Clark County Fair: Free concerts return to CC Fair Grandstands

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The Clark County Fair will once again include free concerts in the The Wolf Grandstands in 2013.

Clark County Fair Manager/CEO John Morrison said fair officials listened to the public and they are delivering what fairgoers have asked for.

“We got a lot of requests from the public to bring free music back to the Grandstands,’’ Morrison said. “We heard them. We listened. And, we’re going to do it.’’

The 2013 Clark County Fair will feature a total of five concerts, two of which will be held in the Sleep Country Amphitheater. Those concerts, with Alan Jackson and The Avett Brothers, will require a separate ticket. Tickets to see Jackson with Special Guest Gloriana, range in price from $35-65 and for The Avett Brothers, the price range is $35-55. Those ticket prices include same-day admission to the fair.

Three concerts will be held in the Grandstands including Kutless, Blue Oyster Cult and Kip Moore. Those concerts will be free with a fair admission. Reserved seats are available for $25 at Ticketmaster.

“I think we’ve got a good lineup,’’ Morrison said. “Every year, we look to try to see not only what fits the budget, but also is relevant to local interests. I think we have a good lineup this year.’’

For many music enthusiasts in Clark County, Jackson will be a popular name.

“We actually had Alan committed last year, but he had to drop our date out of his routing,’’ Morrison said. “We knew this year we were pretty much guaranteed he would make that right and come back.’’

Here’s a closer look at the concert series at the 2013 Clark County Fair:

Kutless

Fri., Aug. 2, 7 p.m.

The Wolf Grandstands

Kutless is a Christian rock band formed in 2000. To date they have a total of five studio albums including their latest, To Know That You’re Alive. The band has also released a live album, Live from Portland. Currently, they have sold over 1.4 million records according to www.lyricsfreak.com.

Formed in Portland, as a Worship band named Call Box in 2000, they changed their name to “Kutless” before releasing their first three track EP followed up by their full-length album in 2002 on BEC Recordings. Kutless chose their name because of a specific Bible verse. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because of this, the band says, “He took our cuts for us ... leaving us ‘Kutless’.”

Blue Oyster Cult

Sat., Aug. 3, 7 p.m.

The Wolf Grandstands

Sandy Pearlman was a music critic at Crawdaddy magazine when he persuaded a group of students at his alma mater, State University of New York at Stony Brook to form a band, and he became its manager. After several name changes, the band settled on the name Blue Oyster Cult (BOC) in 1970.

The band’s success was hard earned. They toured relentlessly, at a rate of more than 200 live shows a year during the 70s. They were among the first bands to introduce laser light shows into their live performances, but they were also one of the first to give them up because of the trouble and expense of hauling the necessary equipment.

During the 80s and 90s they had considerable personnel turnover, particularly drummers and bassists. Pearlman left to become Black Sabbath’s manager.

Band members parted ways briefly during the 80s, but otherwise have worked pretty much constantly. Original members form the core of today’s BOC, who continue to perform 80-100 live shows each year. BOC fans have documented more than 4,000 performances in the band’s career.

Currently without a record label, BOC continues to concentrate on touring. Their former label, Columbia, has been gradually releasing expanded, remastered editions of the band’s 17 studio and live albums.



Kip Moore

Sun., Aug. 4, 7 p.m.

The Wolf Grandstands

Kip Moore is considered by many to be an up-and-coming country sensation.

Hailing from Tifton, GA, Moore’s style was influenced by Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Kris Kristofferson. He moved to Nashville after a brief stint in Hawaii, when a good friend encouraged him to take up songwriting full-time.

Moore’s raw and rustic voice combines with compelling lyrics of honesty to create a unique sound that’s simultaneously hypnotic and edgy. He paired up with songwriter Brett James, who produced his debut album, Drive Me Crazy.

Alan Jackson

with Special Guest Gloriana

Wed., Aug. 7, 7:30 p.m.

Sleep Country Amphitheater

Alan Jackson is considered one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music. He is in the elite company of Paul McCartney and John Lennon among songwriters who’ve written more than 20 songs that they’ve recorded and taken to the top of the charts.

Jackson is one of the 10 best-selling artists since the inception of SoundScan, ranking alongside the likes of Eminem and Metallica.  His most recent album, Thirty Miles West, topped the country chart when it was released in June – the album features the Grammy-nominated song, So You Don’t Have to Love Me Anymore.

Jackson has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide, topped the country singles charts 35 times, and scored more than 50 Top-10 hits.  He has written or co-written 24 of his 35 No. 1-hit singles.  Jackson is an 18-time ACM Award winner, a 16-time CMA Award recipient, and a two-time Grammy-winning artist whose songwriting has earned him the prestigious ASCAP Founders Award and an induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame as a 2011 Songwriter/Artist inductee.

Gloriana was the best-selling debut country act of 2009 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart and No. 3 on the Top 200 chart and spawned the gold-certified hit single Wild At Heart.

Gloriana also won the fan vote on American Music Award for Breakthrough Artist, as well as the “Nationwide On Your Side” honor at the CMT Awards.

The Avett Brothers

Fri., Aug. 9, 8 p.m.

Sleep Country Amphitheater

The Avett Brothers have been playing music all their lives, but didn’t become the band by that name until 2000. They spent the late 1990s playing in a rock band called Nemo, although they spent their spare time drinking whiskey with their friends and singing country and folk music.

This gathering eventually evolved into a trio that would perform on occasion. It was 2002, though, before The Avett Brothers in their current incarnation emerged. Their debut album, Country Was, was released early that year and since then, The Avett Brothers have toured religiously, building a solid following wherever they go.

In all, they’ve released nine recordings since their inception and have become a favorite at festivals. They were nominated for several Americana Music Awards in 2007.