Lynyrd Skynyrd has many great memories in Nashville and they’re ready to make more as part of New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash on CBS. Longtime Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke recalls how the band used to play at the now-defunct outdoor Starwood Amphitheater in Nashville, along with the historic Ryman Auditorium.
Videos by American Songwriter
[New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash: Get Tickets]
“I used to love playing that venue,” Medlocke tells American Songwriter about performing at Starwood Amphitheater. “That’s some of my best memories of when we would come to Nashville. I’ve had some great experiences doing Nashville and this is probably gonna be another one.”
Lynyrd Skynyrd isn’t a stranger to being in Nashville on New Year’s Eve, having performed at the event on Broadway nearly a decade ago. Medlocke says they’re looking forward to reuniting with fellow artists on the lineup including Blake Shelton who they’ve known for a “little while” and Lainey Wilson, who they met at the 2023 CMT Music Awards where Lynyrd Skynyrd was honored with a tribute performance following the death of the last original founding member, Gary Rossington.
[RELATED: Elle King on Hosting Nashville’s NYE ‘Big Bash’: “I Love This Job”]
“It looks like it’s gonna be jam packed with phenomenal stars,” he remarks of the multi-genre lineup, adding of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s set, “There is going to be some surprises on stage. It’s gonna be really cool. We’re excited about it. There are going to be great surprises, let’s put it that way. It’ll be a heck of a way to ring in the new year.”
Medlocke also sees New Year’s Eve as an opportunity to refresh and rejuvenate going into 2024. “You’re coming around to the new year and I think the prospects of what’s going to happen in the new year, that excitement builds. It’s a fresh start,” he observes. “You want to make it the best that you possibly can because you went around the sun one more time. I think on New Year’s Eve, whether you’re at a huge concert like we’re getting ready to do…we call our fans our Skynyrd Nation because they’re like our family and we have a great big family…I think New Year’s Eve is like a fresh start, starting all over again, trying to make things better, trying to do things better and do them right. I’m excited about the new year. I think it’s gonna be a great one, especially for Lynyrd Skynyrd.”
Nashville’s Big Bash airs on CBS and Paramount+ on December 31 beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for SiriusXM
**Purchases you make through our links may earn American Songwriter a commission.
