Sam Barber at Bmo Pavilion on Saturday, July 4 During Summerfest
MILWAUKEE, WI (January 26, 2026) – Summerfest presented by American Family Insurance is excited to announce singer-songwriter Sam Barber as the headliner for the BMO Pavilion with Miller Lite on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Tickets for reserved seating will go on sale Friday, January 30 at 10:00 a.m. via Summerfest.com, Ticketmaster.com or in person at the Summerfest Box Office, and include admission to Summerfest the day of the performance.
Concerts at the BMO Pavilion during Summerfest will once again offer seating options for all evening headlining performances. Fans will have the choice of reserved seats available for purchase or free general admission seating on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the show with a Summerfest ticket.
For more information visit Summerfest.com
About Sam Barber
With more than 2B global streams to date, Sam Barber claimed his space in the country spotlight with the breakout success of his RIAA Gold-certified 2024 debut album, Restless Mind — a 28-song tour-de-force highlighted by such smash singles as the 2x RIAA Platinum certified “Straight and Narrow,” “Better Year” (an emotionally charged anthem featured on Paramount Network’s blockbuster TV show Yellowstone), and the RIAA Platinum-certified “Indigo (Feat. Avery Anna),” the latter of which has proven a worldwide sensation with over 500M global streams, also earning Platinum certification in Australia and 2x Platinum certification in Canada while spending 14 weeks and counting among the upper reaches of country radio airplay charts nationwide and reaching the top 40 on Billboard’s overall “Hot 100.” As if all that weren’t enough, last year saw Barber’s “Tear Us Apart” among the standout tracks featured on Lockeland Springs/Atlantic Records’ RIAA Gold-certified, GRAMMY® Award-nominated blockbuster soundtrack, Twisters: The Album.
Barber kept his unstoppable momentum going this year with his acclaimed new EP, Music for the Soul. Co-written by Barber and produced by GRAMMY® Award-winner Ryan Hewitt (The Lumineers, Noah Kahan) and Joe Becker at studios in Nashville, TN and Bozeman, MT, the EP sees Barber chronicling how he got here and where he’s headed next on such eloquent, empathetic new songs as “Same Sad Shit,” the fame-wrestling title track, “Music for the Soul,” and the deeply moving “Home Tonight. First teased via the fan-first platform, Sam Barber Files, an evolving digital space offering a rare, unfiltered look into Barber’s world with unreleased content, personal visuals, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into his creative process.
Music for the Soul also includes the soul-baring anthem, “Man of the Year,” available everywhere now. With its cascade of shadowy textures and darkly hypnotic guitar tones, “Man of the Year” received applause from publications such as Billboard, which named it one of “6 Must-Hear New Country Songs,” writing, “This gritty track, written solely by Barber, finds him pondering the existential anguish he sees threaded throughout world events, and emotionally embedded in people around him. “Is it in my mind or are we all just sinking?” he muses, his quietly commanding voice ringing out over sparse but captivating production,and shedding light on a generation’s anxieties and fears.”
In addition, Barber extended the project with the addition of “Better Than The Floor,” a very special collaboration with GRAMMY® Award-nominated artist and producer Chance Peña. Having both long admired each other’s work, the acclaimed artists finally connected, forging a powerful new musical alliance.
A truly enthralling live performer, Barber marked his meteoric rise by spending much of his time on the road, including the massive Restless Mind World Tour 2025, a marathon international run that saw sold-out headline dates and festival appearances across North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia. Through it all, Barber has showcased a remarkable gift for raw honesty and youthful enthusiasm that has forced him into nearly every conversation about the future of country music. Now, in the wake of Music for the Soul – and more stirring new music to come – that future may well belong to Sam Barber.
About Summerfest presented by American Family Insurance
Summerfest presented by American Family Insurance is one of the most iconic celebrations of music in America, hosting the industry’s biggest acts for an unforgettable live music experience. Since its inception in 1968, Summerfest continues to distinguish itself as a premier independent national music festival and has developed an unrivaled reputation, consistently featuring hundreds of performances across 12 stages, throughout the permanent 75-acre festival grounds along Lake Michigan. Summerfest 2026 will take place across three weekends: June 18-20, June 25-27, and July 2-4, 2026. For the latest information, visit Summerfest.com, or Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok: @Summerfest.
Milwaukee World Festival, Inc., producer of Summerfest, continues to fulfill its nonprofit mission of bringing the community together and providing a showcase for performing arts, activities, and recreation to the public, through music and special events.
About BMO Financial Group
BMO Financial Group is the seventh largest bank in North America by assets, with total assets of $1.5 trillion as of October 31, 2025. Serving clients for 200 years and counting, BMO is a diverse team of highly engaged employees providing a broad range of personal and commercial banking, wealth management, global markets and investment banking products and services to approximately 13 million clients across Canada, the United States, and in select markets globally. Driven by a single purpose, to Boldly Grow the Good in business and life, BMO is committed to driving positive change in the world, and making progress for a thriving economy, sustainable future, and stronger communities.
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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