Andy Roberts has one friend in a very high place.
But he was still shocked when he heard country superstar Garth Brooks mention his name during a live streamed news conference Thursday afternoon to announce a new album and some tour details.
It’s been seven months since Roberts, a Gainesville resident and owner of Turnkey Facility Maintenance, attended Brooks’ Las Vegas concert with his buddy Bryan Brinson and was randomly selected by Brooks to ask a question.
The friends were sitting in the front row of the balcony of the Wynn Theatre when the spotlight hit them and Roberts asked Brooks which city would be the kickoff location for his upcoming world tour.
“The question, it just came out. I had thought about during the week where his first show was going to be and I wanted to know. But I never thought I’d get the response I got,” Roberts said.
Brooks was caught slightly off guard, but promised Roberts that when the time came, he would personally call him to share the information about his first major tour since 1998.
During the show, someone from Brooks’ staff approached Roberts for his cellphone number, and a week later, he received a call from Brooks’ house manager to confirm his contact information.
“That was in January,” Roberts said, “and I haven’t heard from them since.”
Until Thursday’s broadcast-to-millions news conference, that is, during which Brooks mentioned that he made a promise to “Andy from Atlanta” that he would hear news of the kickoff city first and that he would make the call on Monday.
Roberts, 31, said when he receives the information, he’s “definitely going to release it” (Brooks gave his blessing to do so), but hasn’t yet decided how.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I want to do it in a cool way,” Roberts said, adding that Twitter is a possibility.
Like his favorite artist, Roberts isn’t a huge fan of social media and only after Thursday’s name-drop did he activate his Twitter account (@TFMAndy).
“After the press conference, I knew I had to get on Twitter,” he said with a laugh.
Roberts has been contacted by local and national media, all wanting to know how the famous “Andy from Atlanta” feels about being Brooks’ go-to guy for the announcement.
And when he gets the call Monday, he’ll be ready to chat.
“I’m going to let Garth know up front how appreciative I am of him. He didn’t have to do this. I would have walked away with a great experience just from that concert,” Roberts said. “But I hope I get to talk to him for a little bit. He’s going to have to kick me off the phone call!”
Roberts and his wife are expecting their third child at the end of August, and if the timing of the baby arrival doesn’t impede, they have a plan.
“My goal is to be at the first show,” Roberts said, “no matter what.”
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