Country Thunder Wisconsin
2305 Richmond Road
Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, 53181
Friday July 20-23, 2023
With the sun shining bright and the fields filling up, fans were anticipating a great second day of Country Thunder Wisconsin. The day had an amazing line-up of artists, which included John Morgan, Halle Kearns, Hailey Whitters, Parmalee, Lainey Wilson, and Jon Pardi.
Hailey Whitters drew in a small crowd of fans that were singing along to her songs. Whitters is an Iowa native singer-songwriter who has been making music since 2015. Her debut single to country radio, “Everything She Ain’t,” hit number 17 on the US Country Airplay charts in 2022. She recently took home New Female Artist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
Parmalee was next up in the lineup, where the crowd was on their feet dancing along. Parmalee has been making music since 2001 and has had 3 number one singles. In 2013, their first number 1 hit was “Carolina,” followed by “Just the Way” in 2021, which featured Blanco Brown, and “Take My Name” in 2022. Parmalee’s lead singer, Matt Thomas, worked the stage with ease and spent quite a bit of time interacting with the fans.
The crowd erupted in cheers as Lainey Wilson took the stage. She moved with ease, worked the whole stage, and danced the entire set. She has an amazing stage presence and spends a lot of time signing autographs throughout her set. Her set included songs off her new album such as “Those Boots” and “Grease,” as well as some of her current hits, “Wait in the Truck” with HARDY and “Heart Like a Truck.” Wilson is a singer-songwriter from Louisiana who has been making music since 2011. She received her first number one hit on the American country charts with “Things a Man Oughta Know.” Since 2021, Wilson has won countless awards including New Female Artist of the Year at the CMT Awards in 2021 and the CMA Awards in 2022. She recently won four awards at the Academy of Country Music Awards, which included Artist of the Year, Female Artist of the Year, Musical Event of the Year, and Visual Media of the Year.
It was finally that time of the night for Jon Pardi to take the stage. Pardi sang many of his hits including “Tequila Little Time,” “Dirt on My Boots,” “Heartache Medication,” and “Head Over Boots.” He maneuvered his way around the stage well and spent a lot of time with the fans. Pardi has been making music since 2012 and won two awards in 2012, New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards and New Male Vocalist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards. Since then, he has been nominated for a few awards for his albums and songs, including “Dirt on My Boots.” All the artists put on an amazing show and kept the crowd engaged, singing and dancing all afternoon and through evening.
While the weather forecast was showing the potential for some dicey weather on day 3, fans still lined up early for the day in preparation for the artists ahead. Frank Ray, Shane Profitt, Lonestar, Carly Pearce, and Jason Aldean made up the lineup for day 3 of Country Thunder Wisconsin.
The first artist of the day was up-and-coming musician Frank Ray. Ray set the day off on a strong note keeping the crowd on their feet. He spent time telling stories about his music while also singing some of his songs including his song “Country’d Look Good on You,” which has hit number 17 on the US Country Airplay chart.
Shane Profitt made his way to the stage next and started his set with a bang. He has a great stage presence and makes sure to cover all aspects of the stage and its long catwalk. He spent a lot of time connecting with the audience in the pit. Profitt made sure to interact with the photographers at the show, including myself, which was a nice surprise. He sang many of his songs including his radio single “How It Outta Be,” which has hit number 16 on the US Country Airplay charts. Profitt recently started his career in 2021 where he ran into Chris Janson in a restaurant, which led him to be signed to a songwriting contract for his new album All In. He was then given the opportunity to open for Chris Janson on his Halfway to Crazy tour in 2021-2022 (review to the Halfway to Crazy tour: http://www.thecompmagazine.com/chris-janson-halfway-to-crazy-tour-at-the-rialto/ )
Lonestar was the next artist to kick off the evening. They put on a strong set where they sang many of their hits, including “Amazed,” “I’m Already There,” and “My Front Porch Looking In.” Lonestar has been a group since 1992, consisting of members Drew Womack (lead vocals, acoustic guitar), Michael Britt (lead guitar, background vocals), Dean Sams (keyboards, acoustic guitar, background vocals), and Keech Rainwater (drums). The group has had 20 singles on the Hot country charts, where 9 reached number 1.
