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Paynesville Press - July 17, 2002

Cornstalk coming to Regal this weekend

The Sawyer Brown country music group The 14th annual Cornstalk Country Music Festival will be held in Regal this weekend.

The music festival, hosted by the County Line Bar and Grill, will feature nationally-known, country music recording artists, including Sawyer Brown, Terri Clark, and Tammy Cochran.

The music festival starts on Friday, with the gates opening at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the gates will open at 1 p.m.

The lineup for Friday night is: Bill Anderson at 6 p.m.; Little Big Town at 8 p.m.; and the Honky Tonk Tailgate Party (with Darlye Singeltary, Rhett Akins, and Wade Hayes) at 10 p.m. On Saturday, the lineup is: Bobby Bare at 4 p.m.; Tammy Cochran at 6 p.m.; Terri Clark at 8 p.m. and Sawyer Brown at 10 p.m.

Last year the festival attracted 9,000 people to the town of Regal, which has a population of only 40.

Tickets at the gate are $40 for one day and $60 for both days. General camping admission is $35.

Friday's lineup
Bill Anderson learned how to play the guitar at age 12. His first number one country hit in the United States was "Mama Sang a Sad Song," recorded in 1962. Anderson spent most of his career writing songs, rather than performing them. In the 1980s, Anderson took a crack at acting, where he starred in soap operas and hosted game shows before returning to country music.

The debut album of the group Little Big Town includes their single "Don't Waste My Time." Members of the band are Phillip Sweet, Kimberly Roads, Jimi Westbrook, and Karin Fairchild. Little Big Town features four-part harmony and a wall-to-wall acoustic sound, according to one reviewer.

The Honky Tonk Tailgate Party launched its tour in February 2001. The original touring mates were Rhett Akins, Daryle Singeltary and Jeff Carson, who has been replaced by Wade Hayes in 2002.

Akins' debut album, "A Thousand Memories," came out in 1995, when he was nominated for the American Music Award as "Best New Country Artist." He has since released three additional albums. In 1997, he earned an American Country Music Awards nomination for "Best New Male Artist."

Daryle Singeltary recently released his fifth album, "That's Why I Sing This Way," featuring legendary singers Merle Haggard, George Jones, Johnny Paycheck, and Dwight Yoakam. Singeltary formed his own band in the ninth grade. He moved to Nashville and worked for Tanya Tucker and then Randy Travis, before launching a solo career.

Wade Hayes was born and raised a musician. Through his teenage years he played guitar with his father's band, then he moved to Nashville in the early 1990s. Hayes' debut record, "Old Enough to Know Better," reached number one in 1994.

Saturday's lineup
Bobby Bare won a Grammy for his album, "Detroit City," in the early 1960s and he recorded numerous country hits from 1966 to 1979. Tammy Cochran released her first album in 2001, which produced the hits "If You Can" and "So What."

Terri Clark, who hails from Canada, released her first album in 1995. In that year, she was named one of Billboard's Artists of the Year. Clark released her fourth album, "Fearless," in 2000.

The band Sawyer Brown originated in 1979 and got its big break on the talent show, "Star Search." They performed on the show in 1983 and won $100,000, which resulted in a recording contract with Capitol in 1984.

Their first album contained "Step That Step," their first number one hit on the country charts. Since then, the five-member band has released five albums and has had a string of top ten country hits.



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