Mar 17, 2007

(Nashville, Tennessee) - March 15, 2007 - Gretchen Wilson just returned from the West Coast run of her "Back To The Bars" tour, where she performed for intimate gatherings and large, unruly crowds from San Diego to Seattle.

After performing at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last week, she headed out to San Diego to perform an intimate concert for 50 KUSS Radio listeners at the station's US 95.7 Rest Stop. That afternoon she went across town to perform for all of the KSON listeners who had pledged to be St. Jude Partners In Hope - at a cost of $320 per ticket! 

The next stop was Tacoma, Washington, where Gretchen and her band performed a stripped-down concert for 50 lucky KKWF Radio listeners. She signed autographs and took pictures with everyone in attendance before heading up to Seattle for another St. Jude event at EMP (Experience Music Project.) An estimated 800 KMPS listeners were in attendance at the unique interactive music museum - the brainchild of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen - and station PD Becky Brenner gave credit to Gretchen for helping the station increase donations on their St. Jude Radiothon by 20% over last year.

On Tuesday, Gretchen and her crew bussed down to Portland for a concert and lunch with 50 KUPL listeners at the station's "Meet N' Eat" event. Gretchen took time between songs chat with and take questions from listeners. That night, it was on to Duke's, a popular country bar on the outskirts of Portland. KWJJ PD Mike Moore said demand for tickets was "crazy," and the 600 people who packed in the small venue literally never stopped screaming from start to finish. The event that night raised over $23,000 for the Dornbecker Children's Hospital in Portland.

Gretchen returns to Nashville this weekend to appear at the famed Grand Ole Opry, where she will perform her hit single "Come To Bed" and the title cut to her third album One of the Boys due out May 15, 2007. The performance will be televised on GAC's "Opry Live."