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Photo by © Michelle Watson CatchLightGroup.com

Luke Bryan fans, clear your calendars in late September 2023. The five-time Entertainer of the Year and American Idol judge is making not one but two stops in North Texas on his "Country On Tour."

He'll play Dallas' Dos Equis Pavilion on September 28, then scoot over to Fort Worth for a show at Dickies Arena on September 29. The only other Texas stop on his 36-city tour will be in Lubbock, on July 27. (So sorry, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio.)

Special guests throughout the tour will include up-and-coming country artists Chayce Beckham, Tyler Braden, Ashley Cooke, Jackson Dean, Jon Langston, Conner Smith, Alana Springsteen, Hailey Whitters, and DJ Rock.

According to the tour site, Beckham, Dean, Whitters, and DJ Rock will play the Dallas-Fort Worth shows.

Bryan has a history of investing in new artists by inviting them to join him on tour, a press release reminds.

“Artists get into the business to make music and perform it for the fans,” Bryan says in the release. “Leaving it all out on that stage is what it’s all about for me. I’m excited to support and have so many talented new artists along for the ride this year. It’s one of the most rewarding parts of our job.

The tour is named for Bryan's 30th No. 1 single, “Country On” - a celebration of farmers, truckers, military, first responders, and all of Americana that hit the top of the country singles charts around Christmas 2022. He has amassed a career tally of 56 total weeks at #1.

Bryan launches his 2023 headline dates at Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas on February 1. He's also returning as a judge on ABC's American Idol this spring.

Bryan's "Country On Tour" kicks off June 15 in Syracuse, New York.

Tickets go on sale on at 10 am Friday, February 3 at Lukebryan.com.

Presale for Bryan's fan club members will run 8 am Tuesday, January 31 through 5 pm Thursday, February 2. For details, go HERE.

Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets from 10 am Wednesday, February 1 to 10 pm Thursday, Feb 2 through the Citi Entertainment program. For complete presale details visit www.citientertainment.com.

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'Yellowstone' stars to greet fans at Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Yellowstone news

Yellowstone fans, get your comfy shoes ready - there'll be a long line for this one. Cole Hauser a.k.a. "Rip Wheeler" on Yellowstone, and Taylor Sheridan, the show's co-creator, executive producer, and director of the series, will meet fans and sign autographs at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.

The event will take place from 4:30-6:30 pm only on Friday, February 3. Location is the 6666 Ranch booth near the south end of Aisle 700 in the Amon G. Carter, Jr. Exhibits Hall.

According to a February 2 announcement from FWSSR, "fans will have the opportunity to snag an autograph as well as purchase some distinctive Yellowstone and 6666 Ranch merchandise while also enjoying all the features the Stock Show offers."

The event is free to attend (with paid Stock Show admission) and open to the public.

It's the second year in a row for Hauser to appear at FWSSR; in 2022, he and fellow cast mates drew huge crowds.

Sheridan, a Paschal High School graduate, is no stranger to Fort Worth; he lives in a ranch near Weatherford and filmed 1883, the prequel to Yellowstone, in and around Fort Worth. Currently, another spinoff, 1883: The Bass Reeves Story, is filming in North Texas.

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo is winding up its 2023 run on Saturday, February 4.

Best restaurants for lunch top this week's 5 hottest Fort Worth headlines

This week's hot headlines

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 6 best restaurants to grab lunch. The March edition of Where to Eat, our monthly feature recommending best Fort Worth restaurants to try, centers on a meal that needs some attention: lunch. Here are six Fort Worth restaurants where you can grab a bite for lunch.

2. The top 10 neighborhood restaurants in Fort Worth offer a feeling of home. Up first in our special editorial series leading up the Tastemaker Awards, the category of Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year. These places are close and convenient to established residential neighborhoods and offer a feeling of home that keeps regulars coming back over and over again. Here are the 10 nominees for Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year.

3. Where to drink in Fort Worth right now: 7 best new bars for March. A fresh batch of new bars has popped up in recent weeks, and this round is prime for spring sipping. All offer either expansive patios or picturesque interiors, and there’s plenty of space at each to spread out; so going with a group is welcomed. Live music is also a common theme with this collection of new spots.

4. 10 new ideas for a FOMO-free spring break staycation in Dallas-Fort Worth. It’s spring break time across North Texas. For families who did NOT jet off to ski the slopes or head to the beach, there’s still plenty of fun to be had in Dallas-Fort Worth. We once called this "staying home." Now it's a "staycation!" Here are 10 new ideas for fun things to do, even into the weekend.

5. 5 Texas cities make a splash as best places for family-friendly vacations. Fort Worth families looking to create lasting memories - or just really need a last-minute getaway for spring break - don’t need to look outside their state. In a new report from lawn care company Lawn Love, five Texas cities ranked high as Best Cities for Kid-Friendly Vacations.

Fort Worth's buzzy new Koe Wetzel's Riot Room pops open beer-can chicken

Koe has arrived: Koe Wetzel's Riot Room, a new Fort Worth bar and restaurant in which famed country singer-songwriter Koe Wetzel is partnered, has softly opened in the 7th Street district at 1100 Foch St., with live music and a food menu of Southern and Texas classics.

Wetzel is the Texas-born "outlaw" singer-songwriter who's been blazing a trail with albums such as his most recent release, Hell Paso, which debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200.

The new venue is an exciting collaboration put together by hospitality veteran Emil Bragdon, whose Funky Lime Hospitality Concepts portfolio includes Reservoir, The Whiskey Garden, Junk Punch, and Your Mom's House.

Their vision for the Riot Room was a venue steeped in country music culture, a high-energy country bar and restaurant with drinks and live music — and the reason we are here today, a menu of comfort food executed by chef Chad Burnett, and with creative input from Wetzel.

Burnett is a partner and VP of Culinary for Funky Lime Hospitality Concepts who oversees menu development and kitchen design. He worked with Wetzel to give the menu a country focus.

"The food is country-style cooking with a Southern backbone and Texas flair," Burnett says. "So we have cornbread, chicken-fried steak, and brisket that we smoke overnight."

Their signature dish: beer can chicken. Burnett says they put "a lot of love into it."

"We brine it overnight, then smoke them for six hours every day before service," he says. "Our smoker’s only so big, and it's first-come first-serve. You can’t call ahead and reserve."

The cornbread is a "sticky jalapeno & cheddar cornbread" and is one a handful of appetizers along with fried pickles and cheddar-stuffed jalapenos with house-made garlic ranch. Blackened chicken quesadilla and fried catfish fingers with chunky Cajun remoulade can be shared as appetizers or serve as an entree.

For their chicken-fried steak, they get the steak from 44 Farms and offer a Nashville-hot-chicken style of preparation, where it gets dipped in jalapeño oil, then doused with dried jalapeno seasoning.

Their other signature is the Trailer Park Sandwich, featuring two breakfast sausage patties smothered in cheddar cheese and served on a soft, buttery biscuit with strawberry jam.

Last but not least, the burgers.

"Our burgers are some of the best you'll find," Burnett says. "We use a smaller quarter-pound patty, so you can order it with one or two. It's on a brioche bun, nicely toasted, with garlic butter, and the burgers are cooked on a flat top, with raw onion."

Prices are low with the most expensive item topping out at $14.95 for the CFS. "We like to have scratch food prepared with a chef's touch, but offer it at a value," he says.

Wetzel also helped craft the name, which is how they arrived at "riot room."

"The definition a riot in this context is someone who's fun to be around — not with people rioting," says Emil Bragdon. "It's a place you have fun. Inside the venue, we'll have that definition of 'riot': a bunch of people who want to have a good time."