Dothan, Ala., native Chris Gilbert was looking to invest in a fun event that he could bring to his hometown. The owner of Gilbert Construction is not in the music business, but loves country music. So, he decided to attempt to plan a country music festival. The idea was a success and the Toadlick Music Festival was born.

Since this was the first time Gilbert had attempted to put such an event together, he recruited help from his family. He made his cousin, Hunter Smith, the director of operations, and her mother is an investor and is helping put the festival together.

About eight months ago, Gilbert partnered with Nashville promotions company Jayson Promotions and the planning began. The Toadlick Music Festival will take place at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds in Dothan from March 22 through March 25.

Smith said the group did a lot of research to decide on the lineup for the festival.

“We listed to the radio, we did a lot of research to find out who was big,” she said. “We looked at the country charts, but the promotion company did help us a lot by telling us, ‘this guy’s concerts are being sold out right now, ‘these guys are really hot,’ and stuff like that. We’re excited about the final lineup.”

Performers include Sara Evans, Dierks Bentley, Billy Currington, Rodney Atkins, Montgomery Gentry, Trace Adkins, 38 Special, Randy Travis, Joe Nichols, Clay Walker and more.

Smith said planning for the event has been harder than expected.

“It’s been a lot more work than we thought it would be, with so many loose ends to tie up and so many details to look at,” she said. “Working with the artists was a pretty daunting task because they’re really picky. Some of them don’t want to be before or after another one, when we’re creating our marketing materials, they might want to above someone else’s picture or something like that. So, that’s kind of been a learning curve.”

But the ticket sales are another story. Smith said during the last few weeks ticket sales have been going really well.

“It’s been incredible. In the last few weeks our tickets have picked up incredibly,” she said. “We were going to change our prices and raise prices as they go up periodically. We got such a phenomenal response that we decided to have a price freeze and not raise prices.”

There has been so much interest in the festival that the group decided to extend the festival they planned as a three-day event to a four-day event. Sunday, March 25 will conclude the festival with the The 11th Annual Country Goes Huntin’ event.

Country Goes Huntin’ is an event that childhood friends Rhett Akins and Sam Klement put together. It was designed to bring together two Southern passions: country music and hunting, to make a difference in people’s lives. The event takes place annually in Dothan to raise money for those less fortunate.

“It’s kinda like a bunch of country singers that like to go hunting picking their guitars up on stage,” Smith said. “It’s almost like a pickin’ session instead of a full-blown concert.”

Other attractions at the festival will include a mechanical bull, a zip-line, a Bud Light tavern, inflatables for the kids and more.

Food and drinks from Pepsi, Domino’s and local restaurants, such as the Blue Plate, will also be available for purchase.

Tickets to Toadlick are now available at toadlick.com. One-day passes are $54.50 and weekend passes are $136.25. TIP (Toadally Important People) tickets are also available for $545. TIP tickets include a weekend pass, unlimited access to the VIP Area, VIP parking pass, access to only full bar on site (cash bar), reserved seating at main stage, heavy hors d’oeurvres served in VIP area and private restrooms. Tickets will also be available at the gate.

Camping facilities are also available. Full hook-ups, partial hook-ups and primitive camping sites are all available on a first come, first serve basis. Primitive camping is $200, partial hook-up is $750 and includes two weekend passes and full hook-up is $1,000 and includes two weekend passes.

Some local motels are also offering a discounted rate.

Smith said they hope to see around 15,000 concert goers at the festival each day, and they plan to make this an annual event.

“So far the community has supported us like no other,” she said. “We’ve partnered with some great partners and we’ve had a great response from the community. We hope for it to be a great success and something that we can do annually.”

For more on the festival, visit toadlick.com.


Artist Profiles
Check out some info on some of the Toadlick bands and musicians you may not be as familar with.

Blackberry Smoke

You may remember this southern rock band from Atlanta performing a few times at Bourbon Street in Auburn. The band was formed in 2000 and has since performed throughout the US as headliners and supporting acts for bands that include Zac Brown Band, ZZ Top & Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Although the band falls mostly into the southern rock/country genre, frontman Charlie Starr says they draw a variety of influences.

“None of us have ever said, ‘Let’s be a southern rock band or a bluegrass band or a country band’,” he says. “We all love the Allman Brothers and Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Stones and the Faces and Hank Williams and Bill Monroe. It’s not about what kind of music it is, as long as it’s good and it’s honest. When we get together it just sounds the way it does.”

The quartet self-released its debut, "Bad Luck Ain’t No Crime," in 2004. A few years later, they followed up with the country EP "New Honky Tonk Bootlegs."
Producer Dann Huff (Bon Jovi, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts) agreed to produce Blackberry Smoke’s second album after coming to see the band live. This collaboration resulted in the band's album, "Little Piece of Dixie," a mix of songs written by the band and some Nashville songwriters.

The album was met with critical acclaim and in 2011 musician Zac Brown signed the band to his Southern Ground label.

The band's new album is expected in 2012 as well as a LIVE DVD recently released through Southern Ground, filmed at The Georgia Theatre at their sold out show from the newly renovated building.

Kip Moore

Tifton, Ga., native Kip Moore began playing guitar while in college. After college, Moore hadn't decided on a direction for his life, so he moved to a hut in Hawaii and took up backpacking and surfing. In 2004, Moore decided to follow his musical dreams he had in college and relocated to Nashville where he spent four years performing before being signed to a record deal with MCA Nashville. He released his debut single "Mary Was the Marrying Kind" in early 2011. The song entered the Hot Country Songs charts at number 58. Moore's second single, "Somethin' 'Bout a Truck," was his first top 40 hit.

Moore credits influences that include Bruce Springsteen and Kris Kristofferson to paint vivid portraits with his lyrics.

“I am not drawn to the fairytale kind of love,” says Moore of his songwriting style. “I am drawn to the real-life experiences between a woman and a man. I try to sing about the way it is, but yet at the same time, what you can hope for between a couple. I don’t intend to paint of picture of what it’s really not.”

Kip Moore's self-titled album is set to be released May 1.

The Springs

Together for more than four years, Enterprise, Ala., band The Springs have been called by some the “Next Big Thing” in country music.

The Springs' debut album, "Teens On a Mission," was released in 2008. The band has had several radio releases, with three charting on the main Music Row Country chart, and two of the songs making it to No. 5 and No. 6 on the main "New Music Weekly" chart. The band's first release, written by the band's 21 year old singer who got into music after winning "Star Search" at age 16, spent 12 months on the CMA top 100 chart in Europe.

As a crossover band, five of the band’s releases have gone to No. 1 on two of the Christian Country music charts.

Nominated along with Steel Magnolia, Sugarland, and Lady Antebellum for the New Music Awards “Country Group of the Year”, the young band, their ages range from 19 to 22, has recently relocated to Nashville after four years of touring the Southeast.

Toadlick Performance Schedule:
Thursday, March 22, 2012
5 p.m. Craig Morgan
6:30 p.m. Blackberry Smoke
8 p.m. Randy Travis
9:30 p.m. 38 Special
11 p.m. Rodney Atkins

Friday, March 23, 2012
2 p.m. Kip Moore
3:30 p.m. David Nail
5 p.m. Sawyer Brown
6:30 Jake Owen
8 p.m. Clay Walker
9:30 Billy Currington
11 p.m. Trace Adkins

Saturday, March 24, 2012
2 p.m. The Springs
3 p.m. Derryl Perry
5 p.m. Joe Nichols
6: p.m. Justin Moore
8 p.m. Sara Evans
9:30 p.m. Montgomery Gentry
11 p.m. Dierks Bentley