Shinedown’s Barry Kerch Calls Ludacris a “Coward” for Dropping Out of ‘Rock the Country’
I believe the word you might actually be looking for here is “smart,” Barry. On the latest episode of The Vinyl Road, the podcast hosted by ex-Shinedown and current Saliva bassist Brad Stewart and Jason Bailey, along with Shinedown drummer Barry Kerch, the topic of the 2026 Rock the Country festival came up. Shinedown is playing the fest alongside known Trumpers Jason Aldean, Nelly, and of course headliner Kid Rock, who founded the festival. Atlanta rapper Ludacris was also among the revealed lineup on the promo poster but has since dropped off, and apparently good ol’ Barry doesn’t like that.
Bailey is the one who brought up the festival, asking if Shinedown as a band received any pushback for agreeing to play the festival, to which Kerch responded (as transcribed by Blabbermouth.net):
“There’s been tons. The knives come out when they don’t like it, especially now politically. And we are an apolitical band. But the knives have come out. It’s crazy. And to be honest, I had no idea, and neither did Brent [Smith, Shinedown singer] — I think Zach [Myers, Shinedown guitarist] maybe had a clue — I had no idea this was Kid Rock’s thing. It was just, ‘Hey, here’s an offer. It looks like a cool lineup, and it’s a mix of country and rock. Okay, we’ll play it.’ We took the offer and played it, and then all of a sudden we find out, ‘Oh, this has got some political leaning to it.’”
“I don’t care. I’m just gonna go play a show. I really, really don’t care. You can keep your politics to yourself. I have no opinion one way or the other on Kid Rock. I love his music. This is about music. Ludacris wasn’t tough… I mean, it’s not like he needs the money, Jeez. If he’s not tough enough to stick it out, that’s just silly. That’s him being a coward, in my opinion.”
Now, Rock the Country isn’t explicitly advertised as a political event, though if you have any capacity for critical thinking you’d be able to surmise that it basically is a political event. Like it or not, just waking up in the morning is political, with the way this country has been moving.
Understandably, Luda received some pretty deep backlash for being a part of the festival, which is why just four days after the lineup was revealed, his name was removed. A Rock the Country rep told Rolling Stone that “lines got crossed and he wasn’t supposed to be on there.” I don’t know if that part is true, but at this point it doesn’t really matter. As a Luda fan myself I thought he was a fuckin idiot for agreeing to play at first but, to each their own.
Bailey somewhat furthered the cowardice narrative by asking the boys if Shinedown would ever turn down or drop out of a festival appearance over backlash or someone else’s political leanings, to which Kerch responded:
“I would hope not, but [Shinedown] is a democracy. There’s four of us to vote. My vote would be no, but if three of the other guys vote against it, then, again, it’s a democracy. I can’t change their vote. But I would hope not. ‘Cause I like to stick by my grounds. And listen, I don’t do politics when it comes to the business of Shinedown. I have my own beliefs. I keep those to myself, and so do the other three guys. I just wanna go play a rock show with some country bands ’cause it looks like fun.”
Look y’all, believe what you believe, like who you like, and play what you wanna play. But, you’d be a moron to not consider how all of those things could and will (because they will, just look around) affect your life. If you wanna go to this year’s Rock the Country, it’ll take place May 1-2 in Bellville, Texas; May 29-30 in Bloomingdale, Georgia; June 27-28 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; July 10-11 in Ashland, Kentucky; July 25-26 in Anderson, South Carolina; August 8-9 in Hastings, Michigan; August 28-29 in Ocala, Florida; and September 11-12 in Hamburg, New York.
Shinedown is only playing the Anderson, South Carolina date, which happens on July 26.
