Country music network Great American Country (GAC) is teaming with the city of Knoxville to bring country music singers Aaron Tippin and Brian McComas to Market Square. The popular artists will perform in a free concert on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 4 p.m.
GAC, owned by Knoxville-based Scripps Networks, is bringing the music to the citizens of East Tennessee to commemorate the successful conclusion of the summer-long Great American Country Bus Tour, a 40-state, 25,000-mile trek across America. Throughout the summer, the GAC Bus has been touring the country, meeting thousands of fans and recording viewers' video dedications to be shown on several GAC programs.
The GAC Bus will be on hand at Market Square for Sunday's concert. "Aaron and Brian are talented performers who will really offer people in the Knoxville area a taste of what GAC is all about," said Sarah Trahern, senior vice president of programming for GAC. "It's talent like theirs that really helps to showcase GAC as America's main street for the widest variety of country music."
GAC can be seen locally on Comcast channel 36, Charter channel 143, and on DirecTV and Dish Network satellite.
Tippin, with more than five million albums sold, built a reputation for hard-core honky-tonk performances such as "Working Man's Ph.D.," "Kiss This," "You've Got to Stand for Something," and "There Ain't Nothing Wrong with the Radio," and his new single "Ready to Rock (In a Country Kinda Way)," but says that nowadays he's trying something a little different -- a difference that can be heard on the three new tracks on his "Now & Then" album that hits stores September 5. "I feel like there's still great music in me. The only evolution is that I'm putting more of the roots where I came from into the sound," Tippin concedes.
Born in Pensacola, Fla., Tippin grew up in South Carolina, where he listened to and learned from southern country-rock icons like Charlie Daniels and The Marshall Tucker Band. He calls his music a "cross-breeding" of steel guitar and fiddle."And you'll still hear me yodeling on the new stuff," he adds.
Brian McComas believes music is more than just a spectator sport. When the gifted young singer/songwriter performs, he's intent in delivering an experience his audience won't forget. That drive, talent and passion combine in McComas' artistry to create something memorable."It's not made to be a picture, it's made to be a 3D experience," says McComas who has been performing more than 100 live shows a year. "My philosophy is to have a good enough time on stage that it bleeds over. If people don't see you enjoying what you do, why should they enjoy it? Entertaining people is important. Involving people is important. We take our live show very seriously."
 
McComas' new single "All Comes Flooding Down," appears on his new album "Back Up Again" (Katapult Records), which arrives in stores on August 29.