If you need a reason to make the drive to Rochester this May, WBEE’s Guitars & Stars gives you five. The show lands at West Herr Auditorium Theatre on Wednesday, May 20, at 7:30 PM — an acoustic night with a lineup worth the haul from anywhere in the region.
About the Artists
Headlining is Nate Smith, the Sony Music Nashville singer-songwriter who launched on TikTok and has not slowed down since. He has scored four consecutive #1 singles — “Whiskey On You,” “World on Fire,” “Bulletproof,” and the current “Fix What You Didn’t Break” — with nearly 3 billion global career streams. His 2026 North American tour is his biggest run to date, and an acoustic format is a different kind of show than an arena: closer, more personal, the kind of night where the Camp Fire story that reshaped his songwriting actually has room to land.
Ashley Cooke arrives here fresh off her 2024 CMT Music Award win for Breakthrough Female Video of the Year, with her self-titled sophomore album due this summer. Aaron Watson brings his independent Texas country credibility to the stage — his 2015 album The Underdog was the first independently released record to debut at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, and in March 2026 he followed it with the sweeping 26-song Horse Named Texas.
Alexandra Kay’s debut album All I’ve Ever Known topped the iTunes country chart in 2023 and she is now building momentum with Second Wind via BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville. Julia Cole — “Country With a Kick” — has 700 million streams as an independent artist and performed at the UK’s C2C Festival earlier this year.
Venue & Logistics
West Herr Auditorium Theatre is a proper theater room on East Main Street — the kind of space where an acoustic-forward format like Guitars & Stars lands well. Plan on doors around 6:30 PM. RBTL’s parking at 945 East Main is available as a pre-purchase upgrade through Ticketmaster. This is the second and final date of a two-night run that starts in Scranton, PA on May 19.
Tickets & Pricing
Tickets start at $24.70, with averages around $57. On sale now through Ticketmaster or the Auditorium Theatre box office. Check the Rochester / Finger Lakes concert calendar for more shows in the area.