The appearance Sunday of singer Hunter Hayes at Chevy Court gives Live Nation, the New York State Fair’s booking agency, plausible deniability on the issue of country music.

Hunter Hayes is projected on the screen at Chevy Court.

Now in its third year of turning its back on country fans, long among the Fair’s most loyal concert patrons, the booking monster throws hungry fans a couple of morsels of country lite, with the whiny Hayes to be followed on Labor Day by popish Maren Morris. In between, they toss in the novelty act sideshow called Big and Rich to complete their country cover.

There’s fierce debate over what constitutes country music, but Hayes, Morris and most of the acts Live Nation books at the amphitheater are obviously not the same genre as the fiddle-and-steel-guitar stars that dominated concert halls, honky-tonk dance clubs, radio stations–and New York State Fair venues–in the 20th century.

Dave Mason and a back-up singer perform at  Chevy Court Aug. 23.

Back in 1989, the year before Hayes was born, Chevy Court, then known as Miller Court, featured Hall of Fame outlaw Waylon Jennings, spunky hitmaker Tanya Tucker and southern rockers the Charlie Daniels Band. The trend took hold with such country stalwarts as Trisha Yearwood, Steve Wariner, Marty Stuart, Diamond Rio, Martina McBride, Toby Keith, Patty Loveless, Suzi Bogguss, Crystal Gayle, Mark Chesnutt, Ronnie Milsap, Brad Paisley, Asleep at the Wheel, and a traveling troupe of Grand Ole Opry stars lighting up the stage in the years that followed.

Fans of retro-country deserve a chance to hear their favorites at the Fair and when they had a chance, as with Vince Gill, Sara Evans, Ronnie Dunn, Sawyer Brown, Trace Adkins, the Gatlin Brothers, Gary Allan, Sawyer Brown and the Oak Ridge Boys in recent years, they generally came out in large numbers. Most of the acts mentioned above continue to roll their tour busses over the nation’s highways every summer and there’s no reason a few of them couldn’t park behind Chevy Court for a one-night stand.

No reason except ineptitude and neglect by Live Nation.

Center stage for music at the New York State Fair is the Chevrolet Court concert series, featuring national acts from across the music spectrum. But Chevy isn’t the only place to get your music fix as smaller stages in various locations around the grounds offer some fine talent.

Just a few steps from the court, for instance, the Pan African Village has nightly entertainment with its own spirit and character. You can listen while sitting in the picnic area, enjoying the exotic food that makes the village an unusual Fair locale.

Stop into the Dairy Building where its small stage comes alive several times each day, mostly with singles or duos who play in the shadow of the Milk Bar.

At the other end of the grounds, the large rigging at the edge of the New York Experience pond hosts full bands on a regular schedule, this year presenting some national acts. The Experience stage has a bright future with tons of potential.

Several food stands along Restaurant Row and on Broadway set up bands to keep customers happy while they gobble a meal or sip a drink.

The Grange Building also features live acts, primarily music and dancing on its small stage.

Music schedules are available on the Fair website, nysfair.ny.gov.

With one day of concerts in the books, the Chevrolet Court concert series at the 2018 New York State Fair is underway. Evaluation of the lineup is completely subjective, but it’s hard to view this one without tempering optimism with some doubt. 

State Fair hound is not a fan of big, multinational companies booking acts for our Fair, especially if it’s the monopolistic Live Nation. For many years the Fair did its own booking. That’s a difficult, challenging process, but it produced better results, probably because acts were selected solely for their marketability to State Fair fans. The agency that booked acts before Live Nation–Triangle if memory serves–was also far better. Live Nation is too focused on its own corporate interest to focus on satisfying Fair fans.

Though there are some sure winners among the 26 acts on the bill, the continuing tendency to snub traditional-style country is disturbing and self-defeating. More on that in a later post. The final flurry of acts announced includes several local CNY bands, a real oddity on the Stan Colella Stage. They may be talented and popular, certainly cheaper, but they lack the draw of real Chevy Court acts. There are numerous stages around the grounds that regularly host local acts. Chevy Court, one of the Fair’s top drawing cards, shouldn’t be one of them.

Then there’s a tribute band, which is musicians you don’t know playing a famous act’s music. There was one Johnny Cash and he died in 2003.

One big positive is that this year’s lineup is unquestionably diverse, just as the state that hosts it. With 26 concerts in 13 days, there’s bound to be something for almost every fan.

It’s always interesting to see how things shake out when a court act draws an overflow crowd, which is challenging for fans and Fair organizers alike.

