2012 Country Throwdown Tour Fired Up by Kingsford Launches May 18 With All-Star Lineup Featuring Gary Allan, Justin Moore and Josh Thompson

2012 COUNTRY THROWDOWN TOUR FIRED UP BY KINGSFORD® LAUNCHES MAY 18 WITH ALL-STAR LINEUP FEATURING GARY ALLAN, JUSTIN MOORE AND JOSH THOMPSON

Corey Smith, Florida Georgia Line and Maggie Rose Join 20-City Tour

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – May 15, 2012 – The third-annual Country Throwdown Tour Fired Up by Kingsford® will kick off in Gulfport, Miss. on May 18, and tour producer 4 FINI, Inc. has announced new artists to the lineup, additional concert dates and a Twitter contest.

Corey Smith*, Florida Georgia Line, and Maggie Rose will join headliners Gary Allan, Rodney Atkins*, Justin Moore*, Josh Thompson, Eric Paslay and Sunny Sweeney for the popular outdoor amphitheater trek that features three stages. In addition to performances on the two main stages, the Bluebird Cafe Stage will spotlight the talents of emerging singer-songwriters Channing Wilson, Rose Falcon and Carly Pearce for intimate “in the round” sets throughout the day along with nightly performances during main stage set changes.

The nationwide 20-city tour kicking off in Gulfport, Miss. on May 18 now includes stops in Lampe, Mo. (May 19); Bonner Springs, Kan. (May 20); Milwaukee, Wis. (June 28); and Nashville, Tenn. (July 8). Special guests Jonathan Singleton and The Grove, Drake White and Mama's Blue Dress will join the highly anticipated stop at The Woods at Fontanel in Nashville, Tenn.

This year, Country Throwdown Tour Fired Up by Kingsford has partnered with SJC Custom Drums to give fans the ultimate country experience with the chance to win a customized snare drum. At each show, fans are encouraged to take pictures of the performing artists and post them to Twitter. Participants must mention the Country Throwdown Tour Fired Up by Kingsford's handle @thrwdowntour and hashtag #CountryThrowdownSJContest to be qualified. For more details on this contest and others like it, visit www.countrythrowdown.com.

Tickets are ON SALE NOW in select cities. For more information or to purchase tickets visit www.countrythrowdown.com. *Special guests on select tour stops include Rodney Atkins (June 1-30 and July 1), Justin Moore (May 18-27) and Corey Smith (May 19, 20, 26, 27, and July 8).

Confirmed Dates:

5/18-Gulfport, MS @ Jones Park
5/19-Lampe, MO @ Black Oak Mountain Amphitheater
5/20-Bonner Springs, KS @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
5/26-Gilford, NH @ Meadowbrook U.S. Cellular Pavilion
5/27-Bangor, ME @ Waterfront Park
6/1-Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
6/2-Kettering, OH @ Fraze Pavilion
6/3-Anderson, IN @ Hoosier Park Casino
6/13-Glen Allen, VA @ Innsbrook Pavilion
6/14-N. Lawrence, OH @ Clay's Park Amphitheater
6/15-Danville, VA @ Carrington Pavilion
6/16-Washington, PA @ CONSOL Energy Park
6/17-Syracuse, NY @ NYS Fairgrounds
6/22-Sioux Falls, SD @ W.H. Lyons Fairgrounds
6/23-Rockford, IL @ Davis Park / Metro Center
6/28-Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest 2012
6/29-Marion, IL @ Rent One Park
6/30-Bridgeview, IL @ Toyota Park
7/1-Norfolk, NE @ Divots Conference Center
7/8-Nashville, TN @ The Woods at Fontanel

About 4 FINI, Inc. and Kevin Lyman:
Kevin Lyman is the producer and creator of the successful Vans Warped Tour, the longest running traveling music and extreme sports festival in the world today. With the Vans Warped Tour, Lyman pioneered the successful integration of corporate sponsors with the extreme lifestyle, creating a blueprint for sponsorship integration widely duplicated in the marketplace today. In 2005, Kevin teamed up with John Reese to form Taste of Chaos, LLC (TOC, LLC) and produced the Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour. In 2007, TOC, LLC presented the first annual Rockstar Mayhem Festival, a summer metal festival featuring 15 metal bands including headliners Slipknot and Disturbed.

A success by all standards, Rockstar Mayhem Festival perhaps most notably integrated the camaraderie Lyman had created on the Vans Warped Tour into a metal festival. Kevin and his company 4 Fini, Inc. have produced numerous other successful tour productions. Kevin is a music industry authority on multiple corporate branding projects, helping companies maintain the valuable street level credibility that endears their products to the youth market.

Sponsors include: AIR NATIONAL GUARD, BLUEBIRD CAFE, CHILDFUND INTERNATIONAL, CMT, COUNTRY WEEKLY, DARK HORSE PERCUSSION, DOWN N DIRTY HAT CO., HANDS THAT ROCK, JAGERMEISTER, KINGSFORD CHARCOAL, LIVING THE DREAM, PEACE TEA, SJC CUSTOM DRUMS, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES, TASTE OF COUNTRY, THE BOOT CAMPAIGN, UNITE THE UNITED, WINES THAT ROCK, WRANGLER and Y'ALLWIRE.

For more information, to purchase tickets or to see a complete list of 2012 sponsors visit: www.countrythrowdown.com. Follow the tour on Twitter for the most recent updates @thrwdowntour and Facebook at http://on.fb.me/ji7Blf.

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Social media banners and all artist materials can be found on the Media Assets Page: www.countrythrowdown.com/mediaassets.
For more information on Country Throwdown Tour 2012 contact:
Kaleidoscope Media
615-321-3211
Lauren Hudgens ( lauren@kaleidoscope-media.com)