Keith Urban to Headline New CBS Country Music Competition

Source: Keith Urban performs at the Summerfest Music Festival 2024 on June 29, 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Alex DeBuhr/Billboard via Getty Images)

Keith Urban will be heading back to TV, as the country music star will headline a new CBS country music competition, The Road. The new series, executive-produced by Blake Shelton, Taylor Sheridan, David Glasser and Lee Metzger, will take up-and-coming country musicians on a tour bus and have them open for Urban at special concerts across the country.

“I spent a lot of my underage life playing in some seedy pubs, sometimes just for the bartender, so I love the idea of throwing artists into a real-world environment to find out if they are artists,” Urban said in a statement. “Paying your dues sucks, but there are things in this business that can’t be taught, like how to put together a set list, whether to extend or cut a song during your performance or how to work the crowd. For me, touring has always been my first love. It’s where the rubber meets the road. But it’s the only road to take if you want to be a performer.”

The Road will premier this fall, with the performances that will be featured in the show are set to start taking place Sunday. The contestants for the show have yet to be officially announced.

The seven concerts that will be featured as part of the competition are:

Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall in Fort Worth, TX – Sunday, March 2
The Factory in Deep Ellum in Dallas, TX – Wednesday, March 5
Oklahoma Ranch in Oklahoma City, OK. – Sunday, March 9
Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, OK – Wednesday, March 12
Minglewood Hall in Memphis, TN – March 24
Marathon Music Works in Nashville, TN – Friday, March 28
Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN – Wednesday, April 2

Urban has previously served as a judge on American Idol from 2013 to 2017, and on the Australian version of The Voice in 2012 and again in 2021 and 2022.