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Submitted photo \/ Ben Christensen
\nIan Munsick brings his \u201cEagle Flies Free\u201d tour to Packard Music Hall on Friday.<\/p>\n
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In country music, maybe more than any other genre, success is driven by radio airplay.<\/p>\n
Ian Munsick is defying that idea. The Wyoming-born singer-songwriter\u2019s music has been streamed more than a billion times despite not having a single a top-40 country hit. It\u2019s not that he doesn\u2019t want one, but he\u2019s had individual songs streamed close to 100 million times and been able to tour with top-drawing country acts like Morgan Wallen and Lainey Wilson, and headline his own tours without the embrace of country radio.<\/p>\n
His current \u201cEagle Flies Free\u201d tour includes a show Friday at Packard Music Hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI attribute that (success) to the loyalty of my fans, the people that come to my concerts,\u201d Munsick said during a telephone interview from a tour stop in Bakersfield, California. \u201cThey know every word to every tune. I\u2019ve just had a label in the past (Warner Nashville) that just could not get radio to work for me, But I have partnered with a new team this year (Triple Tigers) that I think that we\u2019re going to change that. Radio is obviously a huge piece of the puzzle, and I\u2019ve been very blessed to get this far without a hit on the radio, but I know that when that hit happens, it\u2019s going to be big.\u201d<\/p>\n
Munsick admitted the lack of radio exposure has been frustrating, but it\u2019s also been freeing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that what I have isn\u2019t due to anything other than my music and my fans,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not about this huge promotion team that\u2019s behind me. It\u2019s just about my music and, for me, that\u2019s really freeing, because it allows me to just create the kind of music that I want to make and, because of that, I think that people can hear the authenticity in my music.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGeronimo,\u201d the first single from what will be his debut album with Triple Tigers, was released in January, and a second single, \u201cLove Is Blind,\u201d is getting pushed to country radio this week. <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Geronimo,\u2019 I just thought, was a really great statement to start the year off with, especially because we had just partnered with a new label,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought that it was just a great statement to say, \u2018Hey, I\u2019m all in here. We\u2019re coming out of the gate swinging.\u2019 And \u2018Geronimo\u2019 is exactly that. It\u2019s very up tempo. <\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Love Is Blind,\u2019 I remember playing it for the heads of Triple Tigers, just me and an acoustic guitar, and the label heads turned to each other, and they looked at me and said, \u2018That\u2019s going to be your first hit on the radio.\u2019 That was just a very inspiring thing to hear from industry people that can tend to be hesitant in giving artists any kind of inclination that a tune is going to do big things before it\u2019s released. That\u2019s exactly why we decided to partner with Triple Tigers, because of their confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those two singles and some of the other songs that will appear on his next album likely will be part of the setlist Friday at Packard Music Hall. <\/p>\n
Many acts are hesitant to play unreleased music live in an era when everyone in the audience has a recording device in their pocket, and many of those shakily shot cellphone videos end up on social media or YouTube for the world to see. Munsick isn\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that if a tune is good, it\u2019s just as good with you and a guitar and a band behind you than it is if you\u2019re in the studio,\u201d he said. \u201cThose two versions might not be equal, they might be unique from each other, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s country music and it\u2019s all about the lyric and the way it makes you feel. I feel confident that the new stuff that we play is just as good as the recorded version.\u201d<\/p>\n
Munsick is putting the western back in country & western music. Growing up on his family\u2019s ranch in Wyoming, the cowboy boots he wore weren\u2019t a fashion statement; they were the work gear of a ranch hand. In addition to releasing three albums this decade, Munsick also wrote and starred in \u201cWhite Buffalo: Voices of the West,\u201d a documentary about Wyoming ranch life and the important contributions of Native Americans in that culture. <\/p>\n
Whenever Munsick returns home to Wyoming, he\u2019s re-immersed in that world. A billion streams doesn\u2019t get him out of ranch chores.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey do not care at all,\u201d Munsick said. \u201cEvery time I go back home to Wyoming, I\u2019m there for a few weeks or a few days, and I\u2019m like, \u2018Man, I can\u2019t wait to get back out on the road, where I can just hang out and chill all day and play music that sounds awesome and put it out there, instead of working my ass off for my dad or my brothers. But it also allows me to be a lot more grateful for the experiences that I have out here on the road and doing the things I love.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you go \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n WHO: Ian Munsick and Kenny Whitmire<\/p>\n WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday,<\/p>\n WHERE: Packard Music Hall,1703 Mahoning Ave NW, Warren<\/p>\n HOW MUCH: Tickets range from $43 to $80 and are available at the Packard box office and through Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n