Area county fairs are hoping 2021 treats them better than 2020.
Last summer saw most county fairs scale back their planned events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That meant the cancellation of concerts and other popular attractions such as carnivals and demolition derbies.
Fans looking to see some of their favorite artists perform close to home are in luck this year. Some artists originally booked in 2020 for area county fairs are on tap to take the stage this summer.
Last year, Logan Mize and Granger Smith were scheduled to perform at the Washington County Fair in Arlington. That concert was ultimately canceled, but Mize is set to headline this year’s concert on Friday, July 30, in Arlington.
Mize is an accomplished country singer/songwriter from Clearwater, Kansas. In 2010, several years after moving to Nashville, Mize signed a publishing/record deal with Big Yellow Dog Music and a booking deal with a major agency.
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He sent the next seven years playing in numerous venues across the United States. In 2016, he booked a solo acoustic tour via social media and traveled more than 20,000 miles in less than two months.
Mize released his “Come Back Road” album in 2017 which debuted in the Top 20 on Billboard and iTunes all-genre charts. The album also debuted at No. 2 on iTunes’ country chart and features the hit singles, “Ain’t Always Pretty” and “Better Off Gone.” Mize recently released in new album, “Still That Kid.”
Chris Colston will be the opener for Mize at the 2021 Washington County Fair.
Colston debuted in 2018 with the release of “Gone.” The title track surpassed a half-million streams on Spotify in just a few months after its release.
The singer-songwriter released his debut full-length project, “Bombs Away,” in June 2020. Produced by Philip Mosely, the album includes songs such as “Five Beers,” “First Dirt Road” and “Whiskey Sunset.”
Tickets for the Washington County Fair concert are $20. Tickets can be purchased online at www.washingtoncountyfairne.com/tickets.
The Burt County Fair also canceled its concert in 2020, but the same performers are on board to stage the stage in Oakland this summer.
The fair’s headlining group – Lonestar – is no stranger to country music fans.
For more than 20 years, Lonestar has logged countless miles touring throughout the world, released several platinum-selling albums and 10 No. 1 singles, and earned ACM and CMA awards.
Lonestar has amassed RIAA-certified sales in excess of 10 million album units since its national launch in 1995, and achieved 10 No. 1 country hits, including “No News,” “Come Crying To Me,” and their crossover smash, “Amazed,” which also was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first record since 1983’s “Islands in the Stream” to top both charts.
The band’s awards include a 1999 ACM Single of the Year for “Amazed,” which also won the Song of the Year award, and the 2001 CMA Vocal Group of the Year.
Earlier this month, Lonestar welcomed Drew Womack as its new lead singer following the departure of Richie McDonald. Womack is a multi-award-winning singer-songwriter who was one quarter of the group, Sons of the Dessert, in the late ‘90s and early 2000s.
The July 17 concert at the Burt County Fair also will feature Travis Denning with special guests Forgotten Highway and Justin Kane.
Denning, 28, grew up loving everything from The Allman Brothers Band to Metallica, Pantera and Outkast. He moved to Nashville at age 21, and in 2020, tallied his first Top 20 hit as a writer with Michael Ray’s reflective, “Her World or Mine.”
Denning signed his record deal at age 25. It featured six diverse tracks, including “After a Few,” which rocketed into country radio’s Top 5, and the Top 40 hit, “David Ashley Parker From Powder Springs.”
He is a nominee for New Male Artist of the Year. The winner will be announced at the 56th ACM Awards on April 18.
If you’d like to see a preview performance of Denning, he will be playing a live virtual concert at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 15. The show will be streaming live on Sessions: Live Music Streaming from Denning’s house in Georgia.
Denning will be hosting an exclusive Q&A after party following the show and joining some fans for private virtual meet and greets. Tickets and VIP experiences are on sale at http://sessionslive.com/TravisDenning/tickets.
Forgotten Highway travels throughout the Midwest, and opens for acts such as Easton Corbin, Joe Nichols, Granger Smith and Rodney Atkins.
Kane served in the U.S. Navy for nine years before returning to his hometown in western Nebraska. His high-energy shows are said to be a mix of country, southern rock, modern day hits and empowering originals.
General admission tickets to the Burt County Fair concert are $30 in advance. Prices will increase as the event nears. VIP tickets are $50.
Tickets may be purchased online at www.outhousetickets.com or at First Northeast Bank of Nebraska-Oakland Highway Bank.