Happy March Madness to all who celebrate.
It’s that time of year again. The NCAA tournament officially kicks off today, with 64 teams fighting to become the national champion. And that means that it’s also time for our annual Whiskey Riff Madness tournament.
It may be March, but as the late, great Toby Keith once said, every day’s Independence Day. So this year, we’re celebrating America during our annual tournament.
We’ve teamed up with our good friends at Rock the Country, a festival for “We The People,” to bring you a bracket for “We The People” featuring 64 of the most red, white and blue-blooded American country songs of all time. And we’re going to let you, the freedom-loving readers of Whiskey Riff, vote for the winner.
The rules for this one were simple: If it was a song about our great country, we threw it on there. Obviously country music is filled with songs about loving America, so we couldn’t include every single one of them (we probably could have filled up the entire bracket with just Toby Keith songs), but we did our best to include a good mix of classics and new songs, and of course some songs that you’ll get to hear from the artists performing at Rock the Country this summer.
And that’s really it. We loosely seeded them, but if we’re being honest, any song about America should be #1 seed, am I right? So don’t get too caught up in where a song is seeded: We wanted to see some good matchups, and I think we’re going to have some tough ones to choose from.
So with that being said, here’s the final bracket:
And here’s a closer look at each region:
South:
East:
Midwest:
West:
So now it’s time for you to do your part.
Voting is open NOW for the Round of 64, and the first round ends at 11:59 PM central time on Sunday, March 23.
You can vote down below, or by clicking the link here, and you can vote as many times as you want if you have a favorite that you want to see move on to the next round.
If last year’s tournament was any indication, some of these matchups are going to be CLOSE, so throw a few extra votes to your favorite song if you really want to see it stay alive. And of course if you haven’t already, start making your plans to celebrate America in person this summer at Rock the Country, coming to a small town near you with some of the best country music that would make even a bald eagle shed a tear.
This year, Rock the Country will feature a stacked lineup featuring headliners Kid Rock, Nickelback, Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd, along with performances from incredible artists like Travis Tritt, Treaty Oak Revival, Tracy Lawrence, Aaron Lewis, Big & Rich, Shenandoah, and more. The lineup varies by city, so make sure to check out the closest one to you and get your tickets soon before they’re sold out and you’re left on the outside looking in like the British were in 1776.
Rock the Country Dates:
April 4-5 – Livingston, LA
April 25-26 – Knoxville, TN
May 2-3 – Poplar Bluff, MO
May 9-10 – Ocala, FL
May 30-31 – York, PA
June 13-14 – Hastings, MI
June 20-21 – Little Rock, AR
July 11-12 – Ashland, KY
July 18-19 – Sioux Falls, SD
July 25-26 – Anderson, SC
