(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) —
Reba McEntire kicks off her spring/summer tour on April 15 in Virginia Beach, VA when she joins co-headliner Brad Paisley for The Habitat for Humanity Tour Presented by Whirlpool (a.k.a. the Two Hats and a Redhead Tour). Terri Clark is the special guest on the 25-city event, with the exception of opening weekend, when Joe Nichols will fill in for Clark.
McEntire will perform more than 80 minutes of material, ranging from her very first #1 record ("Can't Even Get the Blues") to her most recent chart topper "Somebody."
She will be joined on the road by 10 musicians, including Bruce Bouton (steel), Spady Brannan (bass), Jimmy Nichols (band leader and piano), Tommy Harden (drums), Jim Kimball (guitar), Jerry McPherson (guitar), Tammy Rogers (fiddle, mandolin and acoustic guitar), Doug Sisemore (keyboards) and Jennifer Wrinkle (fiddle, acoustic guitar).
An LED curtain will drape the entire back of the set, while each of the front sections of the multi-tiered stage are comprised of hundreds of panels of MiPix Module lights. There will be five rotating screens that can blend into the LED curtain or be utilized as projection screens to enhance the mood of the performance.
McEntire's husband/manager Narvel Blackstock directs the production, while Peter Morse (Madonna, Usher, Bette Midler) designed the lighting. The multi-tiered stage and set were designed by Bruce Rodgers of Tribe Design and built by Tait Towers. The front stage panels were designed by MiPix Modules. The MiPix are driven by a new video program called MaXedia, provided by the Martin Company, developers of the MaXedia program.
Tour personnel includes Mike McGrath, tour manager; Brian Leedham, production manager; Gayle Hase, lighting director; Ricky Moeller, front of house engineer; and Kos Kosloskie, monitor engineer.
Whirlpool is once again sponsoring Reba in this tour, which will benefit Habitat for Humanity. One dollar from each ticket sold will go to the humanitarian organization. –Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen
