Blake Shelton is expanding Ole Red honky-tonk with Las Vegas location
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Blake Shelton is taking his Ole Red honky-tonk back out on the road — this time to Las Vegas.
The country music superstar and "The Voice" judge will open the fifth Ole Red location in Las Vegas, according to a Wednesday press conference. The $30 million bar and live music venue, owned by Nashville-based Ryman Hospitality Partners, will be the largest Ole Red location yet at four stories and 27,000 square feet. It is slated to open in 2023.
"I've never felt like there was enough of a country music presence (in Las Vegas)," Shelton said. "At some point, after you've seen enough magic tricks and casinos, sometimes you just want to hear some damn country music."
Shelton originally partnered with Ryman Hospitality Properties, which has a portfolio including the Grand Ole Opry and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, in 2017 to launch Ole Red in his Tishomingo, Okla. hometown. A massive second location opened in Nashville the week of CMA Fest 2018, followed by openings in tourism centers Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in 2019 and Orlando, Florida, in 2020.
But Las Vegas has always been on the radar. In 2017, when the Nashville and Oklahoma locations were still being built, Ryman Hospitality Properties president Colin Reed named Orlando and Las Vegas as targets for the franchise down the road.
"Las Vegas is, without question, the most important entertainment market in America. Maybe on the planet," Reed said. "This is going to be so important for our brand."
Ole Red will be unique in its new home. While Nashville's Lower Broadway has bars bearing the names of everyone from Luke Bryant to Jimmy Buffet, bars backed by national touring musicians are uncommon in Las Vegas.
"It doesn't always have to be this wall of entertainment coming at you," Shelton said. "It's something maybe you don't have to think so hard about, just hear some great country music and have a drink. That's what happens up and down here (in Nashville)."
Shelton frequently promotes up-and-coming talent as a judge on music competition show "The Voice." By expanding Ole Red's footprint west, he's developing a network of performance venues where his artists can play with a home-court advantage.
A contestant from "The Voice," for example, could kick off a tour in Vegas, drive through Oklahoma and Tennessee before ending in Orlando, stopping by all five Ole Red locations along the way.
That's good news for the Ole Red brand, Reed said. The chain is building a new location inside Nashville International Airport and is eyeing a new location in Austin, another hot market.
"Ole Red is not a Nashville brand. Ole Red is a national brand," Reed said. "What we're doing is putting this brand in that market (Vegas). When they go there, they can't game 24 hours a day ... there are times when they want to let their hair down and have fun."
Cole Villena covers business at The Tennessean, part of the USA Today Network — Tennessee. Reach Cole at cvillena@tennessean.com or 615-925-0493. Follow Cole on Twitter at @ColeVillena and on Instagram at @CVinTennessee.
