 | Karrie Meyers is an account coordinator at Greteman Group, the advertising agency of record for the Kansas State Fair. Greteman Group is a full-service advertising agency in Wichita, and this will be Karrie's third year working at the Fair. While at the fair, her favorite pastime is indulging in cotton candy and funnel cakes. At home, Karrie enjoys spending time with her Jack Russell Terrier and her friends and family. |
Kansas State Fair
2006-09-01 16:04:00
Fair happenings
ANSWER:Hutchinson, Kan. – From blue-collar comedy to sweet country harmony, the 2006 Kansas State Fair will be rockin.’ Bill Engvall, Raven Symone with Lil’ J, and Sugarland with Trent Tomlinson join Carrie Underwood with Jamey Johnson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Trace Adkins with Miranda Lambert and the Steve Miller Band. Bill Engvall – Friday, September 8, 7 p.m.Bill Engvall co-founded the national tour of redneck comedians, known as the Blue Collar Comedy Tour. He was born in Galveston, Texas, and began his career as the class clown and doing comedy on stage at the Dallas Comedy Corner. He learned his skill by watching Garry Shandling, Robin Williams and Jay Leno. After two years of doing shows in Dallas, Engvall moved to Los Angeles and started acting. He landed his first part on the show Designing Women, but eventually moved on to discover his dream of becoming a better comic. He received his big break when he was invited to go on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The show was a success, and he followed that up by winning the American Comedy Awards Comic of the Year. He released his first album, Here’s Your Sign, and the album became the number one selling comedy album of 1997. Here’s Your Sign went gold, and Engvall started doing concerts across the country. In 1999, he released his second album, Dorkfish. Engvall began touring with Jeff Foxworthy and ended up with a part on Foxworthy’s television show. By 2000, he’d released his third album, Now That’s Awesome, and he began the Blue Collar Comedy Tour with Foxworthy and two other comics, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy. For more information, please visit http://www.billengvall.com/. Ticket price for this comedy act is $25.Lynyrd Skynyrd – Sunday, Sept. 10, 7:00 p.m. Known as one of the hardest working bands in the industry, Lynyrd Skynyrd exploded onto the music scene in the 1970s. The band selected its name to immortalize its Jacksonville, Fla. gym teacher, a legendary antagonist of longhaired students. The band’s debut album Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd was released in 1973 and went gold. The release of Second Helping prompted the band’s first charting United States single “Sweet Home Alabama.” The single reached number eight on the charts and the album earned another gold disc. But, despite the success of several albums, the band has faced many hardships, including death, illness, departure, disagreements and exhaustion. These experiences are channeled into the band’s powerful and emotive songs. The band is known for a number of hits, including “Saturday Night Special,” “Mad Hatter,” “The Way,” “That’s How I Like It,” “Sweet Mama,” and “Free Bird.” With five gold and four platinum records and more than 25 million albums sold to date, the band has become an American staple and a permanent fixture in rock n’ roll history. Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006. For more information, see http://www.lynyrdskynyrd.com/. Ticket price is $29.Trace Adkins – Wednesday, Sept. 13, 7:00 p.m. Tracy Darrell “Trace” Adkins began performing with a gospel quartet while still attending high school. He learned to play guitar at an early age, continuing despite losing a finger while working on an oil rig. His early singles steadily climbed the charts, and 1997's “(This Ain't) No Thinkin' Thing” became his first No. 1 hit. Adkins surfaced with the Top 10 hits “More” in 2000, “I'm Tryin” in 2001 and “Chrome” in 2003, which has gone gold. He released his Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 in 2003, a few months before being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry. He concluded that year by releasing the studio album Comin' On Strong, which has recently been certified platinum. His newest album Songs about Me and the single “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” is the fastest-moving single he’s had in several years. Adkins was scheduled to appear in concert at the 2005 Kansas State Fair; however, he was forced to cancel the performance due to emergency surgery. For more information, go to http://www.traceadkins.com/. Ticket price is $25.Raven Symone with Lil’ J – Friday, September 15, 7 p.m.Best known as the adorable Olivia from the long-running hit series The Cosby Show, Raven currently stars as Raven Baxter in the Disney Channel’s original comedy series That’s So Raven. This multi-faceted teen is also a recording artist. She released her first hit single, “That’s What Little Girls Are Made Of,” when she was five. That same year, she debuted on Broadway with the Boys Choir of Harlem. She toured with n’Sync to support her CD, Undeniable. Symone has also appeared on Dr. Dolittle, Dr. Dolittle 2, Hanging with Mr. Cooper, Zenon, a recurring role on the animated action/comedy Kim Possible and will star in the upcoming Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls. Symone has been nominated for two prestigious NAACP Image Awards, and also has served as an ambassador for former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s Children First program. For more information, please visit http://www.ravenlive.com/. Tickets for this concert are $10.Lil’ J – Friday, September 15, 7 p.m.From Long Beach, CA, Lil’ J is known for his role as Devon on the Disney show That’s So Raven, as host of a series of television specials for Nickelodeon, and the release of his debut album, All about J. Lil’ J started rapping at age seven and idolized rapper LL Cool J. Lil’ J acquired his name by re-enacting LL Cool J's career-making scene from the classic hip-hop film, Krush Groove, at an in-store autograph-signing for Cool J. After hearing Lil’ J’s abilities, Cool J later pulled him onstage at a show at House of Blues, and the audience called him “LL Cool J's son.” Lil’ J eventually signed with Hollywood Records and released his debut disc, All About