Powerhouses Skillet and for KING & COUNTRY are set to bring their spring tour to Amarillo Thursday, April 12 at the Civic Center Coliseum.

“joy.UNLEASHED | The Tour” with double headliners Skillet and for KING & COUNTRY will be making its way through a variety of cities this spring. The tour kicks off in Amarillo on April 12 and ends in Miramar, FL on May 6.

“I am excited about the tour because we have known for KING & COUNTRY for years and in fact, I knew their family before they had started the band so we are kind of family friends,” Skillet lead singer John Cooper said. “When they came out, I just thought their music was so great.”

This tour will be the second time these bands have toured together. Cooper believes that collaboration is a great way for both bands to be introduced to new fans.

“In a certain way, our shows are a bit similar even though our styles of music are very different,” Cooper said. “But the shows feel similar in terms of the excitement on stage, the intensity, the drama. They are very theatrical, and we are very theatrical in our own way, it is just different genres of music.”

The Australian brothers that form for KING & COUNTRY have received two Grammy Awards during their career. They have also received a great amount of praise for their latest album “Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong.”

“We have so many memories when it comes to our friendship and history with Skillet”, Joel and Luke of for KING & COUNTRY said in a press release. “As teenagers, we remember watching their sets from the side of the stage. They headlined the very first tour we were ever on! It’s a real honor and joy for us to have the privilege of touring together.”

Along with the two bands, Jen Ledger, drummer, and vocalist for Skillet will be opening the show with her solo project “LEDGER.”

“I am glad that she is getting do [this project], Cooper said. “This is her first [time] she has fronted a band.”

Skillet has traveled throughout the world, headlining shows and performing alongside many other artists and bands. For John and his wife Korey Cooper, who plays guitar in the band, they have done this while having their family on the road as well.

“We have been married the whole time and we have been on the road the whole time with kids who have been on the road since they were born,” Cooper said. “We are very lucky. I think it makes everything feel more stable and it makes everything feel more family-oriented.”

Cooper has noticed that the family dynamic of the band has influenced the fans. He says that the fans make up a unique community.

“That is what I think is so great about a Skillet show,” Cooper said. “It literally is for every genre of music, or creed, what people believe and age group. Everybody comes together and it is very much like a community at a Skillet show.”

Skillet has produced a variety of hit songs throughout their career. The band’s latest release is their deluxe album “Unleashed Beyond (Special Edition).” The album features new songs, such as “Breaking Free”. However, the album still includes songs from “Unleashed,” including the single “Feel Invincible,” which received a Recording Industry Association of America Gold Certification.

“I think fans picked up on the inspirational nature of the album,” Cooper said. “It was just fun to listen to and I think that helped us.”

Many fans have taken notice of the band’s latest record based on its sound. For Ruben Galvan, sophomore political science major and a long-time Skillet fan, he said that he has enjoyed the new music.

“It’s refreshing to see a new side of Skillet,” Galvan said. “It shows that they are not a one-sided band.”

For their shows, fans can expect a high energy and exciting performance. Cooper believes that what makes a Skillet show is the emotion and feeling behind it.

“Every show needs to be special, every show has to have 100 percent of your heart into it,” Cooper said.

Tickets are available now for “joy.UNLEASHED | The Tour”. For more information about Skillet and for KING & COUNTRY, visit their websites www.skillet.com and www.forKINGANDCOUNTRY.com.