Print-friendly Version

Return to the full version

Rascal Flatts lead 'Gang' into 2007 dates

Country trio Rascal Flatts has mapped out another round of dates for the early months of next year as the group continues to back its latest album, "Me and My Gang."

The threesome, which has performed before more than one million fans this year alone, according to a press release, will kick off the latest leg of its seemingly never-ending "Me and My Gang" tour Feb. 8 in Charleston, WV.

Singer Jason Aldean, who was named 2006's Top New Male Vocalist by the Academy of Country Music, will support the trio on the outing, which is scheduled to hit 20 cities and run into early April; details are shown below. Aldean's self-titled, 2005 debut has sold more than 800,000 copies, according to a press release.

Released in April, "Me and My Gang" sold about 722,000 copies during its first week in stores, which earned the disc a No. 1 debut on The Billboard 200 chart. The set, which is the band's fourth studio album, has since been certified double platinum, signifying US shipment of 2 million copies.

"Me and My Gang" follows Rascal Flatts' 2004 breakthrough disc, "Feels Like Today," which is certified quadruple platinum. The group worked with an array of Nashville-based songwriters for the new album, including Jeffrey Steele, Neil Thrasher, Tony Mullins, Wendell Mobley, Jason Sellers and Monty Powell. The band's members--Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney and Jay DeMarcus--also co-wrote three songs on the set, according to their website.

"Collectively, we feel this is the strongest album we've done to date," Rooney said in a press release. "Lyrically, melodically and emotionally, this record took us to another place."