“You can kill the lights and the amplifiers/But dreams don’t care if you’re tired,” “No Rest”

With his sixth studio album, the aptly named Love Hope Faith, his follow-up to 2014’s Thanks for Listening, Colt Ford continues to live out his boyhood dream – the one where you “wake up on a mission/to buy that beat-up Gibson,” as he sings on “No Rest.”

Love Hope Faith is exactly that, a message to to his loyal fan base, and a strike against the divisiveness plaguing our country, celebrating the things that bring us together – friends, family, our faith in a better future.

Featuring such guests as Music City stalwarts Brad Paisley (“Lookin’ for a Hand Out”), Toby Keith (“Time Flies”), Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley and brother Josh (“Young Americans”) and veteran rockers Lit (“I’m Mud”); promising newcomers like Waterloo Revival’s Cody Cooper and George Birge (“Dynamite”), Tyler Farr (“My Truck”), Taylor Ray Holbrook (“Reload”), Javier Colon (“No Rest”) and Granger Smith (“Keepin’ It Real”), Love Hope Faith is the ultimate populist country record, featuring a little something for everyone.

“I’m just trying to bring people together,” says the Georgia native, a one-time golf pro who still frequents the links and the co-founder/owner of his own Average Joes Entertainment. “There’s so much conflict out there, it’s hard to decide who’s right and who’s wrong.”

And while he admits to a populist fan base and down-to-earth, “Keepin’ It Real” attitude, Colt cautions, “I’m not a politician. I’m a musician, a performer. We have to get past our differences and find a common ground.”

And what better way to do that with Colt Ford’s groundbreaking hybrid of country, blues, rock and rap rhythms, who has built up a following that started with mud trucker events and graduated to arena status sharing the stage with the likes of golfing buddy Toby Keith.

From the statement of beliefs in “Reload” (“We can agree to disagree. That doesn’t make you a bad person, I’m just telling you what I think. If you pet that dog, you might get bit”) and the adolescent dreams of “trying to live big in a small town” in “Young Americans,” singing “Free Bird” and “Free Falllin’ to the country/EDM mash-up of “Dirt Road Disco” (“Can there be a more fun song than that?”) and the ode to the joys of running your fingers in the wind of an open car window (“Lookin’ For a Handout”) or “one more shot of Baccardi” in “Time Flies,” Colt Ford breaks boundaries and mends fences along the way.

“I feel more confident than ever as an artist,” says Ford, and while he numbers some of the most important supporters in Music City, his lack of country radio acceptance and award show accolades continues to drive him. “I’ve given it my best shot. Some of that outsider thing is tongue-in-cheek, but some of it is true. I’m unbelievably accepted by artists and songwriters. There’s no one I can’t work with. They know I’m real. I’ve built those relationships over time, and I feel I’ve created a body of work.”

Love Hope Faith was created with some of the leading songwriters in music today, Jeff Hyde (“Lookin’ for a Hand Out”) and Justin David (“Time Flies”) to Jaren Johnston, Neil Mason and Jesse Frasure (“Dirt Road Disco”) to Walker Hayes & Thomas Archer (“No Rest”) and Eric

Dodd & Alex Hall (“Dynamite”). Still, it is the sturdy persona of Colt Ford that gives them their consistency.

“There are a lot of different styles on this album, but I think my fans will hear it’s just me,” he says. “As long as I remain true to myself, I can delve into all of them.”

Songs like the rock/hip-hop “Dynamite” reference the Scorpions (“rock like a hurricane”), Marvin Gaye (“let’s get it on”), Michael Jackson (“Billie Jean on the radio”) and Jay Z, while the first single, “4 Lane Gone,” sports a full-blown rock intro before settling into a lament for a lost romance in which the individuals are on their separate paths. “My Truck” is a hilarious “can you top this” playground rank-out session, while the anthemic “I’m Mud” is just that, a self-deprecating, but in-your-face song from the perspective of the dirt below (“I’ve been played on, spit at, kicked until I turned to dust”). “Keepin’ It Real” is just that… Colt on staying the distance, “headlights on the highway/just keep going… Beer is cold and life is good.”

“No Rest” probably sums up Colt’s ambitions on Love Hope Faith, his tribute to being a working musician, what he calls “my version of ‘My Way.’”

“I’m proud of that song,” he says. “I think it’s one of the best I’ve ever done. It’s not just about being a rock star, but accomplishing your dreams, a passion that can’t be stopped. Anyone who has that drive will appreciate it. Everybody’s got fears, but when you hear that song, it’s me.”

“I built walls… and I’ll be here when they’re gone,” he says, taking the role of “I’m Mud,” but you know he might as well be talking about himself.

Love Hope Faith is Colt Ford’s musical message, one so universal it tears down those walls, then invites everyone into the tent.

Pending NYSGC Approval. Management reserves the right to cancel or change a promotion at any time. Must be 21 or older. For help with problem gambling call 877.8.HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369).

Ticket Price increases to $10 per ticket TBD.

Hard Promises:

Central New York’s top classic rock band brings their Tom Petty Tribute to the stage of the Vine! Petty Fest started six years ago and has grown larger every year. Hard Promises will be bringing lots of special guests from the Syracuse and Rochester music scene and will play a full two hour show of Tom Petty’s remarkable catalog of music.

Hard Promises is comprised of five veteran Central New York musicians featuring current and former members of Kane, Benny Mardones’ Hurricanes, The Shop, Zoid, Joe Bonamassa Band, Tickets, Custom Taylor, and Jake Fake and the Liars. Providing one of New York’s best live classic rock shows, the members of Hard Promises have shared the stage with Cheap Trick, John Waite, Gregg Allman, Starship, Eddie Money, Dickey Betts, Blues Traveler, Joan Jett, Blue Oyster Cult, Great White, Spin Doctors, and the legendary B.B. King.

Pending NYSGC Approval. Management reserves the right to cancel or change a promotion at any time. Must be 21 or older. For help with problem gambling call 877.8.HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369).

Tracy Morgan is one of the most well-respected comedians in his field, known for his roles across seven seasons of 30 Rock, where he received a Supporting Actor Emmy Nomination, and Saturday Night Live, which earned him an Emmy nod for Outstanding Guest Actor. TBS’s The Last O.G., which Morgan executive produces and stars in, was recently picked up for a third season. Morgan also recently appeared in Paramount’s What Men Want, opposite Taraji P. Henson. He has had standup specials for Netflix, HBO and Comedy Central. In 2009, he released his first book, I Am The New Black, a compilation of anecdotes and serious moments that shaped him and his career. He has also had memorable voiceovers in G-Force, Rio and Rio 2 and the Oscar-nominated Boxtrolls. Morgan can next be heard voicing the role of “Fox” in Netflix’s November 2019 series, Green Eggs & Ham, as well as “Caption Caveman” in the upcoming 2020 feature, Scoob. Additional film credits include The Longest Yard alongside Adam Sandler, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Head of State, Son of No One, Why Stop Now and Fist Fight.

Pending NYSGC Approval. Management reserves the right to cancel or change a promotion at any time. Must be 21 or older. For help with problem gambling call 877.8.HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369).