“I moved to Nashville, Tennessee eight years ago when I was 22 years old, and lived there for five years, and I decided to move back home and stay independent and do things my own way back in April of 2022. Since then, I've put out and released more music, played more shows than I ever have,” Putman told us this past Friday afternoon.
Putman is doubling down on that proposition by starting what he believes, with good reason, will be the first annual Red River Revival Music Festival, to take place October 25th at the event venue Timeless Traditions.
“It's a beautiful wedding venue there,” Putman said. “But we're actually going to be doing it outside. It's going to be on the backside of Timeless Traditions, out in the back of the field. So we'll be an all-outdoor event, Lord willing, and if the weather cooperates with us like it usually does most Octobers.”
Putman, who released a video five months ago of his homage to Spring Hill, “Tell You Where to Go,” will be performing himself as headliner, but he is keeping the identities of other acts taking part close to his vest for now. It did get out a little prematurely that one particular band with local ties will be there, but news of who else is on the bill will come out as we get closer to October 25h, Putman said.
Regarding outdoor performances, Putman considers himself well-prepared. “We've played a lot of fairs and rodeos, bigger festivals. We’ve got a few of those festivals coming up in Louisiana and then in Arkansas later this year. I think that playing an outdoor festival and but also playing those indoor, intimate, you know, 500 to 1500 cap rooms are all really special in their own way,” he said.
Still, few venues compare to performing in your own hometown. “I love playing live in general, and that's why I decided on a way to connect with everybody in my hometown that knows me, and everyone that doesn’t know me. What better way to connect with everybody than to give them a live show and let them see what one of their hometown boys have been working so hard on and the sound I've been working so hard to build and round out in the last eight to ten years,” Putman said.
Putman also credits his band, each of the members of whom he said have a “heart of gold,” for so much of his sound and wants his fans to come out and hear them play: “These guys are a bunch of road dogs. Anytime I call, or anytime there's a date on the calendar, they're all there. No questions asked.
“I'm the front man, the lead singer, and the name of it, all that everybody sees, and the brand and the logo, but both of my electric guitar players, my bass player, my drummer, my steel guitar player, those guys are pretty insane. They're very talented. They all deserve to be on a much, much better level stage than what I'm at. But I am very thankful to have the group of gunslin#ers that I have behind me every time we go,” Putman said.
Putman's Spotify page is brimful of recent singles as well as his 2024 album, My Kinda Country. He announced his songs hit two million plays on July 8th.
Bookmark SWARK.Today for more information as the 2025 Red River Revival Music Festival approaches. Tickets for it are currently on sale via this website. While, the festival in Spring Hill will take place October 25th, Putman and his band also have dates in Memphis, Sept 19th at Lafayette's Music Room; in Texarkana at Fat Jack's Oyster and Sports Bar on the Arkansas side September 20th; in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna at Gretna Fest October 3rd.
All photos courtesy of Wyatt Putman’s Facebook page.
