Walker Hayes just revealed plans for his first-ever headlining arena tour, dubbed the Glad You’re Here Tour.
The viral hitmaker and Alabama native took to social media on Friday, April 22, to unveil the exciting news with fans.
“GLAD YOU’RE HERE ARENA TOUR… can’t frickin believe it,” Hayes wrote on Twitter. “It’s mind-blowing how our team is growing, how the crowds are growing and how the music continues to connect with my audience. I’m just so grateful.”
The 15-city trek, which features support from Parmalee, will kick off in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on September 29 and continue through November 12, where the tour will wrap up in Everett, Washington at Angel Of the Winds Arena.
GLAD YOU’RE HERE ARENA TOUR..can’t frickin believe it. It’s mind blowing how our team is growing, how the crowds are growing and how the music continues to connect with my audience. I’m just so grateful. Presale starts next week (615-808-8426) & on-sale everywhere Friday 4/29 pic.twitter.com/VVWSZBuow0
— Walker Hayes (@walkerhayes) April 22, 2022
The Tour Is Named After His Forthcoming Book, Glad You’re Here, And “Craig” Song Lyrics
The tour is aptly titled after a lyric in his song “Craig” and his forthcoming book of the same name, written with his friend and neighbor, Craig Allen Cooper.
Inspired by Hayes’ song “Craig,” Hayes and Cooper’s book, Glad You’re Here, will take readers on a journey of the pair’s unlikely friendship and dives into Hayes’ spirituality, previous battle with alcoholism, and the difficulties he and his wife faced in recent years, including losing their seventh child, Oakleigh Klover Hayes.
“I bought the house next door to [Craig],” Hayes shared. “[The book] uncovers the details of our friendship, my testimony, us losing a baby, so I go in detail about losing Oakley and how the Lord has redeemed that. I also talk about my battle with alcoholism and how it’s going. When I met Craig, I was an alcoholic, and now I will be six years sober in October.”
“So man, [this book] documents our life together and what an impact [Craig] and his family had on us and why, which is just because of Christ,” he continued to explain. “The funny thing is when I wrote the song, ‘Craig,’ I did not say the name of Jesus because I would have denied him at that point in my life, I did not believe in Jesus. And while that saddens me, now he’s all I want to sing about. And that’s largely what the song is about, just through unlikely friends becoming neighbors.”
Glad You’re Here: Two Unlikely Friends Breaking Bread And Fences will be released on May 3 via Moody Publishing, a nonprofit organization that publishes Christian books. The book is available for pre-order now.
“They were so kind as to publish an idea that came from Craig,” Hayes previously told Music Mayhem of Moody Publishing, who are giving recognition to Cooper, a pastoral writer who once gave up the keys to his minivan to help Hayes and his family when they were struggling to make ends meet.
Later this month, Hayes will wrap up his headlining, The Fancy Like Tour. Throughout the tour, Hayes performed in front of sold-out audiences and even got to bring his viral dance moves to the stage alongside his six kids.
Pre-sale tickets for the Glad You’re Here Arena tour go on-sale on April 26 at 10 a.m. local time, with general public on-sale beginning on April 29 at 10 a.m. local time.
See the full list of Walker Hayes’ Glad You’re Here tour dates below.
9/29 – 1st Summit Arena, Johnstown, PA
9/30 – Visions Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, NY
10/1 – Mountain Health Arena, Huntington, WV
10/7 – Santander Arena, Reading, PA
10/8 – DCU Center, Worcester, MA
10/13 – Dow Event Center Arena, Saginaw, MI
10/14 – Corbin Arena, Corbin, KY
10/15 – Covelli Centre, Youngstown, OH
10/21 – Alliant Energy Powerhouse, Cedar Rapids, IA
10/22 – Danny Sanford Premiere Center, Sioux Falls, SD
11/5 – Mechanics Bank Arena, Bakersfield, CA
11/7 – The Greek, Los Angeles, CA
11/10 – Spokane Arena, Spokane, WA
11/11 – Theater of the Clouds, Portland, OR
11/12 – Angel Of the Winds Arena, Everett, WA
