Sam Hunt to replace Lady A as headliner for Tampa event Pig Jig

Multiplatinum-selling country artist Sam Hunt will replace Lady A as the headliner for the Tampa Pig Jig, coming up Oct. 22 at Julian B. Lane Park.

The country music group, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, announced Thursday on social media that they’re postponing their tour until next year in order to assist singer Charles Kelley on his “journey to sobriety,” calling it “a hard but important decision.”

Platinum-selling artist Kip Moore, alternative artists X Ambassadors, Bahamas and Jarrod Morris are also on the bill for the event’s 11th year. The Pig Jig was started by a group of Tampa men in support of a friend with a rare kidney disease. It has raised more than $5 million for NephCure Kidney International, a program in need of funds for research into a debilitating kidney disease.

Hunt’s sophomore album “Southside” debuted to critical acclaim and was one of the top country albums of 2020, landing at No. 1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. Named one of the best albums of the year by the New York Times and Us Weekly, the project features 12 songs written by Hunt including his No. 1 hits “Kinfolks,” “Breaking Up Was Easy in the 90s,” and his multiplatinum-selling, Grammy-nominated smash, “Body Like A Back Road.”

Tickets are on sale starting at $75 for general admission at tampapigjig.com. A new VIP option, called the Watering Hole, offers an exclusive shaded tent area for $175 that includes four drinks, a meal of choice from the event’s vendors, private bathrooms and tent access.