Every year, the Putnam County Fair plays host to several nights of great live music, including Nashville-caliber talent. This year's lineup includes
- Young Country at 2 and 8 p.m. on Thursday
- Annie's Country Jubilee at 2 and 6:30 p.m. on Friday
- Jason Brown at 4 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday
- Jamie O'Neal at 8:30 p.m. Saturday
The live shows are included with your admission to the fair. Seating is first-come, first-served. The fair has some chairs available, but you might want to bring a lawn chair of your own!
Young Country
If you enjoy listening to a variety of great music, then you won't want to miss the Young Country Music Show here at the fair on Thursday. They play classic and current country, gospel, bluegrass and old time rock-and-roll. They perform at the Young Country Music Theater at Laredo (previously Cuz'n Pud's Jamboree) regularly but have also performed at fairs, theaters and schools in Iowa and Missouri. Although they have not yet released a CD of their own, they have been included on several others, including Southern Iowa's Cowboy singer Pat Meade. They were also honored to serve as the backup band for Lionel Cartwright at the North Central Missouri Fair in Trenton in 2000.
The band consists of Todd Young, who plays bass, sings, emcees and manages the group. His love has always been music of all types and he plays in a couple of local gospel groups as well as Young Country. Clitus Meeker has played lead guitar since he was 12 and with Gene and Dean Wyant and Duane Simmons formed the group The Country Gentlemen years ago. If there is anyone who plays like Chuck Berry it's Clitus. Gene Wyant is on the rhythm guitar and sings lead vocals and harmony. He is known for his smooth voice when singing the classics. Johnny and Carolyn Vincent have been playing bluegrass music all their lives. The Vincent family has performed all over the U.S. and have been known for their group the Sally Mountain Show for years. Jamie Pauls is one of the most popular piano players around. He has been playing gospel music since 1982 and teaches Music Appreciation at North Central Missouri College (NCMC) in Trenton.
Ann Brock serves as lead vocalist when she's not disc jockeying on the radio. She was invited as a guest when Young country opened and did such a great job that she was hired full-time. Rick Phillips is the newest member of Young Country and plays the drums. He has a broad music background having played for the super country / southern rock group Ludlow in the 1980s. He and his wife started a Contemporary Christian group Abundant Grace in the 1990s, which they are still a part of today. No matter your musical tastes, Young Country will have something you're sure to enjoy!
Annie's Country Jubilee
Annie Dunavin, the owner of Annie's Country Jubilee, is coming back home. Annie's musical roots began back in her childhood when she and her four brothers would sing when they were driving the tractor or baling hay on the farm where she grew up outside of Princeton. One of the common threads that all of the band has is that they all started playing music at a young age whether at home or in a church choir. Annie used to stay in from recess in 7th grade to watch Bill Stoklasa ("Wild Bill") play his guitar. After marrying and raising a family, her second husband Terry recognized her talent, and he and her children encouraged her to start singing again.
Twenty-five years later, Wild Bill's Opry provided Annie her first big opportunity in the talent show. She placed second in her first appearance and then the top prize the second time. In 2003, Glen's Opry in Tonganoxie, Kan., became available after the previous owners decided to retire. Annie jumped on this opportunity to own her own show, and so in June of 2003, Annie and Terry became the owners of one of the finest country shows in the Midwest.
The rest of the extremely talented musicians and singers come from several places in the Midwest but share their love of music and performing. Annie and the group always enjoy meeting fans after the shows and appreciate everyone's support. Let's all give her a great homecoming and come and enjoy a great country music show when Annie's Country Jubilee comes and performs at the 2009 Putnam County Fair.
Jason Brown
Jason has performed since the age of 4 when he sang at the church accompanied by the piano. From Grandma's keys to stage shows across the country, his energetic show will leave a lasting impression with fans. His pure vocals wrap listeners in the emotion of each lyric whether he's powering through a ballad or letting loose on tracks such as "We're All In The Same Boat."
His album "Living Off the Land" has been on retail shelves since May and demonstrates his rural Iowa background with the title track. When not performing, Jason likes to hunt and fish as well as spending time with his family and 2 children. You won't experience a more energetic or better country show around, so mark your calendar now for Saturday at the fair!
Jamie O'Neal
Jamie is known for her powerhouse vocals as well as being one of the industry's most prolific and accomplished songwriters. In fact, two of her four Grammy nominations came as a songwriter for "There Is No Arizona" and "When I Think About Angels." She was named Billboard Magazine's Top New Country Artist in 2001 and has performed on duets, movie soundtracks and appeared on numerous television shows. She has appeared on the soundtrack for the hit show Desperate Housewives.
Jamie believes in only recording the songs she absolutely believes in 100 percent as the way to keep her connected to her fans and gives her the sound people recognize as distinctively hers. She has been performing since the age of 8 with her family's band. She is an art and antique collector and a self-professed HGTV addict. Jamie has had three top 5 country chart hits of her own in addition to her songwriting success so plan to catch her show on Saturday evening of the fair.