McCreery, Diamond Rio headline this year’s Opp Rattlesnake Rodeo

Published 9:15 am Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Headlined by country music’s Scotty McCreery and Diamond Rio, the 62nd Annual Opp Rattlesnake Rodeo will be held at Channell-Lee Stadium in Opp Friday, March 24 through Sunday, March 26.

Country musician Scotty McCreery will take the stage Saturday, March 25, at 8 p.m. (PHOTO PROVIDED)

Activities planned for this year’s event include arts and crafts, food, live music, kids’ activities, snake shows, snake races, and fried snake meat.

Gates will open Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at 9 a.m., and Sunday at 10 a.m. The opening ceremony will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday with the national anthem performed by Jessie Lynn.

Admission for Friday is free. Southern Lights will open the night with a performance at 6 p.m. followed by the Lucius Clay Band at 7 p.m. Levee Road will close with an 8 p.m. performance.

Admission for Saturday is $15 per person for advanced tickets or $20 each at the gate. VIP tickets are available online for $50. A 5K will begin at 9 a.m. followed by snake shows at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 2:15 p.m. The Southern Pine Drum Group will perform at 1:30 p.m. Jessie Lynn will take the stage at 4 p.m., followed by Troubled Waters at 5:15 p.m. and The Springs at 6:30 p.m. Scotty McCreery will perform at 8 p.m.

Admission for Sunday is $10 per person for advanced tickets or $15 each at the gate. VIP tickets will not be sold Sunday. A snake race and snake show will be held at 11 a.m. before the opening ceremony at noon where Mary Beth Rhoades will perform the national anthem. Alice Nelson will perform at 1 p.m. before Diamond Rio takes the stage at 3 p.m.

Children 10 and under with a paying adult will be admitted free. Tickets can be purchased at eventbrite.com or the Opp branches of All In Credit Union, CCB Bank, and SIB Bank.

Scotty McCreery is a country music artist who rose to fame after winning the tenth season of American Idol in May 2011 at the age of 17. His debut studio album “Clear as Day” was released in October 2011 and was certified platinum for sales of one million units in just 13 weeks. His second album “See You Tonight” was released in October 2013 and debuted at number one on the Billboard Country Albums chart. The song “See You Tonight” was certified platinum and became his first top-ten hit. Some of his other hits are “I Love You This Big,” “The Trouble with Girls,” “Five More Minutes,” and “Damn Strait.”

Formed in 1982 in Nashville, Diamond Rio consists of Marty Roe, Jimmy Olander, Carson McKee, Dan Truman, Dana Williams, and Micah Schweinsberg.

Diamond Rio recently released their tenth studio album entitled “I Made It.” The title track was co-written by the band’s lead guitarist Jimmy Olander and features 11 new songs. In 1991 with the release of “Meet In The Middle” the band became the first country music group in history to reach number one with a debut single. The band is also known for their hits “How Your Love Makes Me Feel,” “One More Day,” “Beautiful Mess,” “Unbelievable,” and “In A Week or Two.” To date, they have sold more than 10 million albums, won a Grammy Award, a Dove Award, six vocal group of the year awards (CMA and ACM), released two greatest hit albums, a live and Christmas project, earned five multi-week number one singles, 22 top ten singles, three certified platinum, and five gold albums.

For more information about the Opp Rattlesnake Rodeo, visit the event’s Facebook page, go to opprattlesnakerodeo.com, or call 334-493-2122.