Staff report
news@wbcowqel.com

The lineup for the 2015 Bratwurst Festival concerts has been announced and it’ll be an all-country fest.

FCBank, which sponsors the Friday, August 14 concert, announced Thursday that Brothers Osborne will headline the concert while local artist, the Eric Sowers Band, will serve as the opening act.

Brothers Osborne is an American country music duo composed of brothers John and T.J. Osborne.  Their debut single “Let’s Go There” and second single, “Rum,” debuted in early 2014, with both reaching Top 40 on Country Airplay.  Their latest release, “Stay a Little Longer”, is already approaching Top 40 status. This year, the brothers are a part of Darius Rucker’s Southern Style tour, which also features Brett Eldredge and A Thousand Horses.

Singer-songwriter Eric Sowers hails from Sycamore, Ohio. Sowers wrote his first song, “The Tailgate,” in 2011 and entered it into the Dodge Ram Battle of the Bands contest, where he finished in the final eight out of 60 other songwriters. He has won various singing contests across Ohio and had opened for a variety of country singers, including Eric Paslay, Jon Pardi, and Josh Thompson. Sowers performs as an acoustic act and with a full band.

Brothers Osborne and the Eric Sowers Band will take the FCBank stage, located in the bank’s parking lot at 105 Washington Square, on Friday, August 14.

“We are pleased to be able to bring a great show like Brothers Osborne to the Bratwurst Festival,” said FCBank President Andy Dale.  “This community event is so important to Bucyrus and offers a fun night out for the entire family.”

The Bratwurst Festival Committee will be sponsoring the free Saturday concert, which features opening act Outshyne and headliner Keith Anderson.

Anderson’s debut album, “Three Chord Country and American Rock & Roll,” was certified Gold and brought along with it two Top 10 hits with “Pickin’ Wildflowers” and “Every Time I Hear Your Name.” That same album also nailed Anderson two Top 30 hits with “XXL” and “Podunk.” The success of his first album led to Billboard and Radio & Records to name him the number one New Male Artist for country music in 2005 as well as the top new solo artist of the year.

The biggest hit of his career was “I Still Miss You,” a single that peaked at number two on the Country Billboard charts. That single was off his sophomore album, along with Top 25 hit “Sunday Morning in America.”

Anderson is also noted in the country music industry for co-writing songs like “Lost in this Moment,” a #1 hit for Big and Rich in 2007. That song garnered Anderson a CMA and ACM Song of the Year nomination. He also co-wrote “Beer Run (B Double E Double Are You In?)” for Garth Brook and George Jones and “The Bed” for Gretchen Wilson.

Outshyne is a country music band hailing from South Carolina. The band formed in 2007 but didn’t start touring full-time until 2010. Outshyne has opened for Jake Owen, Eric Church, Lee Brice, Colt Ford, and Justin Moore. The band’s first single, “Dirt Road Romance,” hit #29 on the Music Row Chart and #46 on the Billboard Indicator Chart. Their second single, “Moonlight Church,” went to number one on Sirius XM’s The Highway Countdown.