WEXFORD — A Slippery Rock University alumnus is hitting the road with Grammy Award-winning country artists the Dixie Chicks as an opening act for 21 shows of the group’s upcoming “DCX MMXVI” tour.

Josh Herbert, a 2012 SRU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in art and a Wexford native, decided to make music his career during his senior year at SRU. Now, thanks in part to a meeting between his cousin, Jake Herbert, a two-time NCAA wrestling champion, and Martin Strayer, a wrestling fan and husband of Dixie Chick Emily Robinson, Herbert — who said he has never played in front of more than 300 people before — will open for the group, which has won 13 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year for their 2007 record “Taking the Long Way.”

Herbert, who got his first guitar at age 10 and quickly found a love for the instrument, didn’t always see himself making a living as a musician. Instead, he dreamed of playing professional hockey, and as a high school standout, he seemed well on his way.

Herbert helped lead North Allegheny to the 2007 Class-AAA state championship, and followed that up with four years of men’s club hockey at SRU.

During his junior year Herbert, who also plays the banjo, mandolin, 12-string guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, drums and piano, began posting YouTube videos of himself playing original compositions. With positive responses online, he would spend much of the next two years writing songs and learning to play more instruments.

Following his graduation from SRU, Herbert travelled to New York City, where he wrote and recorded music while sleeping on a friend’s couch.

The result was a three song EP that had too much pop flavor to it, Herbert said, so he returned to Pennsylvania with an eye on recovering his lost musical roots.

“At the end of the day (the sound) wasn’t me,” Herbert said. “I needed to come home and regroup, get back to basics, just me and my guitar.”

Herbert once again started posting his music online, and when his cousin, Jake, met Strayer, he passed along information about Herbert’s work. The two began exchanging emails, and over the next year Herbert found himself invited to visit the Strayers’ Texas home in January of 2015.

The experience kicked Herbert into high gear, and he produced a self-titled, 10-song album that hit number 30 on the iTunes charts in May of 2015. And when the Dixie Chicks began planning their 2016 tour, Herbert’s name was floated as a possible opening act.

The result was an invitation for Herbert to perform as an acoustic opener for the tour. He will do a 20-minute, five song set at each of the 21 shows he participates in.

“It really has been a whirlwind,” Herbert said. “Here I am at 25, getting ready to play in front of 20,000 people every night with one of the biggest names in country music. I owe a big ‘thank you’ to my cousin for helping set all this in motion.”

The tour includes shows in 12 states and two Canadian provinces, as well as a June 10 show at Pittsburgh’s First Niagara Pavilion.

The group also will perform a June 24 show at Hershey Park in Hershey, Pa.

In all, the tour includes more than 50 performances.