Carly Pearce kicked off her set in the rain to a packed crowd of fans. She performed the beginning of her set while under the covered stage where it was not as slippery and made her way down the catwalk as the show went on. She performed many of her hits including “What He Didn’t Do,” “Next Girl,” “I Hope You’re Happy Now,” and “Never Wanted to Be That Girl.” She connected with the audience many times throughout her set and talked with the fans all evening. Pearce started her music career in 2006 as a singer-songwriter from Taylor Mills, Kentucky. She has been nominated for countless awards since 2018 and has won 10. Her most recent wins include 2022 Musical Event of the Year at the CMA Awards and Best Country Duo/Group Performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
The Crowd erupted in cheers as Jason Aldean took the stage 15 minutes early to try to beat out the impending weather that was on its way. He worked the entirety of the stage with ease and had the crowd dancing all night. He sang many of his hits such as “She’s Country,” “When She Says Baby,” “Trouble with a Heartbreak,” and his newest release “Try That in a Small Town,” which has raised media attention following the release of its music video. The set was postponed as weather took a turn for the worse and resumed around 12:45am and continued until 2am. Aldean has been active since 1998 as a singer-songwriter and has had 38 singles, where 27 of them have reached number 1. Since 2005, he has been nominated for many awards, where he most recently won AMC Dick Clark Artist of the Decade Award at the ACM Awards in 2019. Aldean kept the crowd going into the early morning hour where fans continued to sing and dance the whole time.
After a long weekend of country music, the 4th and final day of Country Thunder 2023 has come. Fans were anticipating the artists of the day, which consisted of Mackenzie Carpenter, Priscilla Block, Bailey Zimmerman, Ashley McBryde, and Keith Urban.
Priscilla Block had the crowds slowly gathering in to hear her set. She worked the long catwalk the whole time she was on stage. Her setlist included “Just About Over You” and “My Bar.” Block’s career started in 2017 as a singer-songwriter. Her latest song ,“You, Me, and Whiskey” with Justin Moore, has hit number 6 on the US Country Airplay Chart.
The crowds filled in fast as Bailey Zimmerman was about to take the stage. Zimmerman kicked off his set by running and jumping down the catwalk hyping up the crowd. He opened his set with his newest single “Religiously,” which is from his debut album titled Religiously: The Album. His set included his singles “Rock and a Hard Place” and “Fall in Love,” as well as another popular song titled “Where it Ends.” Zimmerman’s career began in 2020 when he released his music on TikTok where he rose to fame in the matter of months. By January of 2021, he released his debut single “Never Comin’ Home,” which entered the top 20 on Spotify’s Viral Chart for the US. Both “Fall in Love” and “Rock and a Hard Place” have reached number 1 on the US Country Airplay chart, whereas “Religiously” is currently at number 11.
Ashely McBryde was the next artist to take the stage before the long-awaited Keith Urban. McBryde performed a majority of her set on the main stage rather than the catwalk due to the fact that she played her guitar for most of her set. She sang “One Night Standards” and “Martha Divine,” along with some of her other songs off her previous albums. McBryde has been making music since 2006 as a singer-songwriter and made her breakthrough in 2017 with her debut single “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega.” She has been nominated for countless awards since 2019 and has recently won the International Artist Achievement Award at the 2022 CMA Awards as well as Best Country Duo/Group Performance with “Never Wanted to Be That Girl,” which she sang with Carly Pearce.
After a long weekend the wait was over and Keith Urban took the stage to close out Country Thunder 2023. Urban has a great stage presence and continued maneuvering the stage while playing his electric guitar. He had the fans engaged the whole night, singing and dancing along the entire time. He spent a lot of time interacting with the crowd up front and signing autographs throughout his entire set. “Somebody Like You,” “Wasted Time,” “Wild Hearts,” and “Brown Eyes Baby” were a few of his singles that he sang throughout the night. Urban started his career in 1990 as a singer-songwriter, as well as a guitarist. Urban has received 256 nominations throughout his career starting in 2001 and has won 110 of those nominations. His most recent wins include Entertainer of the Year at the 2019 ACM Awards, Top Country Songs at the 2020 BMI Country Awards, Top Selling Album of the Year at the 2021 CMA Awards of Australia, and Highest Selling Single at the 2022 Queensland Music Awards. Urban closed out an unforgettable weekend of country music at Country Thunder Wisconsin 2023 that had fans elated while leaving the festival grounds.
For additional Information on Country Thunder Wisconsin and these musicians, please visit:
Country Thunder Wisconsin – https://www.countrythunder.com/wi
Jason Aldean – https://www.jasonaldean.com/
Bailey Zimmerman – https://www.baileyzimmermanmusic.com/
Parmalee – https://www.parmaleemusic.com/
Hailey Whitters – https://haileywhitters.com/
Lainey Wilson – https://laineywilson.com/
Jon Pardi – https://www.jonpardi.com/
Frank Ray – https://frankraymusic.com/welcome/
Ashley McBryde – https://www.ashleymcbryde.com/
Keith Urban – https://keithurban.com/
Priscilla Block – https://www.priscillablock.com/
Shane Profitt – https://www.shaneprofitt.com/
Photography and writing by Jaclyn Duske
Jaclyn Duske is a senior Art & Design major focusing on graphic design and photography. Duske has had her concert photography featured on The Today Show, KTLA, and Countrynow.com. In her spare time, Jaclyn works with an equestrian therapy centre just south of Chicago.
