jane's Addiction. And the Warped tour, a punk rock summer camp of sorts, introduced artists like No Doubt, Sublime, Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance to the masses.
Which makes you wonder, why country, why now? In short, Lyman says, punk is more a mindset than a music. A lot of early punk was political. Remember those Ronald Reagan songs?
"A lot of punkers were actually hippies at heart in a lot of ways," Lyman said in a recent interview with Planet Green. "Hippies fought for change and punkers fought for change and I think the environment has a lot to do with that."
Lyman says he's always had diverse musical tastes, and got a shot of bluegrass nine years ago, when he worked with T-Bone Burnett on the Down from the Mountain documentary film project.
Bluegrass, he says, is basically just punk rock from the Appalachians.
"I've always loved country," Lyman said. "The outlaw country, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson."
These days, Lyman said he sees a lot of talented, young country artists out there who don't fit the mold, and deserve more exposure.
"It's the same model," he said. "You're taking the Warped tour model, you're putting a lot of great music together. The sum of the parts makes a greater whole."
He also sees a lot of the old punk rock mentality, and sound, in some of today's country artists. In a way, modern country is more rock than modern rock. Remember guitar solos?
"I like these guys," Lyman said of artists on the upcoming tour, which also include Eric Church and the Eli Young Band. "I like that a lot of them are just regular people, out playing music again. They're not dressing up for the cameras."
Lyman hopes to make the Country Throwdown just as green as its Warped cousin, which featured biodiesel-fueled vehicles, a solar stage and recycling efforts.
Tickets to day-long concerts on the Country Throwdown tour will run about $40, with a dollar of the cost going to a ticket buyer's favorite charity.
Lyman hopes to reach a whole new set of people, even some who aren't necessarily country fans.
"Everyone's living in an iPod generation where you're jumping from music to music," he said. "People are just fans of music now more than a type of music."
Lyman plans to announce a title sponsor in early January. Tickets go on sale in February.
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