Sing it loud: Chancey Williams’ rodeo jam herding one-of-a-kind event for Pioneer Days
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- Chancey Williams is pictured during a show on April 16, 2024.
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- Chancey Williams and his horse, pictured on April 10, 2024.
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- Chancey Williams is pictured during a show on Aug. 16, 2024.
OGDEN — Country music’s Chancey Williams, set to rock Ogden Pioneer Stadium on July 18, will break in a new tradition with the first-ever “Bulls, Broncs and Bands” rodeo-and-concert combination featuring Williams and Utah favorite Charley Jenkins.
Headlining Pioneer Days for the first time, Williams brings his rodeo roots from Moorcroft, Wyoming, where iHeartRadio’s Rocky Mountain Country Music Awards’ entertainer of the year came up as a saddle bronc rider and country musician. Since 2007, Williams and his supporting band have recorded six studio albums in Nashville.
Williams and fellow Wyoming native Chris LeDoux are the only two riders ever to compete and perform at Cheyenne Frontier Days, one of the world’s largest active rodeos. Williams has sold out the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville and headlined the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.
Next month, Williams adds Utah’s leading major rodeo to his catalog of performances.
“Me and my brother started rodeo at a real young age like most rodeo cowboys do,” Williams said. “My dad rode saddle broncs and barebacks so all growing up, we wanted to be like that.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to play (festivals) and rodeo concerts nowadays that’ve morphed into that but we got started playing all these little rodeos and fairs across the west. It’s where we’ve learned to cut our teeth.”
Accommodations for live music were among the roughly $4 million upgrades to Pioneer Stadium, officially renamed for Spencer Fox Eccles in July 2024 ahead of last year’s celebration. The project included the addition of 1,200 seats and an overhaul of the venue’s sound system.
So, when guitars, fiddles and bulls alike fill Pioneer Stadium, it’ll be a one-of-a-kind experience for Williams, riders and fans in attendance.
Following Jenkins’ opening show, an hour-plus rough stock rodeo — featuring bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding, rodeo announcer Roger Mooney, rodeo clown John Harrison and professional bull jumper Manu Lataste — will prep the crowd for Williams’ headlining concert.
Previously, Williams has opened for headliners Toby Keith, Cody Johnson, Alan Jackson, Dierks Bentley and Parker McCollum. Williams described LeDoux, George Straight, Dan Seals and Dwight Yoakam.
“We play a lot of upbeat, kind-of-wild music,” Williams said. “Our sets that me and my band play are 90% of our own stuff that we’ve recorded and we put a couple of covers in there too for folks that’ve never seen us before, but it’s a real wild show.”
Williams released his sixth studio album, “One of These Days,” in conjunction with his Grand Ole Opry debut in April 2023. His seventh studio album is set to arrive later this fall.
Ogden’s annual Pioneer Days Rodeo celebration is celebrating its 91st anniversary with a brand new tradition, recognizing the natural crossover between rodeo and country music. Having performed and competed professionally, Williams is adding another dimension with his inaugural performance at the first-ever Bulls, Broncs and Bands concert.
“I try to stay in my lane when it comes to songwriting,” Williams said. “I try to be as truthful, authentic and accurate as possible. A lot of my friends and fans are also cowboys or ranchers so I try to write songs that relate to that way of life. Because I grew up as a ranch kid and rodeo cowboy, I try to write songs that other folks in that line of work can relate to.”
All seating for the concert-and-rodeo event is reserved and expected to sell out, according to the Ogden Pioneer Days website. Grandstand ($52.68), premium ($64.07), and pit passes (ticket price plus $13.20) are available at ogdenpioneerdays.com.
Schedule of events for July 18 at Ogden Pioneer Stadium
5:30 p.m. — Gates open
6:30 p.m. — Charley Jenkins
7:30 p.m. — Rough stock rodeo
9 p.m. — Chancey Williams
Connect with reporter Conner Becker via email at cbecker@standard.net and X @ctbecker.
