Kid Rock is set to headline another incarnation of his touring “Rock The Country” festival later this year. The trek features seven shows in smaller towns across the U.S.,and a rotating lineup that includes Jason Aldean, Blake Shelton, Jelly Roll, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aaron Lewis, Miranda Lambert and several others.
One rock band that was slated to appear was Shinedown, however they dropped off of the festival due to backlash presumably over Kid Rock’s more conservative political viewpoints. Singer Brent Smith explained to Rolling Stone: “We saw infighting that we had never seen before, and for us, it was our job to diffuse it. I just want to remind everybody, it says the ‘United States of America’ — united. And a lot of people right now don’t feel united.”
He continued: “There were certain people that were not happy about us dropping off. I will say that there was an overwhelming amount of people that agreed with the decision. … You’re entitled to your opinion 1,000 percent in this country, and that’s one of the beautiful things about it.”
Earlier this year, Shinedown’s drummer Berry Kersh criticized rapper Ludacris for dropping off of the same tour calling him a coward. “I’m just gonna go play a show,” he said. “I really, really don’t care. You can keep your politics to yourself. I have no opinion one way or the other on Kid Rock. I love his music. This is about music. Ludacris wasn’t tough… I mean, it’s not like he needs the money, Jeez. If he’s not tough enough to stick it out, that’s just silly. That’s him being a coward, in my opinion.”
