NEPA Scene Staff

Country star Chase Rice plays live acoustic show at Circle Drive-In in Dickson City on Oct. 9

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From a press release:

Following the Aaron Lewis country concert last night, the Circle Drive-In is bringing another country star, multi-platinum singer/songwriter Chase Rice, to the Dickson City outdoor theater for a live acoustic show on Friday, Oct. 9.

Presented locally by Drusky Entertainment, Stage West in Scranton, and SLP Concerts, Rice will be appearing on stage in person. In June, he faced some backlash online after playing a packed concert with no masks or social distancing, but this drive-in show promises to have strict safety guidelines that everyone must follow.

Gates at the Circle Drive-In (1911 Scranton/Carbondale Hwy., Dickson City) open at 6 p.m., and the all-ages show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets, which are $160 per vehicle for general admission (up to four guests max) and $240 per vehicle for Gold Circle parking close to the stage (up to four guests max), are on sale now on ticketmaster.com.

No campers, RVs, party buses, or motorcycles are admitted. Sealed water bottles are allowed. Food and beverages (alcohol included) will be available for purchase. Sitting outside your vehicle is permitted, but all attendees must arrive together and remain near their car. For more details, visit the Facebook event page.

The Circle Drive-In is following Department of Health recommendations and “adhering to safety protocols, mandatory face covering requirements, social distancing, and strict disinfecting and cleaning procedures.” Restrooms will be open with attendants on-site.

Anyone attending a drive-in movie or event must wear a face covering and practice social distancing. The concession stand will have limited selections and has put extra safety procedures in place.

Chase Rice released his latest EP, “The Album, Part II,” on May 15. The four-song project follows January’s surprise release of “The Album, Part I,” which has already amassed over 125 million on-demand streams and counting.

“The crazy thing, even more than differentiating from ‘Part I,’ is the four songs are really different from each other. None of them sound like the other songs, which I think is cool. All of them have their own identity,” Rice shared with Billboard, who gave fans an early listen to the song “Down Home Runs Deep.” He then appeared on CMT “Hot 20” to chat about “Part II” and perform an acoustic version of the nostalgic tune.

People also gave fans a sneak peek at the project before it debuted with the official music video for timely track “Belong,” which Rice added to “Part II” during the final stages of production upon realizing how well its heartfelt message speaks to the current state of the world.

“‘Belong’ might be the most meaningful song that I’ve ever put out,” he noted. “The times that everybody’s going through right now with this pandemic and having to stay at home, being away from other people, and people losing jobs, people losing lives – it’s a very, very tough time. But the moral of the story is we’re right where we belong. Don’t panic. We’re gonna get out of this and the thing is, we’re gonna do it together.”

The video features fan-submitted quarantine footage, and Rice partnered with Spotify to promote a full band acoustic live stream to his top fans on the platform via Spotify’s Fans First program.

Earning praise from Forbes for “writing and recording new songs on a greater scale than ever before… [with] a burst of creativity in recent months motivated by a renewed focus on his music future,” Rice cited “The Album” series as his most personal and refined releases to date.

Entertainment Tonight also offered high marks for the “incredibly honest music,” with American Songwriter adding that “Rice has spent recent months cementing his place as one of country music’s most intriguing and lasting acts via a series of impressive music.”

Despite having to pause his extensive touring schedule due to the ongoing pandemic, Rice has made the most of having time at home by streaming live on his Facebook and Instagram pages, appearing virtually to perform the Top 25 single “Lonely If You Are” on both “Good Morning America” and “Fox & Friends,” serving as a guest host alongside P.K. Subban on the NHL’s “Hat Trick Trivia,” and performing the national anthem ahead of the final eNASCAR “iRacing Pro Invitational Series” event. He has also appeared on several podcasts to discuss what’s been keeping him busy off the road, including Barstool’s “Bussin’ with the Boys,” CMT’s “Cody Cast,” The Doctors’ “Travis Stork Show,” “The Fred Minnick Show,” and “Country Outdoors.”

With over 1.7 million albums sold and more than 1.3 billion total streams, plus a legion of passionate fans at his high-energy concerts across the globe, Rice has established himself as a powerful force in Nashville and beyond, but he genuinely sees his new releases as the launching pad for music that says what he wants to say, how he wants to say it. With songs such as lead single “Lonely If You Are” featuring sleek rhymes over heartland six strings and keys mixed with EDM-laced drama, this is the same gravely-voiced Chase Rice fans first fell in love with years ago, but better. Freer. Unbeholden and uninhibited, somehow capable of evoking Chris LeDoux and “The Chronic,” campfire singalongs and stadium anthems, all at once.

“The Album” series follows his sophomore album, “Lambs & Lions,” released with Broken Bow Records in 2017 and featuring two-week chart-topper “Eyes on You,” Rice’s first No. 1 as an artist and the most-streamed song of his career with over 350 million streams and counting. “Lambs & Lions” was preceded by “Ignite the Night,” which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and No. 3 on the all-genre chart, producing a pair of Top 5 hits, “Ready Set Roll” and “Gonna Wanna Tonight.” After supporting Kenny Chesney’s The Big Revival stadium tour, Rice has consistently sold out 2,500-3,000 seat venues on his own headlining tours.