A message from The Country Music Cruise Executive Producer Mike Jason
We just finished our 3rd sailing of the Country Music Cruise and all I can say is WOW!
We had more artists, more performances and more events that ever before. A few of my favorite memories on the cruise include high octane “kickoff” performance by The Oak Ridge Boys, the laid back sundrenched hits of The Bellamy Brothers, fantastic shows by Kathy Mattea and BJ Thomas, Kenny Rogers’ performance in his last year of touring, Randy Owen played not only the Alabama hits he planned but also those requested by the audience Our friends from the Grand Ole Opry gave us a special Opry Performance at Sea hosted by Riders in the Sky.
This will become a nighttime event on the 2017 cruise. And while we missed Mel Tillis who had emergency surgery just before the cruise, it was really great to see Bobby Bare.
In addition to these amazing live performances, there were trivia contests, karaoke, superstar competitions, Q&As, wine tasting, cooking demonstrations and many, many more events. Our history of impromptu jam sessions also grew this year with two formally announced sessions with the Wade Hayes’ band and two completely surprise sessions with Kathy Mattea’s band. We programmed more daytime events and sail-away parties this year featuring Shenandoah, Riders in the Sky, The Bellamy Brothers, T Graham Brown and Johnny Lee and more. Speaking of T Graham and Johnny Lee, who can forget those two squaring off in our version of the Family Feud game show?
Like many guests, I had a chance to spend some time with old friends and meet some new ones, I am looking forward to this again next year as much as the music and events. It’s always more fun when you get to share your passion for country music with other fans
As always, we are hard at work for next year’s cruise which will feature performances by Vince Gill, Charley Pride, Brenda Lee, Lee Greenwood, Tanya Tucker and many more.
We would love to see you back again in 2017. We are more than 50% sold, so if you haven’t booked already, you should do so soon as our cabins are selling faster than ever
Hope to see you next year!
Mike Jason
Executive Producer, The Country Music Cruise