Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders visited Nashville recently to see her old pal, Kid Rock.
Every week, Sanders' office sends out an email with a roundup of pictures from her previous week. Last week's pictures included two with Kid Rock in Nashville at his new restaurant, The Detroit Cowboy.
Kid Rock released a video on his Instagram Monday talking with Sanders about his upcoming concert in Little Rock and their friendship.
"I think, uh, bringing Rock a country to Little Rock first started," Kid Rock says in the video. "I was telling you about the concept of Rock country of this being a small town, really, just pro-American, everything pro-American music festival for a lot of people I felt were underserved in this country and trying to serve them because they're really felt they were underserved talent and you said come to Little Rock," Kid Rock says in the video.
Let's look at this Made In America friendship and more.
The Detroit Cowboy, owned by Kid Rock and restaurateur Joe Vicari, had a soft opening a couple of weeks ago with a grand opening last week in Nashville. The restaurant is billed as a steak, seafood and fine dining restaurant with rock and country memorabilia as decor.
You can watch a video of Kid Rock in Nashville about his new venture.
The Reckoning asked Sanders' communications director Sam Dubke last week why the governor was in Nashville with Kid Rock.
Dubke could only refer the Reckoning to a post from Sanders on her X account.
The photo credit in the pictures sent to media from Nashville is Jordan Powell, Sanders' campaign manager. (Bobby is Kid Rock's real name.)
Did Sanders, who is running for re-election as governor, have a campaign event or fundraiser in Nashville? That will be unclear until Sanders files her campaign finance reports.
Kid Rock posted a black and white version of a picture of Sanders and himself on his Instagram account. He wrote this underneath it and tagged Sanders:
Great having my friend and Governor of the great state of Arkansas Sarah Huckabee Sanders at TheDetroitCowboy yesterday. Always good to catch up and talk shop about our upcoming Rock The
Country show in Little Rock!
Big thanks to the Governor, her administration, and the State for being so welcoming. Can't wait to see everyone out there!
And if you haven't watched the RTC documentary yet..don't sleep!
What is the RTC documentary? Thankfully, on a Facebook post, Kid Rock links to it.
Indeed, Kid Rock is bringing his Rock The Country "A Festival For We The People" to the Arkansas State Fairgrounds in Little Rock on June 20-21.
Joining Kid Rock are Nickleback, Hank Williams Jr., Tracy Lawrence, Travis Tritt, Lee Greenwood, Shenandoah and more. Afroman and Ying Yang Twins will DJ sets.
Sanders and Rock
Sanders and Kid Rock go back a ways.
When Sanders ran for governor the firstvtime, Kid Rock endorsed her on "X" in January 2021. He reposted her announcement video and wrote : "I support Sarah for Governor! -Kid Rock
In January 2023, Kid Rock attended Bryan Sanders' Bourbon & Cigars that was part of the inaugural events. She posted about it on X.
Sanders' friendship with Kid Rock dates back to at least President Donald Trump's first term as president.
But Kid Rock is also friends with Sanders's dad, former Governor Mike Huckabee who is now the ambassador to Israel. Kid Rock performed on Huckabee's last show.
Kid Rock and Trump became buddies in 2017 and golf together. Sanders was Trump's White House Press Secretary from 2017 to 2019.
Last week, Trump promoted Kid Rock's restaurant on his Truth Social account:
"Congratulations to my friend, Kid Rock (I call him Bob!), on the Grand Opening of his new Nashville restaurant, “The Detroit Cowboy.” I hear it is a very friendly MAGA establishment, and look forward to going there sometime soon! thedetroitcowboy.com/
Politicians can – and usually do – have friends in the entertainment business. The question many people will likely have about Sanders' friendship is how much did her travel cost Arkansas taxpayers. After all, Arkansas State Police travel with Sanders wherever she goes.
However, her travels also place her in the limelight, and one could say that is good public relations for the state. Not to mention, rock festivals are good for tourism.
"Anytime you have an event like this, and the opportunity to bring in such a huge headliner, that is something that will make a big difference in the state, bringing a lot of revenue, tourism and so, not only are we excited to hear great music and see from people that love this country, but also, it's a big win for Arkansas to have that kind of economic driver," Sanders says in the video.
Kid Rock gave a shout out to help he received from Sanders' office to bring his festival to Little Rock.
"We just try to give a great experience to people," Kid Rock says in the video. We're trying to be different than most places, and and to be honest, a lot of the help that we get, we don't feel, and we know that we couldn't get that help in the bigger cities."
Sanders ends the video inviting people to buy tickets for the festival and encouraging out-of-state fans to visit.
"We don't want anybody in Arkansas to miss it, but don't feel like you have to live in Arkansas to come," Sanders says. "We help people will come from all over the country to hear what you guys have to offer and be part of something that we know is going to be really special."
