A cracking success
| George Strait perfroms in Tampa, Florida |
(CNN) -- It's that time of year again. Country music fans all over America are kicking up their heels and getting their boots dusty as they catch up with country veteran George Strait and his traveling entourage.
The Fourth Annual George Strait Chevy Truck Country Music Festival got underway in March in Tampa, Florida, and is set to conclude it's 16-city journey on June 10 in Dallas, Texas. The tour features performances by an array of country musicians -- new and known -- plus colorful carnival celebrations.
Since 1998, Strait's tour has sold more than 2.5 million tickets and grossed more than $90 million. Last year it was rated the third most popular country music event after the Dixie Chick's "Fly" tour and the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill "Soul 2 Soul" tour.
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"We've just been fortunate to have some great acts on the tour and I think we've got a great line-up this year," says Strait.
"We've got to like them."
Alan Jackson joins the 2001 festival in the wake of last year's Strait-Jackson hit duet, "Murder on Music Row," which won the Country Music Association's vocal event of the year award.
Also in the line-up are Lee Ann Womack, Asleep at the Wheel and Brad Paisley. Sara Evans, The Warren Brothers and Lonestar have come on board as first-timers.
Strait says there's really one main criterion for an act to make the grade.
"We've got to like them," he says.
"A great launching pad"
As well as being hailed as a great excuse to celebrate country music, the GS tour is known for catapulting aspiring musicians into the spotlight.
It's believed to have helped advance the careers of the Dixie Chicks, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
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"It's a great launching pad," says Lee Ann Womack, who joins the festival for the fourth time this year. "It's a very powerful tour to help break new acts and people realize that."
Last year Womack dazzled audiences on the tour at the same time as her hit song "I Hope You Dance" was climbing the charts. The hit, which celebrates hope and triumph, picked up awards for vocal event, single record and song at this month's Country Music Awards.
Louis Messina of SFX Entertainment, the producer of the tour, says the festival provides essential basic training for aspiring artists.
"I think they get a great education when they are playing in front of 40, 50 thousand people," he says. "It's like the spotlight is on them (and) you either do it or die!"
"Elvis of country music"
Before it became mobile, the tour started out in San Antonio, Texas, when the Alamadome stadium opened there eight years ago.
"It was a lot of fun then and we said why can't we take this to other cities, and that's how it grew," says Strait.
Hailed as the daddy of the tour, admired by all who join it, and a mentor for many country acts, George Strait, 49, continues to shine on the country music scene.
For 20 years his songs have performed consistently on the charts, earning himself 36 No. 1 hits and 58 top ten hits. His 27 albums have sold at least a million copies each and he has scooped up five best male vocal awards from the Academy of Country Music. He received a nomination for the award again this year, as well as for best entertainer.
"He is like Elvis of country music," says Brett Warren of the Warren Brothers. "He is huge and an icon."
And to his fans' delight, the man doesn't plan on going away.
