Jake Owen to Host St. Jude, Autism Benefit in Hometown
In the past few months, Jake Owen has made it clear that he wishes it could be summertime all year long. In addition to releasing an 'Endless Summer' EP with four summery tracks, when the handsome country crooner became the headliner for this year's CMT on Tour package, his multi-city trek was named the 'Jake Owen: The Summer Never Ends 2012' tour. He'll close the tour in December with a stopover in his hometown of Vero Beach, Fla. There, he'll hold his annual hometown fundraiser to raise money for Autism Speaks, St. Jude's Children's Hospital, and several local charities and organizations.
Since 2006, Owen has teamed up with an old high school pal, tennis pro Mardy Fish, to organize Mardy's Tennis & Jake's Music Fest in Vero Beach. This year, Fish will hold a separate fundraiser on Dec. 4-6, and Owen's fundraiser will coincide with the end of his CMT on Tour gig on Dec. 15.
Although Owen is a newlywed and soon-to-be daddy, he loves living life on the road.
"I really love entertaining," he told The Boot. "I feel like that's a huge compliment when people say, 'I didn't know much about your music, but man, your live show was so great that we're fans. We're going to go buy your record.' That's all I'm trying to do day by day, fan by fan."
It sounds like Owen is up for the task of embarking on a multi-date tour this fall, even though he's just on the heels of opening for Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw on Chesney's Brothers of the Sun tour. The Jake Owen: Summer Never Ends 2012 tour will kick off on Oct. 10 in New York City. As of now, there's no venue for the tour's final stop in Vero Beach, but we're sure that the hometown hero will have no trouble finding a place to host his annual fundraiser.