Kustom Entertainment’s Stan Ross on 30 years of Country Stampede
Country Stampede at Azura. // photo courtesy Kustom Entertainment
Country Stampede takes place at Azura Amphitheater from Thursday, June 25, through Saturday, June 27, and features Rascal Flatts, Zach Top, Treaty Oak Revival, Wyatt Flores, Scotty McCreery, and Tracy Lawrence, among others. Details on the festival here.
In its 30-year history, Kansas’ country music festival, Country Stampede, has steadily moved eastward across the state. Originally located at Tuttle Creek State Park near Manhattan, it moved to Topeka’s Heartland Motorsports Park for a few tumultuous years beset by weather and Covid, before finding its current home at Azura Amphitheater in Bonner Springs in 2024.
However, the 30th anniversary Country Stampede which takes place Thursday, June 25, through Saturday, June 27 will be the last one at Azura, with event organizers Kustom Entertainment partnering with Gilley’s Gambling Hall in Park City to host the 2027 festival. It’s a big move for Kustom, who just a month ago had also originally announced a one-day EDM festival, Global Frequencies, to takes place on Sunday, June 28.
However, that event featuring the likes of Alison Wonderland and DJ Diesel had its cancellation and refunds announced on Wednesday.
Stan Ross. // photo courtesy Kustom Entertainment
Ahead of all of this big news, we spoke with Kustom Entertainment CEO Stan Ross about the history of the now sold-out Country Stampede and what the festival brings to country music and Kansas music fans as a whole. We began by asking about how important it is for the company he runs to maintain the legacy of this enduring festival.
“I was very fortunate to be raised in the music business,” Ross says. “Matter of fact, my father gave Johnny Cash his equipment to help him get started when he was down on his luck. So when I say I grew up in it, I grew up in it.”
Ross is speaking about his father, Charles A. “Bud” Ross, whose Kustom Amps were used by everyone from Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty to the Carpenters to Diana Ross to Sheryl Crow. Because Kustom Entertainment now owns Country Stampede, Stan Ross feels a legacy obligation not only to Country Stampede’s history, but to the company his father founded, as well.
The key to all of this, he says, is to continue to bring in top-quality acts while making sure that all the individuals that are showing up are having “a wonderful time” where attendees feel like they’ve gotten more than they paid for. At the same time, Ross those artists performing to have such a smooth transition to moving in, moving out, doing what they need to do and an enjoyable time performing that when the musicians are asked if they want to do it again, it’s a no-brainer that they agree.
“They remember how how smooth it was, fun it was, and with one phone call they say, ‘Heck yeah, we’re in,’” Ross explains.
The lineup for this 30th anniversary iteration sees hot up-and-comers like Zack Top and Wyatt Flores alongside established acts such as Diamond Rio and Rascal Flatts, as well as a true throwback in Tracy Lawrence, who played the inaugural Country Stampede in 1996.
Country Stampede fans. // photo courtesy Kustom Entertainment
Talking to Ross, one can tell that he’s not just a CEO, he’s a fan. He enthuses about Zack Top’s throwback sound, while reveling in Treaty Oak Revival’s rocking red dirt, and drops half a dozen names of folks he’s proud to know on a personal level.
“They’re more than artists to me,” notes Ross. “They became friends and everything else. I know their eating habits, I know who’s a vegan. I know who loves his Jack Daniels, so they’re friends. I’ve been able to always put that first and foremost and I think I got that from my dad.”
His father was generous and helpful to a lot of artists, explains Ross, while utilizing a story that explains just how he approaches the music business.
“I asked [my dad], ‘How come you never introduced me to Elvis?’” relates Ross. And he goes, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘You and the Colonel were good buddies, and you’ve introduced me to everybody. How come you never introduced me to Elvis?’ And he said, ‘Stan, I always wondered why he didn’t wanna meet me.’”
As a young man, what that said to Ross is that Elvis was no different from him. His father treated everyone the same, and Ross has tried to do that, as well.
“He always treated everybody as, the same as he probably treats me–just as a good friend or somebody he cares about,” the CEO says. “I think that goes a long way–when people don’t realize that you’re just wanting them for something.”
And when it comes to Country Stampede, Stan Ross just wants one thing.
“I hope that when they leave that they have had such an amazing time that they already start thinking about and putting on their calendar what they’re gonna do next year,” Ross concludes. “That they really had a great time and, ‘Man, I can’t wait to do it again, and I’m definitely coming back next year.’”
Country Stampede takes place at Azura Amphitheater from Thursday, June 25, through Saturday, June 27, and features Rascal Flatts, Zach Top, Treaty Oak Revival, Wyatt Flores, Scotty McCreery, and Tracy Lawrence, among others. Details on the festival here.
