The Road is getting a lot more star power. Keith Urban, who is the headliner for all shows on The Road, will be joined by several of his friends throughout the season.
“One of the great things that happened across this season is that we also got to have guest mentors come on board, at various places,” Urban reveals during a recent media event. “So we had people I toured with before, like Dustin Lynch, Karen Fairchild, from Little Big Town. We also had Jordan Davis, and Brothers Osborne were on board as well. So there’s going to be these sort of surprise guest appearances by these other extraordinary artists.”
Blake Shelton is serving as the executive producer of the show, while Gretchen Wilson is serving as the tour manager.
Why Other Artists Are Joining Blake Shelton, Keith Urban and Gretchen Wilson On ‘The Road’
The premise of The Road is different from any other reality TV talent show, since the contestants travel on a bus across the country, trying to win over Urban’s fanbase. For Shelton, it made perfect sense to bring other succcessful artists to help mentor the aspiring singers.
“We’ve all been in that position of opening for somebody, walking out and facing a crowd that doesn’t care who we are,” Shelton explains. “We’ve got to try to grab them in that minimal amount of time we are given. That’s what makes this show so unique. This is the real world. This is what really happens.
“Watching all these musicians night after night,” he continues. “Having to choose a song, cover a song and perform an original song, and to make these decisions on how to connect with this audience night after night and have the audience vote and get them through to the next night. That’s a real world truth right there about being an artist on the road.”
What Drew Keith Urban To ‘The Road’
Urban certainly has enough to keep him occupied. But when Shelton asked him if he would be part of The Road, for Urban it was an immediate yes.
“It’s a concept that Blake was one of the people behind it,” Urban says (via Coyote Country). “I loved the idea, and I loved that Taylor Sheridan was going to be involved in it, just from a visual standpoint and the style of the show. The concept of putting artists in a real-world environment versus a TV studio was really appealing to me, because I had not seen that before where there’s no vocal coach backstage, there’s no A & R’ing of their songs.
“They have to choose a cover,” he adds. “And they have to choose an original, and they’ve got to go out and make that work in front of an audience that isn’t there to see them.”
The Road premieres on CBS on October 19. The winner receives a cash prize of $250,000, along with a recording contract.