A little more than a year after Garth Brooks’ popular The Garth Channel ended its six-year run at SiriusXM, the station is resurfacing on streaming audio platform TuneIn.
The Garth Channel is the third TuneIn channel announced as part of Brooks’ Sevens Radio Network, a suite of stations Brooks launched in June with The Big 615. The country music channel bowed simultaneously on more than 200 connected devices and vehicle platforms, according to TuneIn CEO Rich Stern, and is available to TuneIn’s more than 75 million global monthly users.
In August, Sevens Radio Network bowed Tailgate Radio, hosted by sports commentator and producer Maria Taylor. While the station does not air the games — TuneIn provides access to live play-by-play from more than 100 Division 1 colleges and universities on other channels — Tailgate Radio plays pre- and post-game entertainment for sports fans.
Now, the Garth Channel, similar to its programming on SiriusXM, will feature Brooks’ favorite artists across different genres, as well as feature stories from Brooks. “The Garth Channel has always been my music, my heroes, my favorites. So, how do you make it better? You make it global for starters so the whole world can see how much I love music and where it comes from,” said Brooks in a statement. “More stories … from me and other artists. It seemed what people loved most on the Garth Channel were the stories. The new Garth Channel will now send out invitations for other artists to tell their stories behind the music and their careers.”
The Garth Channel will bow this fall — exact date still to be determined — and will broadcast from Brooks’ Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky Tonk in Nashville. “You’re going to put Haggard right next to Beyoncé, Luke Combs right now to Ray Charles, Bruno Mars right next to the Statler Brothers. Great music works,” Brooks explained further on Monday’s (Oct. 23) Inside Studio G. Brooks’ songs will be interspersed with the other selections.
Though the official opening date for Friends in Low Places has not been announced, Brooks will host one of his dive bar concerts at the venue on Black Friday, Nov. 24. Fans could win free tickets to the intimate concert through The Big 615, with more than 1.7 million applications for tickets already registered, according to Brooks. Previous Dive Bar concert stops included Joe’s on Weed Street in Chicago, Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California, and Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas. It’s named after Brooks’ 2019 duet of the same name, with Blake Shelton.
Though TuneIn did not provide specific numbers, Rich Stern said in a statement that Sevens Radio Network is already a success even with only two out of its seven stations on the air. “What we have seen already in terms of listener engagement and excitement on The BIG 615 and Tailgate is remarkable,” Stern said. “Simply put, people want as much Garth as they can have.”
Fans will get more Brooks this fall as the singer has announced plans to release a new limited series seven-CD box set, including a new album, exclusively through Bass Pro Shops starting Nov. 27. Brooks continues his Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Nov. 29.
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