DUBLIN — Dublin’s Bristol Republic is becoming the country capital of central Ohio. Rascal Flatts frontman Gary LeVox stopped by the Bridge Park bar and restaurant after the Ohio State game on Oct. 10 and surprised the crowd by joining local band Yours for the Taking to perform his 2024 song, “Life is a Highway.”
Bristol Republic owner Brian Swanson said the visit came together in minutes: a manager received a call saying LeVox was on his way and might want to sing a song or two, and 15 minutes later he walked in. “It was pretty cool. It’s fun for these local bands to play with national artists,” Swanson said. The room was already packed with fans coming off the Ohio State and Cleveland Guardians games, plus the bar’s regular live-music crowd.
LeVox’s drop-in came less than three weeks after Dierks Bentley gave an impromptu performance at the Bristol. Swanson credits the venue’s design and live-music reputation — “It has a Nashville feel that country artists can relate to” — for drawing the surprise stars. “There’s nothing else like the Bristol in town. The design, the way the room is laid out. We have a great stage and the reputation we have here is for live music, that’s what’s drawing them in.”