25 Years Of KICKS 99’s Guitar Pull
What is a “Guitar Pull”? The idea got started right here in Augusta with Tee Gentry 35 years ago. He had a vision of hosting an acoustic show unlike any other. It started out as a small show at Sacred Heart Cultural Center as a “Million Pennies For Kids.”
Throughout the years, the concert grew from that small 400-seat venue to the James Brown Arena with 8,000 seats. Every year, the funds raised from the show are donated to the United Way of the CSRA. And every year, the demand for tickets to the show is unimaginable! Listeners travel all over the CSRA to visit ticket stops in an attempt to win their tickets, plus they have chances to win through online and on-air contests.
Every fall, listeners anxiously await the Guitar Pull lineup announcement and prepare to get their hands on some tickets.
What To Expect At KICKS 99’s Guitar Pull
Around here, KICKS 99’s Guitar Pull is called “the concert event of the year”. But this isn’t your average concert. It’s a unique experience with 5-6 artists on stage at the same time. There are no bands, it’s a fully acoustic show.
The show begins at 7:30 PM and each artist does one song. They might talk about the story behind the song before performing, and once they finish one song, the next artist shares stories and sings one of their own songs, before passing it along to the next.. After all the artists finish, we start back over and do it again.
Then there is a fifteen-minute intermission and the artists are re-introduced and each does two more songs for the final set.
Then, we ask each artist to do one more and we ask that it is a song they did playing in clubs on their way up. In other words, a song they love, other than their own.
We’ve had artists do Merle Haggard, Madonna, the Beatles and just about anything you can think of. It’s a great end to a wonderful evening.
Some of your favorite country artists have been part of KICKS 99’s Guitar Pull. In the 25 years, with 24 shows (because we know how 2020 went), we’ve seen artists like Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, Luke Bryan, Luke Combs, Darius Rucker, Trace Adkins, Jason Aldean, Cole Swindell, Rascal Flatts, Eric Church, and more. You never know what up-and-coming artist may hit the stage in Augusta before they become a household name in just a few years!
In 2023, the last KICKS 99 Guitar Pull was held at the James Brown Arena, as they prepare to demolish and rebuild a newer, bigger arena. For 2024, the 25th Anniversary Show will take place over 2 nights at the Bell Auditorium, with 5 different artists on stage each night. Get details on this year’s show here.