Jugfest 2008

The local country radio station around where I grew up (KJUG - the best country radio station) had a country music festival this past weekend, and as I was there already for my niece and nephew's graduations, I went with my mom and our friend Colleen. http://www.westcoastbroadcasting.com/jugfest2008/index.htm The first six acts were all acoustic performances. I didn't really see any of Adam Gregory and only heard most of Emily West's performance, but I did see the Lost Trailers, and got autographs of them (oh my, the lead singer is hot!), and I saw Heartland (I Loved Her First) and Jeff Bates (the Love Song). It was a lot of fun, but it was really hot. My mom even bought me a $5 hat to wear to keep the sun off of me, but my arms got a little burnt. I should have had more cash with me, but it was a lot of fun.

That evening the headliners performed, starting with Paul Overstreet. Paul had a singing career over ten years ago, with such songs as 'Daddys Come Around to Mommy's Way of Thinking' and some other songs, but he's most well known for being a songwriter, so he sang some of those hits, including his biggerst, 'Forever and Ever, Amen' (Randy Travis), 'Some Beach' (Blake Shelton), 'When You Say Nothing At All' (Keith Whitley), 'She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy' (Kenny Chesney).

After Paul, Clay Walker was up. I love Clay Walker, and he was the main reason I was excited about the whole concert. He hardly had any gaps in the songs, just going from hit to hit. That's not to say he didn't have fun with the audience, but he was there to sing! His songs were great and upbeat. Playing 'Then What' with tons of huge beach balls is always so much fun! Our seats for the evening performances were awesome! I was in D19, just four rows back. It was so awesome! I didn't even have to look at the screens to see the artists up close.

Gary Allan was the headliner and last performer. He was great, but my ears were ringing all the next day. His songs are more rock than country, and many of his songs are depressing, mostly due to the fact that his wife committed suicide a few years back. It really was such a contrast with the upbeat Clay Walker (who's dealing with MS). Don't get me wrong, it was a great concert and I really enjoyed hearing Gary sing. I probably wouldn't go see him on his own, so it was great to see him. He sang my favorite song of his, 'Right Where I Need to Be' without his band. It was interesting, as this song is very... guitary on the radio. It's funny, because he and Keith Urban don't rock out my favorite songs by them, but prefer to do acoustic versions of them (my favorite Keith Urban song is 'I Wanna Be Your Everything').

It was a fun day and great to spend all that time with my mom. I'm looking forward to Jugfest '09