iHeartRadio Country Festival announced

DEEP IN THE iHEART OF TEXAS: Gas up the pickup and stock up on pork cracklins, Mother—the iHeartRadio Country Festival is coming. Among the performers slated to participate in the 3/29 hootenanny at Austin’s Frank Erwin Center are Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line, Eric Church, Lady Antebellum, Hunter Hayes, Carrie Underwood, Jake Owen and Dan + Shay; more artists should be announced soon. Country radio personality Bobby Bones will serve as host; sponsors include Jim Beam, NBC and State Farm Insurance. iHeart parent Clear Channel will launch its nationwide campaign on 1/13 with flyaway sweeps and big hype on some 120 CC broadcast outlets (as well as iHeart itself, of course). Tickets go on sale 1/18. As Clear Channel prez John Sykes explains, the country acts at the last three iHeartRadio Music Festivals got such a rousing reception that an all-country event was a no-brainer. “It will be a country fan’s dream,” Sykes declared of the show. Added President of National Programming Platforms Tom Poleman, “Yeee-haw.” (1/8p)