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.

The final country music show at the New York State Fair Grandstand wasn’t quite as memorable as some of its shining moments of years past, but the rollicking, rowdy, mixed bag of country and rock delivered Sunday night by Hank Williams Jr. and his sparkling seven-piece band wasn’t a bad way for the old stadium to go out.

It wasn’t as unforgettable as Vince Gill’s dazzling marathons, Alan Jackson’s traditional country shows, Alabama’s harmonious celebrations, Keith Urban’s rocking parties, Brooks and Dunn’s hit parades or even Reba’s rainout. But it was a fast-moving, 90-minute train of memories and musicianship with never a dull moment.

Hank does things his own way, no surprise there, covering a lot of his biggest songs, but often only fragments, before moving on. He paid tribute to country influences from Waylon Jennings to Johnny Cash and, of course, his own sainted father. But as he said in song, “his kind of music and mine ain’t exactly the same,” proving it with snippets of songs from Lynyrd Skynyrd, Aerosmith, ZZ Top and Foreigner.

It was a relief that Bocephus avoided the type of political rant that has come back to haunt him over the past few years, instead concentrating on singing and talking about his favorite subject, himself. It wasn’t unexpected after he appeared wearing a hat that said “icon,” but it can get tiresome.

But when looking at the big picture, this full-moon August night wasn’t about one performer, no matter how talented, charismatic or bellicose. It was one last chance for fans who have seen great country acts, including some Hall-of-Famers, to look beyond the stage to the glittering midway and the venerable buildings of the Fair, something they’ve done many times, one of the pleasures they will surely miss when future shows are moved off the grounds.

One highlight that your State Fair Hound won’t forget is Hank Jr.’s furious fiddling on Kaw-Liga, a song co-written by his father, and one very likely performed at the Grandstand’s first concert. That one featured country star Charley Pride—one of the aforementioned Hall-of-Famers—in 1976. Pride had one of his biggest hits with Kaw-Liga, back in 1969. Now, 39 years after the first show, that quirky country classic echoes through the same old Grandstand, now destined for demolition. Now that’s symmetry.

(Photos courtesy of the New York State Fair)

When you see a lot of musicians in the crowd at a concert, that’s a sign that the show features a respected, admired performer. Vince Gill has certainly earned the reverence in which he is held by fans and there were several noteworthy Syracuse pickers on hand at Chevy Court on August 28 as he flashed his versatile and innovative guitar playing, complemented by his glorious vocals. Not since Asleep at the Wheel parked their bus behind the Stan Colella Stage in 2008 has the New York State Fair hosted such pure country magic.

While the Talented Okie is no doubt the ringleader of his band, he’s also smart enough to surround himself with the best band he can find, this night including the pedal steel wizardry of Paul Franklin. That’s the job held for years by the late John Hughey, a man Gill often called his hero. Franklin, one of the busiest session players in Nashville, has worked in recent years for such luminaries as George Strait, Alan Jackson, Shania Twain and Martina McBride. Earlier in his career, he made his bones backing Barbara Mandrell, Mel Tillis and another dynamic picker, Jerry Reed. When he wandered from country, he slid into arrangements for Sting, Barbra Streisand and even Megadeath.

While the band also included the heavenly harmony vocals of Dawn Sears and the tasteful keyboard work of veteran piano man Pete Wasner, there’s no outshining Mr. Gill, among the most charming and purely talented artists anywhere, regardless of genre. His set list brought back great memories of his days headlining the Grandstand, hitting highlights on “I Still Believe in You,” “Liza Jane,” “Oklahoma Borderline” and his breakthrough hit, “When I Call Your Name.”

He and Franklin played four cut from their new CD Bakersfield, released in July, as a tribute to California favorite sons Merle Haggard and Buck Owens. Fans who loved this show should not only buy Bakersfield, they should also seek out recordings by the Time Jumpers, an assemblage of amazing talent featuring not only Gill and Franklin, but also singer Sears, fiddler Larry Franklin and several other of the finest country players around. That band holds fort at Nashville’s Station Inn, rarely touring because members are in such demand in recording studios around town.

As this evening reminded—where you find Vince Gill, you will hear great country music.

An irony came up that night involving Dawn Sears, who earlier this year had been diagnosed with cancer. While introducing the show, B104 radio’s Tom Owens asked for prayers for his broadcasting partner Becky Palmer, a popular voice among local country listeners and an old and dear friend of State Fair Hound. She’s fighting her own battle with cancer. We second Owens’ call for love and support for Beckaroo, a classy, funny, sweet lady. She’s spunky, too, so we expect her to make a solid recovery.