Rascal Flatts announce 2015 Vegas Hard Rock residency

Come February, Rascal Flatts will become the first country act to have a residency at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.

The country trio will play nine shows over three weekends from Feb. 25 through March 14 at the 4,000-capacity venue.

"We've blown the doors off for so long, I really want to make this show more about the music," says the group's bassist, Jay DeMarcus. "The people who are going to be in that venue on those shows are going to expect us to do the songs they've fallen in love with over the years, the songs that have been the soundtrack to their lives. I really want to make it more about the music and less about the production and focus on Rascal Flatts' strongest traits — our songs and our signature harmonies."

Rascal Flatts — which consists of DeMarcus, lead singer Gary LeVox and guitarist Joe Don Rooney — debuted on the country scene in 2000 with Prayin' for Daylight. The trio has since topped the charts with such singles as Bless the Broken Road and What Hurts the Most and won the Country Music Association's Vocal Group of the Year award from 2003 to 2008.

"We've had our eye on a country residency and trying to offer something different to the fans that come to the Hard Rock," says Bobby Reynolds, vice president of AEG Live Las Vegas. Reynolds notes that the production for Kiss,The Joint's current residency act, "is almost twice as big as any other act The Joint has hosted." Rascal Flatts, however, will "create a set that provides more intimacy."

DeMarcus says the band typically would take that time of the year off the road to find or record new songs for an album. "Normally, we would start tour rehearsals around mid-April, then start touring," he says. "If it does well and is successful, it's something we'd be very interested in doing more of in the future.

"Tickets start at $39.50 plus fees and go on sale Friday.