Somethin' 'Bout a Ute: US stars Kip Moore and Tyler Hubbard to headline at the Deni Ute Muster

The Deni Ute Muster has announced a killer line-up for 2024, with US headliners Tyler Hubbard and Kip Moore to take centre stage along with a solid offering of local talent.

This year’s event is on Friday and Saturday, 4 and 5 October, with thousands of music lovers, and of course ute owners, flocking to the Western Riverina town of Deniliquin.

It’s the first time international stars have performed at the event since COVID, and Deni Ute Muster general manager Vicky Lowry is promising a big year.

“Announcement is always an exciting time for the team at the Deni Ute Muster, it is hard to believe that we are at that time once again,” she said.

“We have an awesome line-up, a mix of international and Australian artists to entertain our crowd of all ages.”

She said the response to this week’s announcement had been huge.

“It’s hard work doing all that preparation, and to have everything align and to have two big names, one Friday and one Saturday, is huge for us,” Vicky said.

“The response when we went out at 7 am on Monday was great and we couldn’t have asked for better.

“Our patrons can be very critical if they don’t like what you’ve done, and they have been so positive that we know we got it right.”

The Nashville Stars are sure to prove a big draw as events across the country begin to see the return of pre-pandemic crowd numbers.

“Our first event out of COVID, people came in smaller numbers than we expected, but they did have money to spend,” she said, explaining that the festival has steadily regained its feet.

“Then last year we went all Australian, which we felt was the right thing to do as a way to give back to all our Australian artists and within the industry that had done it tough.”

Headliner Tyler Hubbard has 21 No. 1 singles to his name, along with dozens of awards, and has performed to sold-out stadiums across the globe as both a solo artist and part of the duo Florida Georgia Line.

He will close out the Friday night show with hits like Dancin’ in the Country, Back Then Right Now and Wish You Would.

Fellow American, multi-platinum singer-songwriter Kip Moore, will cap off the Saturday night with his laid-back growl and hits such as Beer Money and the appropriate Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck.

Vicky said she was not sure whether the hit single could be adapted to be Somethin’ ‘Bout a Good Old Aussie Ute“.

“We had Brad Paisley performing a couple of years ago and he did a shoutout video for us and we had to get him to do it again because Americans just can’t say ‘ute’ very well,” she recalled.

In fact, when the first Ute Muster began in 1999 with a world record attempt, Vicky said it was a tough thing to explain to the international adjudicators.

“The Guinness World Records were based in London and back then there were no mobile phones, so some of the committee were up during the night trying to explain what a ute was,” she laughed.

“In the end, they had to draw it and fax it through.”

Along with the US stars, eight-time ARIA Award winner Amy Shark will be flying the flag for local artists on the main stage and will be joined on the extensive line-up by perennial favourite, and one of Australia’s most iconic voices, John Williamson.

Brad Cox, Fanny Lumsden, Brooke McClymont & Adam Eckersley, Amber Lawrence, Sunny Cowgirls, Darlinghurst and Play on the Plains Battle of the Bands winners Elestial will also perform.

“People have been really excited about our main stage announcement and of course, there are plenty of other activities that we are yet to announce, including our day stage line-up,” Vicky said.

Tickets for the unique two-day event are on sale now and festival-goers looking to secure reserved camping are urged to act quickly.

The Deni Ute Muster is on 4 and 5 October at the Deniliquin Festival Site, located on Conargo Rd, Deniliquin. For more information, head to the festival’s website.

Original Article published by Chris Roe on Region Riverina.