Hunter Hayes collaborated with streaming music service Spotify to help route the upcoming 21 Tour by identifying college markets with a high density of his fans. The first round of dates are being unveiled today (Aug. 14) with ticketing information and more dates to be announced in the coming weeks.

The tour will be a limited run of 21 dates in 21 U.S. cities. Together with Spotify, Hayes will reward his biggest fans in each of the cities with pre-sale access to tickets, and offer the top 21 fans prizes including early entry to the show, meet-and-greet opportunities, signed memorabilia, and more. The fan who streams Hayes’ music the most in each market will also be rewarded with a one-year subscription to Spotify Premium.

Up-and-coming Nashville singer/songwriter Ryan Lafferty will open for Hayes on most dates on the 21 Tour, with chart-topping country artist Kelsea Ballerini joining as a special guest at the Nov. 5 show at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.

“I’ve been calling this the year to be brave, because we’ve really been pushing ourselves to try new things, whether it’s how we release new music or how we go on tour,” said Hayes. “Our fans are everything to us, and it’s so incredible we have a way to reward our biggest fans to create even more cool opportunities together.”

“Hunter is laser-focused on building connections with his fans and has completely embraced streaming on Spotify as a core means to that goal,” said Katie Schlosser, Director, Label Relations North America at Spotify. “It’s been incredibly rewarding working so closely with Hunter and his team. This collaboration has helped define our entire release strategy and we continue to explore bold new ways to deepen the relationship between Hunter and his audience.”

His new single “21” has already resulted in nearly 21 million global streams in less than 10 weeks.

Hayes will continue on the Wheels Up Tour with Lady Antebellum and Sam Hunt through the end of summer.

The first round of dates to be announced for the 21 Tour:

Thursday, Oct. 22 – Western Carolina University – Cullowhee, N.C.*
Friday, Oct. 23 – Kent State University – Kent, OH*
Saturday, Oct. 24 – West Point Eisenhower Hall Theater – Highland Falls, N.Y.*
Thursday, Oct. 29 – Purdue University – West Lafayette, Ind.*
Thursday, Nov. 5 – Western Kentucky University – Bowling Green, Ky.**
Saturday, Nov. 14 – University of Oklahoma – Norman, Okla.*
Thursday, Nov. 19 – Wake Forest University – Winston-Salem, N.C.*

* Denotes shows with Ryan Lafferty
** Denotes shows with special guest Kelsea Ballerini

Wyatt Departs Parallel

Parallel Entertainment Artist Manager Chris Wyatt has exited the company to pursue a new opportunity that has yet to be announced. Wyatt maintains his share of ownership in Parallel Music Publishing. He can be reached at [email protected].

Music Master Jeff Stevens

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum explored the life of producer Jeff Stevens during a Music Masters Q&A last Saturday (August 8). Led by the museum’s editor Michael McCall, the discussion followed Stevens’ work as a songwriter and producer for Luke Bryan. The program was capped off with an acoustic performance by Stevens.

 Herndon Inks With Buddy Lee

Ty Herndon has entered into an exclusive booking agreement with Buddy Lee Attractions (BLA). “We are truly excited that Ty Herndon is joining the BLA team,” commented BLA’s David Kiswiney. 

Meghan Trainor is canceling the remainder of her tour. She shared the news with fans today (Aug. 11) on her Facebook page, citing a hemorrhaged vocal cord. She said she will undergo surgery to correct the problem.

Trainor’s MTRAIN Tour was supposed to include an Aug. 15 stop at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.

The outing, promoted exclusively by Live Nation, kicked off July 3 in Atlantic City, NJ. She played international dates throughout the summer in the UK, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Denmark, Germany and Italy. Her stateside concerts were scheduled through mid-September.

Chris Young has announced details for his I’m Comin’ Over fall tour and also unveiled the cover art for his new CD, due out later this year. Young will launch the tour Oct. 22 in Savannah, Ga. and hit 14 markets through Dec. 5.

Eric Paslay and Clare Dunn will open for Young.

Tickets for the tour go on sale Friday (Aug. 14) and can be purchased at aeglive.com and ChrisYoungCountry.com. A limited number of VIP packages, including premium seats, a preshow acoustic event, limited edition merch and more will also be available for sale.

I’m Comin’ Over Tour Dates
Oct 22 –  Savannah Civic Center, Savannah, GA
Oct. 23 –  Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA
Oct. 24 –  Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Auditorium, Chattanooga, TN
Oct. 29 –  Santander Arena, Reading, PA**
Oct. 30 –  Erie Insurance Arena, Erie, PA
Oct. 31 –   Big Sandy Superstore Arena, Huntington, WV
Nov. 13 –  Emens Auditorium, Muncie, IN
Nov. 14 –  Miller Auditorium, Kalamazoo, MI
Nov. 19 –  1STBANK Center, Broomfield, CO***
Nov. 20 – Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark, Billings, MT**
Nov. 21 – Bismark Event Center Arena, Bismarck, ND
Dec. 3 –  AMSOIL Arena, Duluth, MN
Dec. 4 –  Mayo Civic Center Arena, Rochester, MN
Dec. 5 –  Resch Center Theatre, Green Bay, WI

Hunter Hayes has announced he will launch a 21 Tour, playing 21 special shows this fall across the U.S. including college campuses. Tour dates and ticket information are forthcoming.

“We’ve had such a great time touring this summer, and I can’t wait to get back out there this fall and see our fans in a close-up setting,” said Hayes. “We’re going to make it all about the music, with every night holding something unique only to that show.”

Hayes’ single “21” is already closing in on 21 million streams globally in less than nine weeks since its release, and is the third most-played country track on Spotify. Today (August 7) he is the featured artist on Spotify’s The Drop, where six of his songs and videos, including two brand new releases, “Saint Or A Sinner” and “Trouble With Love” are highlighted.

He is also featured on Country Now in an exclusive ‘Live From Blackbird’ performance, filmed earlier this month at Nashville’s Blackbird Studios.