J, in 2001. He has now transitioned to the highly successful Redondo Beach, CA-based independent label D3, where he can call Keith Sweat, Jessie Powell, Mack 10 and Onyx label mates. For more information, visit http://www.lilj4ever.com/. Tickets for the Symone-Lil’ J concert are $10. Sugarland – Saturday, September 16, 7 p.m.Sugarland is the Atlanta-based duo of Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush. Both artists were singer/songwriters, yet come from diverse musical backgrounds. Nettles, the lead singer, grew up on Southern gospel while also connecting with the likes of Juice Newton, Rita Coolidge and Linda Ronstadt. Bush was schooled on such acclaimed rock heroes as The Police and The Replacements, and is one-half of Billy Pilgrim, a duo with a major record deal. Within minutes of getting together, the group clicked. Four months after getting together, Sugarland played their first gig and were astounded by the audience reaction. By their fourth gig, they were selling out 1,000-seat venues. Two weeks later, they signed a contract with Mercury Records. Their major label debut, Twice the Speed of Life, was released in October 2004. After major radio hits such as "Baby Girl" and "Something More," the group landed a Grammy nomination for best new artist, as well as several CMA nominations. For more information, visit http://www.sugarlandmusic.com/. Tickets for this concert are $25. Trent Tomlinson – Saturday, September 16, 7 p.m. Country-singer Trent Tomlinson grew up in Kennett, MO, which is also the hometown of Sheryl Crow. His father, a 6-foot-8-inch former basketball player, thought his son would follow in his footsteps and pursue a basketball career, but Tomlinson chose music instead. He took up guitar and began sneaking into bars in his hometown for gigs, starting out with rock but moving to country. As a junior in high school, he auditioned locally for TNN's talent competition You Can Be a Star, eventually reaching the finals in Nashville. However, he lost the title by two-tenths of a point, winning only a denim jacket for his efforts. Tomlinson tried college but left after six months and moved to Nashville. He began hanging out at a club called Barbara's in Printer's Alley and making money there and at other clubs by winning talent contests. He eventually landed a cut on a Johnny Rodriguez record and began looking for more opportunities. Tomlinson signed a deal with a Nashville publishing company and then a record deal with Polydor. However, the publishing company soon went bankrupt, and Polydor closed its doors as well. After Tomlinson retreated to Missouri, he learned that publishing executive Buddy Killen had bought his song catalog out of bankruptcy court and offered him a publishing deal. A year and a half later, he landed a deal with MCA Publishing for his highest salary yet but parted ways after a corporate takeover. However, another publishing deal with Cal IV Entertainment helped him secure three cuts on an Emerson Drive album. Lyric Street Records signed him at the end of 2004. Sara Evans included one of his songs on her album, Real Fine Place, in 2005. Tomlinson released his debut album, Country Is My Rock, in early 2006. His first single, “Drunker Than Me,” already inside the Top 15 on the country radio charts, is the fastest-moving first single from a new male artist this year. For more information, visit http://trenttomlinson.musiccitynetworks.com/index. Tickets for the Sugarland-Tomlinson concert are $25. Steve Miller Band – Sunday, Sept. 17, 7:00 p.m. Born into a family of musicians, Steve Miller hails from Milwaukee, Wis. He formed his first band, the Marksmen, when he was 12-years-old. Miller later applied for music courses at the University of Texas at Austin. He was not admitted to the music school, so he bought a used Volkswagen Microbus and headed for San Francisco. There, in 1966, he formed what became known as the Steve Miller Band. The band released its debut album Children of the Future in May 1968, which was followed closely by Sailor and its third album Brave New World in 1969, which rose to number 22 on the album charts. The album Rock Love was recorded early in 1971, and featured a number of songs cut live. In 1973, the band completed The Joker in 19 days, and the album has racked up platinum sales. Fly Like an Eagle was released in 1976 and shot up to number two in the United States and number 11 in the United Kingdom. The singles achieved equally impressive numbers: “Take the Money and Run” ranked number 11, “Fly Like and Eagle” hit number two and “Jet Airliner” was number eight. The band is also known for “Living in the U.S.A.,” “Gangster of Love,” “Space Cowboy,” “Nothing Lasts,” “Journey From Eden,” and “Abracadabra.” Greatest Hits 1974-1978 went platinum within one month of its release in 1978 and has been certified 13 times for platinum sales. Miller has recorded with Paul McCartney, the Neville Brothers, John Mayall, Seal and Shaggy, and his music has been sampled by hundreds of new recording artists. To learn more, please visit http://www.stevemillerband.com/. Ticket price is $39.All tickets are available at the Kansas State Fair office by calling (800) 362-3247. Tickets are also available through Select-a-Seat outlets or online at http://www.selectaseat.com/. Prices include gate admission if purchased by August 31 unless otherwise noted. The State Fair is scheduled for September 8-17 in Hutchinson.Weird, wild and wonderful, the Kansas State Fair has it all. With a world-class Midway, blue-ribbon animals galore and activities for the whole family, the fair is pure Americana — an event not to be missed. Party with your pals and hear the hottest performers at the Grandstand. Tour the many agricultural and educational displays. Win prizes, brave the heart-pounding carnival rides and sample the culinary delights. Enormous vegetables, odd artifacts, homemade crafts and the infamous butter sculpture — there is something for everyone. Scheduled for September 8-17, 2006, the fair is the largest event in the state of Kansas with crowds expected to number more than 325,000. The newly renovated fairgrounds are in centrally located Hutchinson, Kansas. Mark your calendars now and plan to join Kansans from across the state. It’s a wild ride, baby! For more information, call (620) 669-3600, toll free (800) 362-FAIR or visit http://www.kansasstatefair.com/.
