Brian McCollum

Detroit Free Press Pop Music Critic

The country music festival long known as the Downtown Hoedown is headed far from the heart of Detroit.

Now dubbed the WYCD Hoedown — and condensed to a single-day event — the fest will play Clarkston's DTE Energy Music Theatre on July 31 with headliners Brad Paisley and Chris Young. Tickets are $29-$78 and will go on sale at 10 a.m. April 16 through Ticketmaster.

DTE is the third home in five years for the Hoedown, which had spent three decades at Hart Plaza before moving in 2012 to Comerica Park and then last year to Detroit's new West Riverfront Park.

Daniels, Travis, Foster to join Country Music Hall

The Downtown Hoedown was launched in 1983 by the administration of Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, designed to draw suburbanites to central Detroit while generating funds for the city's recreation department. Performers in early years included George Jones, Merle Haggard, Tanya Tucker and a young Garth Brooks, and the free three-day festival became a distinctive fixture on Detroit's concert calendar with its diverse riverfront crowds.

With the move to Comerica Park, the festival became a ticketed event under the helm of Live Nation, Olympia Entertainment and WYCD-FM (99.5).

The late-July timing of this year's fest also marks a big change: Traditionally staged in May or early June, the Hoedown long served as an unofficial kickoff to metro Detroit's summer concert season.

51st Academy of Country Music Awards

At DTE, the Hoedown's top acts will play the amphitheater's main stage, with another pair of stages — on the venue concourse and parking lot — hosting additional national performers and local acts.

Artists on tap include Brandy Clark, Chris Lane, Drew Baldridge, Jordan Rager, Lindsay Ell, Runaway June and Michigan band Gunnar & the Grizzly Boys. More acts will be announced soon, and full details will be available at the WYCD website.

Appreciation: Merle Haggard left rich country legacy