Country music stars rock out for Happy Valley Jam

A Penn State student and her father got the chance to take the stage with country music duo Big & Rich on Saturday at Beaver Stadium during the first-ever Happy Valley Jam concert.

Ellie Segan had nominated her father, Ross David Segan, a retired major and general surgeon in the U.S. Army, for a public military recognition by the band.

Big & Rich first applauded all members of the U.S. armed forces and then called the Segans to the stage.

“It’s not just you you’re signing up — it’s your family,” Ross Segan said about enlisting.

Big & Rich regularly honor veterans and current members of the military through their music and during performances.

Saturday night, they were among a group of country music artists who performed for the Beaver Stadium crowd, including Adley Stump, David Ray, Chris Young and headliner Blake Shelton.

Deputy Director of Athletics and Chief Operating Officer Phil Esten said the goal was to sell at least 30,000 tickets of the about 70,000 available.

“When you look at stadium concerts nationally, those that are in the 30,000-40,000 range are doing really, really well, and we’re confident in that and happy with what we’ve done so far,” he said.

The idea to host Happy Valley Jam has been a couple years in the making.

“It wasn’t just about looking at Beaver Stadium, but all our venues,” he said.

Penn State teamed up with Basis Entertainment, a promotional company, that helps coordinate concerts, and looked at Bryce Jordan Center concerts to gauge what would work well for a larger event.

“We started working with a promoter about a year ago, and the last couple summers, Blake Shelton was one of the best-selling stadium tours in the country,” Esten said. “Given how well county music (does) at the BJC , and how popular it is in central Pennsylvania, we wanted to bring this here.”

Esten said all proceeds from the concert would go back into the athletic department to help “create conditions for success in our student athletes.”

“We’re pretty happy with what we’ve done here,” Esten said. “If this is something we can do on a pretty regular basis, then we can learn from tonight.”

This story was originally published July 8, 2017 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Country music stars rock out for Happy Valley Jam."