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Kellie Pickler

Friday, August 23, 7:30 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
FREE Concert
Gate admission to the Fair not included
Wristband required, first come, first serve basis

Wristbands available at 12:00 p.m.

Kellie's first two albums quickly established her as both a singer and songwriter to be reckoned with co-writing her hits "Red High Heels," I Wonder" and the top Ten Hit "Best Days of Your Life" which sold more than one million single downloads. Each album showed growth not only as an artist but also as a woman.

Kellie’s single “Tough” was her first release in more than a year.  Of the single, Music Row Magazine’s Bob Oermann says, “This rumbling, romping rhythm number has a lyric with real moxie, and she delivers it with just the right amount of sass.”

Her album “100 Proof” gave Kellie the opportunity to write many of the songs on the album.  Pickler is a bonafide singer, songwriter, a 2013 contestant on Dancing with the Stars, and has been a hit on USO Tours to troops stationed overseas.

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Trace Adkins

Sunday, August 25, 6:00 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
$18 plus gate admission, facility fees, & Ticketmaster fees

On-sale, Tuesday, June 18, 8:00 a.m. at the Heartland Events Center Box Office, Ticketmaster.com & Ticketmaster locations

Trace Adkins’ trademark baritone has powered countless hits to the top of the charts and turned albums into Platinum plaques, selling over 10 million albums, cumulatively. The Grammy-nominated member of the Grand Ole Opry is a television personality, actor, author, spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Program, the American Red Cross and has performed seven USO Tours.

In 2008, Trace’s integrity and wry humor served him well as a finalist on NBC’s The Celebrity Apprentice and prepared him for his return - on behalf of the American Red Cross – to NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice (Sunday nights, 9PM EST/PT).

In 2011, Trace last album, Proud To Be Here debuted atop the Billboard Country Chart powered by the Top Ten hit, “Just Fishin’,” and his eleventh studio album, Love Will… is planned for release in the Spring of 2013 on Show Dog-Universal Music.

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Mel Tillis

Wednesday, August 28, 11:00 a.m. & 3:00 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
FREE Concert
Gate admission to the Fair not included
Wristband required, first come, first serve basis

Wristbands available at 8:00 a.m.

Country music legend, Mel Tillis, started performing in the early ‘50’s with a group called The Westerners while serving as a baker in the United States Air Force, stationed in Okinawa. In 1956, Webb Pierce recorded a song written by Mel entitled “I’m Tired”, and it launched Mel’s musical career.

Tillis is musician, songwriter, actor and comedian. Tillis’ storied career includes a litany of accolades and awards as a member of the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame. Tillis has recorded more than 60 albums. He has had thirty-six Top Ten singles, with nine of them going
to Number One—“Good Woman Blues,” “Coca Cola Cowboy,” and “Southern Rain” to mention a few. He has appeared in numerous feature films including “Every Which Way But Loose” with Clint Eastwood, and the lead role with Roy Clark in “Uphill All The Way.” His most recent role was that of a plumber in Toby Keith’s 2008 movie “Beer For My Horses.”

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TobyMac

Thursday, August 29, 7:30 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
FREE Concert
Gate admission to the Fair not included
Wristband required, first come, first serve basis

Wristbands available at 12:00 p.m.

With 11 million albums sold and 5 Grammy Awards to his credit, TobyMac refuses to settle on past accomplishments, as he delivers a diverse album built on honest struggle. His latest album, “Eye On It”, which he describes as a complete labor of love, speaks to the flawed human side in all of us.  All 12 songs on the album were either written or co-written by Toby himself.

TobyMac has always been an artist whose music depicts what he’s going through.  He writes about the things that upset him, move him, hurt him and haunt him.  The real things in life.  Known for such hits as, “City on Our Knees,” “Made to Love,” “Lose My Soul” and “Ignition” the Gospel Rapper has released a total of five solo albums.

Along with being a songwriter, TobyMac has either co-authored or personally written a total of five books dealing with Christian faith.  He opened Camp Electric near Nashville for gifted young musicians who want to learn to worship with rock and roll.  He does all of this while being married and the father of five children.

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Eli Young Band

Friday, August 30, 7:30 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
FREE Concert
Gate admission to the Fair not included
Wristband required, first come, first serve basis

Wristbands available at 12:00 p.m.

It’s a crazy-good story. The Eli Young Band—four musicians who met during their college days in Texas—is now 11 years into a career built on touring without a single lineup change. That dedication is paying off big-time as the band enjoys a crazy new level of success. They sell a crazy amount of tickets. Get a crazy amount of airplay. And are selling a crazy amount of downloads—EYB received their first platinum record for "Crazy Girl" and have sold over 1.5million downloads of the track.

the Eli Young Band veers from energetic quasi-rockers to steel laden country songs all built around a sound that’s been created over the course of three studio albums. EYB has received three nominations for the 48th annual Academy of Country Music Awards. It will be their second consecutive nomination for Vocal Group of the Year, and “Even If It Breaks Your Heart” is nominated in both the Single Record of the Year and Song of the Year categories.

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Chicago

Saturday, August 31, 7:30 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
$30 plus gate admission, facility fees, and Ticketmaster fees.
On-sale Tuesday, June 18, at 8:00 a.m. at the Heartland Events Center Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, and all Ticketmaster locations.

Starting in 1967, well before all the hits started flowing, Chicago established a reputation for its powerful live show. Fueled by a passion for music, Chicago's members exploded the conventions of what rock music could or should be. The result was a groundbreaking new form, played by extraordinarily talented musicians. Early fans like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin were sufficiently impressed - they took the group out on their respective tours. Once the group began making records, fans rewarded the group with record sales of 100,000,000, 21 Top 10 singles, 5 consecutive Number One albums, 11 Number One Singles and 5 Gold singles. An incredible 25 of their 33 albums have been certified platinum. To date, Chicago is the first American band to chart Top 40 albums in five decades - a landmark accomplishment.

The groups’ string of hits includes, “25 or 6 to 4,” “Just You and Me,” “Saturday in the Park,” ”Old Days,” “Wishing You Were Here,” "Feelin' Stronger Every Day," "Make Me Smile," and the list goes on and on. 

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Lynyrd Skynyrd

Sunday, September 1, 7:30 p.m.
Heartland Events Center
$31 plus gate admission, facility fees, and Ticketmaster fees.
On-sale Tuesday, June 18, at 8:00 a.m. at the Heartland Events Center Box Office, Ticketmaster.com, and all Ticketmaster locations.

Legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd started out in 1964 as “Noble Five” but came to national prominence in the 70s with hits like “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Free Bird,” and “What’s Your Name.”  When tragedy struck in 1977 with a plane crash that killed three of their band mates, for Lynyrd Skynyrd it spelled a decade long hiatus.   Regrouped—refocused—renewed, the band reformed in 1987 and to this day Skynyrd is alive and ready to throw down.

Legendary rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd returns with a fiery slice of Southern style guitar rock heaven in Last of a Dyin’ Breed, their newest release on Roadrunner/Loud & Proud Records due August 21, 2012. This is the kind of record guaranteed to feed the needs of the multi-generational Skynyrd Nation, and continue the renewed vigor the band exhibited with their last album, 2009’s God & Guns.

With a catalog of over 60 albums, sales beyond 30 million worldwide and their beloved classic American rock anthem “Sweet Home Alabama” having sold over two million ringtones, Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Lynyrd Skynyrd remains a cultural icon that appeals to multiple generations.

* Please note: There are no backstage passes available to the general public for any national concert. Any backstage passes that are issued by the artist's management are for sponsors.

*Outside food and beverages are not permitted in the Heartland Events Center