p.m., followed by the hearty cowboy crooning of Justin Moore at 2 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 3. Lady Antebellum has overcome a really dumb
moniker to top the country charts with three singles, “I Run To You,” “Need You Now” and “American Honey.” All three songs are as much pop as country, the proof being strong crossover numbers to adult contemporary radio. The most unique voice in the group belongs to Charles Kelley, but there’s no weak link. Lady A’s songs, often self-composed, have
impressively deep lyrics and contagious melo- dies. Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood step out onto the Stan Colella Stage as one of the industry’s hottest acts and winners of numerous awards, including a Grammy for “I Run To You.” Although these three youthful stars haven’t played the Fair before, Scott’s mother, Linda Davis, has, having toed the Grandstand footlights on several evenings as a backup singer and duet partner of Reba McEntire. Another trio composed of two men and
a woman, Trailer Choir, was discovered by Toby Keith in 2007 and signed to his Show Dog label. Their ensuing tour dates with Keith included a brief opening set at the Grandstand in 2008. Crystal Hoyt, Marc “Butter” Fortney and Vencent “Big Vinny” Van Zant Hickerson take a lighter approach with spunky songs like “Rollin’ in The Sunshine” and “Rockin’ The Beer Gut.” Although country fans may find the Eli
Young Band a little hard-edged, you have to admire the quartet’s strong musicianship and persistence in pursuing their career goals. Vocalist Mike Eli, guitarist James Young, bass- ist Jon Jones and drummer Chris Thompson got together as classmates at the University of North Texas and persevered for eight years, playing around their day jobs, until their first taste of success when their 2008 single, “When It Rains,” stayed on the charts for an incredible 30 weeks. Their follow-up, “Always the Love Songs,” marked them as a band with promise, evident on their recent Universal South CD Jet Black and Jealous (Universal South Records). Although 26-year-old Justin Moore is a
relatively new face, he sure seems to have an established identity, both in life and in his career. He grew up on an Arkansas cattle ranch, playing high school sports, hunting and fishing. His early touring included small shows and acoustic gigs at a number of Wal- Marts. Although Moore cut a record called “How I Got To Be This Way,” it seemed pre- dictable enough that he would spend his life wearing a cowboy hat and driving a pickup. His latest single, “Small Town, USA,” is a somewhat redundant testament to his culture, albeit a catchy one. Harmony-driven quartet Little Big Town
comes to the Fair just as their new Capitol Nashville CD The Reason Why is released. After eight years together, recording such solid singles as “Boondocks,” “Bring It On Home” and most recently, “Little White Church,” career progress has been inconsistent, but they’ve kept busy off the road as well. LBT members Karen Fairchild and Jimi Westbrook, who married in 2006, became parents of a baby son this year. Now all four band mates have little ones at home as Phillip Sweet became the father of a girl in 2007, a few months after singing partner Kimberly Schlap- man also had a girl. The foursome’s unique alignment lets each member take a turn in the spotlight as lead singer, making for some refreshing variety in their sound.
o WWW.SYRACUSENEWTIMES.COM
Bill of Fair Aside from the popular country acts at
the New York State Fair’s Mohegan Sun Grandstand, other nights will usher in sonic attacks ranging from classic rockers to tween-age girls in scream mode, and that’s just during the fair’s first week. Aerosmith officially christens the Grandstand
run on Thursday, Aug. 26, 7:30 p.m., with tickets priced at a gasping $84 and $94. Lead vocalist Steven Tyler, recently appointed to the judicial bench of TV’s American Idol, keeps powering this band into its fifth decade. The rock icons are followed on Friday, Aug. 27, 8 p.m., with the instant return of Comedy Central ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, who handily filled the Grand- stand in 2009. Tickets are $40 and $45. Rihanna provides an evening of soulful
rhythm’n’blues on Saturday, Aug. 28, with $45 and $55 tickets available. Gym Class Heroes alum Travie McCoy, born 29 years ago in the hip-hop capital of Geneva, N.Y., opens the 7:30 p.m. show. And Justin Bieber returns to Central New York (he was here in summer 2009 during the Family Friendzy event at Clinton Square) on Sunday, Aug. 29, with most tickets snapped up long ago for this teen titan. Only obstructed-view seats are left, at $45 a pop. Jamaican rapper Sean Kingston kicks off the 7 p.m. program. Over at Chevrolet Court, the two-a-day
concert schedule initiated in 2009 returns with a grand flourish, with different acts slat- ed at 2 and 8 p.m., and lots of uncoordinated madness as the stage changes between the shows. Funk rules on Thursday, Aug. 26, as sultry songbirds En Vogue take the afternoon shift, with old-school smoothies Kool and the Gang in the evening. Music from the Jimmy Carter era takes over on Friday, Aug. 27, with the strains of Blue Oyster Cult at 2 p.m., and Kansas going on at 8 p.m. The Chevy Court stage offers an unusual
doubleheader on Saturday, Aug. 28. First comes Adam Richman from the Travel Channel’s Man Vs. Food series offering a 2 p.m. kitchen demonstration, followed later with more musi- cal flashbacks with Styx at 8 p.m. On Sunday, Aug. 29, harmonicat John Popper and the rest of Blues Traveler checks in for 8 p.m. gig. Steve Lippia brings in his best Frank
Sinatra impersonation during a performance with members of theCentral New York Jazz Orchestra on Monday, Aug. 30, 2 p.m. The 8 p.m. slot is filled by emo-rockers 30 Seconds to Mars although some concertgo- ers might be more interested in getting close to founder Jared Leto, the actor who is still
fondly recalled for his dream- boat role in the 1994 ABC-TV seriesMy So-Called Life. Rock, roll and remember
on Tuesday, Aug. 31, with British bloke Peter Noone fronting the forever eternal Herman’s Hermits for a 2 p.m. blast down memory lane. The British Invasion contin- ues at 8 p.m. with 1964: The Tribute, an acclaimed replica- tion of a moptop concert from The Beatles. And Chevy Court offers another culinary smorgas- bord on Wednesday, Sept. 1, with chefMario Batali serving a 2 p.m. lunch of meal prepara- tions. Check out next week’s Syracuse New Times for more State Fair concert listings. —PHIL D. RAPPER
Let there be music: En Vogue (left) opens the free shows at Chevy Court on Thurs- day, Aug. 26, while tween sensation Justin Bieber (above, during his 2009 Clinton Square show) gets his Grandstand party started on Sunday, Aug. 29.
Presented by:
concert starts at 7:00p.m.
FREE
Urban Jazz Coalition from Columbus, Ohio on the Northside in Little Italy (600 block of North Salina Street)
www.cnyjazz.org 479-Jazz Syracuse New Times Aug. 25 - Sept. 1, 2010 17
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PHIL D. RAPPER PHOTO
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