Keith Urban Announces ‘Ripcord’ Album/World Tour, ‘American Idol’ Judge Promises An Ambitious Album

Keith Urban has stepped back into the studio to record a new album, reports CNYCentral. Urban will be celebrating his upcoming ninth album, RipCORD — a project he has been working on for a whole year — with a World Tour starting in the summer, on June 2, 2016, in Kansas City.

“It’s all amphitheaters and arenas,” Keith says. “Last year, we were doing mostly festivals and that sort of thing. It wasn’t a conceptual production, really. This is us getting back to that world.”

Audiences have more than likely been used to seeing Keith Urban on their television screens, for American Idol, a show which the singer had to work around in order to record his album. He’s going to need all of the energy he has, as his upcoming RipCORD World Tour is going to be his biggest tour in nearly two years. The tour will take Urban to plenty of new places, like South Carolina, Nebraska and Myrtle Beach, along with the familiar tour destinations like Los Angeles, Atlanta and of course Nashville, where Keith is currently finishing up RipCORD.

Keith Urban, New Zealand-born, will also be stretching his musical talents with this upcoming effort. It is a project that will be genre-bending, incorporating elements of all sorts of sounds found in pop, rock and even disco music. Urban’s been spending the last several months experimenting with genius producers like Rick Rubin and Nile Rodgers — two individuals the country singer has never worked with, and whom he credits for bringing new elements to RipCORD.

“With Nile, it was the guitar playing that drew me in. I had a real simple desire to play with him, to see what kind of fusion we could create together. I’ve got a six-string banjo, and I’ve played along with records Nile played on, and they just paired up beautifully. I wanted to see if we could rhythmically click like that in the studio. So we got into the studio, and he had a guitar and I had a banjo, and we just played to a loop. It was great.”

During the next several weeks, additional recording and songwriting sessions are still going to take place. Furthermore, Urban is going to be meeting with production designer Roy Bennett — who has worked with artists such as Beyoncé and Lady Gaga — to help set the stage for his live performances during the Ripcord World Tour. Bennett also lended a helping hand on the design front with the 2013 Light the Fuse Tour.

It’s going to be a lot for Keith, juggling all of this as well as taking weekly flights back to Los Angeles to film the final season of American Idol. It is a hectic schedule the singer says he is quite used to.

During the RipCORD World Tour, Keith Urban will be playing at the Lakeview Amphitheater this summer, on August 25. Joanie Mahoney, Onondaga County Executive, expressed excitement for the Australian country singer’s arrival.

“Onondaga County is thrilled to host Keith Urban at the Lakeview Amphitheater,” Mahoney said. “This is great news for our community because this concert simply would not have happened without our new facility on the shores of Onondaga Lake. Concert events like this enhance our quality of life and have a tremendous impact on our local economy.”

I've never seen @KeithUrban live, but throw in @bretteldredge and @MarenMorris … I think it might be time. #RipCordTour

— Nicole (@NickyPD84) January 11, 2016

The date’s for Keith Urban’s Ripcord World Tour can be found below. An official release date for the RipCORD album has yet to be released.

• June 2 – Kansas City, MO – Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
• June 3 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
• June 4 – Indianapolis, IN – Klipsch Music Center
• June 10 – Myrtle Beach, SC – Carolina Country Music Fest
• June 11 – Alpharetta, GA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater at Encore Park
• June 16 – Orange Beach, AL – The Wharf Amphitheater
• June 17 – Tampa, FL – MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheater
• June 18 – West Palm Beach, FL – Perfect Vodka Amphitheater
• June 23 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
• June 24 – Canandaigua, NY – Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center
• June 25 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
• July 2 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion at Meadowbrook
• July 9 – Toronto, ON – Molson Canadian Amphitheater
• July 14 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
• July 15 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
• July 16 – Holmdel, NJ – P.N.C. Bank Arts Center
• July 21 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheater
• July 22 – Greenwood Village, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater
• July 23 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
• July 28 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheater
• July 29 – Lake Tahoe, Stateline NV – Lake Tahoe at Harvey’s Outdoor Amphitheater
• August 18 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
• August 19 – Raleigh, NC – Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
• August 20 – Virginia Beach, VA – Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
• August 25 – Syracuse, NY – Lakeview Amphitheater
• August 26 – Philadelphia, PA – BB&T Pavilion
• August 27 – Washington, DC – Jiffy Lube Live
• October 6 – Bismarck, ND – Bismarck Civic Center
• October 8 – Lincoln, NE – Pinnacle Bank Arena
• October 13 – San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center
• October 14 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
• October 15 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
• October 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
• October 21 – Las Vegas, NV – Las Vegas Arena
• October 22 – Phoenix, AZ – Talking Stick Resort Arena
• October 27 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
• October 28 – Rosemont, IL – Allstate Arena
• October 29 – Toledo, OH – Huntington Center
• November 4 – Milwaukee, WI – BMO Harris Bradley Center
• November 5 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
• November 11 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
• November 12 – Bloomington, IL – U.S. Cellular Coliseum
• November 13 – Youngstown, OH – The Covelli Centre
• November 17 – Hershey, PA – Giant Center
• November 18 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Arena
• November 19 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center

[Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images]