It’s the latest chapter of a familiar story. Romeo Entertainment Group, the first-year State Fair concert booking agency, has fallen right into line with the usual tone-deaf incompetence by bringing in a series of soulless country music pretenders while completely neglecting fans who love and respect genuine country artists. It isn’t that classic country acts aren’t available to play Central New York. Multiple Grammy-winning western swing band Asleep At The Wheel (shown in a photo by Paul Wakker) played the Homer Center For the Arts, just north of Cortland, on Aug. 13, while country Hall-of-Fame member Ricky Skaggs and his bluegrass act Kentucky Thunder will play there soon, followed by widely-respected singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash. Down the Thruway, the Erie County Fair brought in a country triple-bill headlined by Tracy Lawrence.

You could draw the conclusion that the light attendance at Chevy Court for last year’s Crystal Gayle concert led to the Fair to shy away from vintage country acts, but one lukewarm response doesn’t justify intentional neglect of senior country fans, something that has been going on for years. If you read that the Fair has something for everyone on their concert schedule, don’t believe it.