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Country singer J.D. Shelburne admits he is a life-long Kentucky fan and getting to entertain fans at Commonwealth Stadium Saturday before UK plays Florida is going to be special for him.
He’s played at NASCAR, NBA, Women’s Final Four, SEC Basketball Tournament and Kentucky Derby events among others and performed with 50 national acts during his fast-rising musical career.
However, playing for a Kentucky athletics event has been a long-time goal for him.
“I have been trying to get into UK athletics for five years and have not had much luck,” said Shelburne, who grew up in Taylorsville . “I have done anything at Rupp (Arena) for UK and want to do a basketball game so bad. My dad was a high school coach and then a high school principal and athletics director. We played basketball.”
He met former Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips at a Kentucky Derby party a few years ago. He brought Shelburne to some games and got his name out to the athletics department.
“I randomly got a call from UK last week. They left a voice mail asking if I could play before the Florida game. I was already booked at a party in Louisville. That had been booked for about four months. But I couldn’t turn this down. I cancelled the private party because I was so happy to get a chance to play at UK with my full band,” Shelburne said.
“I have done a lot of things for Louisville athletics. But this opportunity with the way Kentucky football going like it is, it is going to be crazy for the Florida game. I can’t wait.
“I think fans are going to be in for a shock. I have not yet told my band that they all have to wear UK shirts yet. We play from 3-4. We’ll do a pretty normal show but I will do a version of My Old Kentucky Home that we do a lot on the road. We will be doing that for sure. I just put out a music video last week and we will be playing that song.
We are going to keep it upbeat and try to get all the fans really hyped for the game.”
Shelburne said he is friends with players like quarterback Patrick Towles and punter Landon Foster. Kentucky is also supplying game tickets for his band and crew.
“I am definitely going to the Cat Walk. I saw on Twitter what it was like (for the first game) and I can’t wait for that. I will not miss that.”
He will be singing the national anthem in Rupp Arena Oct. 17 when New Orleans and Sacramento meet in a NBA exhibition game.
“I did that a couple of years ago. I hope maybe to get a UK game. I would love to sing My Old Kentucky Home in Rupp,” he said.
He will also join Kentucky fans Eddie and John Michael Montgomery Oct. 12 in Danville for their charity golf event.
“I actually opened for Montgomery Gentry at the state fair a couple of years ago and that was a party. I know Eddie better than Troy (Gentry),” Shelburn said.
Shelburne also annually host a charity softball game that raises money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“(Former UK basketball player) Jon Hood played last year in the game,” Shelburne said.
Shelburne has played over 1,000 concerts — not bad for someone who taught himself to play the guitar at age 19 when he found a junior-sized Yamaha acoustic guitar after the death of his grandmother that he never knew she had between his freshman and sophomore years at Kentucky.
“I was living on campus (at Kentucky) and taught myself to play. It was just something to do between classes, and I loved it,” Shelburne said. “The next thing you know I am playing clubs and selling out. I would play bars, festivals. I was greeting the fan base one by one best I could from 2005 to 2008 and then I moved to Nashville. But it all started with my grandma’s passing to let me find my passion.”
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