Cole Swindell is spending most of 2023 on the road. After spending this summer opening for Thomas Rhett on Rhett’s Home Team Tour, Swindell will head out on his own in the fall, with his headlining Twelve Tour, performing in 12 cities, with a different set each night. The Georgia native will be joined on the road by a rotating list of opening acts, including Nate Smith, Conner Smith, Avery Anna and Greylan James.
“My fans know 12 is my number… so, here we go… 12 SHOWS. 12 DIFFERENT SETS,” Swindell says. “We are kicking this off October 12th and I can’t wait to be out on the road with Nate, Conner, Avery Anna and Greylan!”
Swindell is back at radio with another Top 30 single, this time with “Drinkaby.” The song is from Swindell’s forthcoming Stereotype Broken, a deluxe version of his 2022 Stereotype album. “Drinkaby” follows his recent multi-week, No. 1 hit with “She Had Me At Heads Carolina,” a nod to Jo Dee Messina‘s “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” released in 1996.
“Me and Thomas Rhett talked about this on tour last year, about wanting to do a song together,” Swindell explained on Audacy’s Rob + Holly. “That was the original plan, was for me and Thomas Rhett to sing, whatever this song became, together.”
“The angle we wrote it in the room, it just didn’t make sense really for both of us,” he added. “And TR is such a great writer anyways, so I’m proud to have him be a part of it.”
Although they were not able to record “She Had Me At Heads Carolina” together, Swindell did release a version of the song featuring Messina. Perhaps surprisngly, Swindell had already written the hit single when he was able to connect with Messina.
“I finally got her contact info,” Swindell said at a media event earlier this year. “I had been wanting to reach out to her, and tell her what a fan I was. I think I might have met her at a festival years ago, briefly, when I was selling t-shirts. We don’t really know each other … I just got her number and just sent her a text letting her know that it was me and that I’ve been wanting to reach out and that I finally got her contact.
“[I] just let her know what a fan I was and that the original song, without that, obviously, I would have never had this idea,” he continued. “I just wanted her to know I wanted her to be as much of a part of it as she wanted to be. Or if not at all, that’s fine too.”
Swindell is nominated for four ACM Awards for “She Had Me At Heads Carolina,” including for Single of the Year, Song of the Year, Visual Media of the Year and Music Event of the Year, the latter marking Messina’s first nomination in 22 years.
See a list of all of the dates on Swindell’s Twelve Tour below. Tickets for the tour will be available beginning on Friday, April 28, the same day his Stereotype Broken album will be released. Find music and tour dates at ColeSwindell.com.
Read ‘Cole Swindell: 11 Things to Know About the Country Music Star’ here.
Cole Swindell’s Twelve Tour:
Oct 12 Fargo, ND Scheels Arena (Nate Smith, Greylan James)
Oct 13 Cedar Rapids, IA Powerhouse Arena (Nate Smith, Greylan James)
Oct 14 La Crosse, WI LaCrosse Center (Nate Smith, Greylan James)
Oct 19 Fort Wayne, IN War Memorial Coliseum (Conner Smith, Greylan James)
Oct 20 Saginaw, MI Dow Event Center (Conner Smith, Greylan James)
Oct 21 Canton, OH Canton Civic Center (Conner Smith, Greylan James)
Oct 26 Orillia, ON, Canada Casino Rama Resort Ent Ctr (Nate Smith, Avery Anna)
Oct 27 Reading, PA Santander Arena (Nate Smith, Avery Anna)
Oct 28 Pittsburgh, PA UPMC Event Center (Nate Smith, Avery Anna)
Nov 2 Salem, VA Salem Civic Center (Nate Smith, Avery Anna)
Nov 3 Florence, SC Florence Center (Nate Smith, Avery Anna)
Nov 4 Rome, GA Forum River Center (Nate Smith, Avery Anna)