Rock fans will need to show up early Thursday afternoon when legendary guitarist Steve Cropper (photo from website) joins Dave Mason for a pickin’ good time at Chevy Court. The afternoon show will launch at 2 p.m., two hours earlier than the usual CC kickoff.

It’s a sure bet the hits will be flowing, including many credited to soul stars who benefitted from the virtuoso fretwork of Cropper.

The songs may be oldies, but don’t be late to hear them.

The Chevy Court acts announced so far point to the 2018 New York State Fair putting a premium on diversity in its concert lineup. With five musical acts and one rapper booked, a variety of styles, ages and cultures are represented and that’s just how it should be done.

An evening in 2017 at Chevy Court.

The usual variety of lunkheads have weighed in, responding to related articles on our local daily paper’s website, displaying both their ignorance and intolerance.

Here’ a hint: if you don’t know the performer, maybe he/she/they don’t fit your taste. If the only comment you can make is sarcastic and critical, apparently this act isn’t one you’ll enjoy. Either way, watch for shows you want to see and go to the Fair on those days.

On days when the act isn’t what you enjoy, don’t go. But recognize that someone else may enjoy them and accept the fact that diversity is both fair-minded and good business.

The Chevrolet Court lineup brought out thousands of music fans, including State Fair Hound photographer Nick LoPresti.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Earth Wind and Fire

Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits

Kansas

The Beach Boys

Chevy Court fans were treated to a passionate and sultry blues concert on Thursday night at the New York State Fair. Just after dusk, LeAnn Rimes’ strong, supple voice caressed the lyrics of her often funky, always bluesy songs filling the crisp evening air with steamy perfection.

You definitely couldn’t complain about the quality of the performance unless, and this is the big caveat, you attended expecting Rimes to deliver the lone  country music concert on the Stan Colella stage at this year’s Fair.

Country it was definitely not. Even when the still-young songstress dipped into her songbook of country hits, she modified the style to conform to her blues identity, slowing down “One Way Ticket,” her first country chart-topper, to a barely recognizable torch ballad. Likewise, her maiden hit, “Blue,” was rendered as a syrupy dance.

You can’t say that Rimes didn’t sing any country songs, but her cover of Merle Haggard’s “The Bottle Let Me Down” was a performed as a molasses-slow wail. To her credit, she is one of the few singers performing today who can do justice to Patsy Cline covers and her Cline medley was as close as she came to country, but really, Patsy herself often bent toward blues.

Country fans hearing LeAnn sing Diane Warren’s “How Do I Live” could never be blamed for wishing they were hearing Tricia Yearwood’s more commercially successful and artistically superior version of that song. This night, fans who came expecting country were probably already wishing that they were hearing Yearwood or one of dozens of other country singers. Instead, although LeAnn Rimes’ Chevy Court nocturne was lovely and solid, many fans went home disappointed.

There are so many country acts on the road, it’s hard to accept two consecutive Fair’s without one or two lighting up Chevy Court. Acting Director Troy Waffner says they’re trying to get them here and he’s a straight shooter, so he deserves to be believed when he says that. But they’ve got to try harder. This is something that can be accomplished and something that must be done.

Waffner says he hears from country fans. He needs to hear from more of us. Contact him on the Fair website, www.nysfair.ny.gov, or call him at (315) 487-7711.

You may recall that last year Chevy Court attendance was somewhat disappointing, especially considering the blockbuster attendance numbers of the 12 days. One issue was surely the absence of country acts–always popular with Fair fans–on the bill. This year the only essentially country act booked is LeAnn Rimes, and even she is more Taylor Swift than Tammy Wynette.

It’s a shocking development for a Fair that most years went heavily down the country road, but Acting Director Troy Waffner says it’s not by design. “It’s been a difficult task and it’s not for lack of trying or throwing money,” he assured. “We have put in about a dozen offers. We had a fantastic country act that just pulled out before we announced it. We do get that complaint. Believe me, it’s not for lack of trying.”

While seeking diversity in the Chevy Court lineup is a goal Waffner sets, competition from other venues is a roadblock, having recently grown worse with the opening of the Del Lago casino. “There’s that 90-day exclusion,” Fair spokesman Dave Bullard explained. “We’re not booking Jason Aldean or Luke Bryan—we can’t afford them. But they’re taking two, sometimes three opening acts and those are the acts we would go after and you can’t touch them.”

With so many acts signing contracts that limit their local availability, the Fair, with only a 13-day window to sign them, has lost out on country in general. Thinking outside the barn has to be employed to get our Fair back in the good graces of country fans. Meanwhile, the Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Skynyrd will have to be close enough.