Cowboy hats will be sparse at this year’s Grandstand shows, although
Sara Evans will light up Chevy Court on opening day

We got pickup trucks, chicken clucks

Happy even when we’re down on our luck

We got fatback

That’s a fact

If you don’t know

That’s a country rap

—“Country Rap,” by

 David Bellamy

Back in 1986, when the Bellamy Brothers recited those lyrics to a chicken-pickin’ instrumental track, the concept of a country act rapping was pretty funny. What could be more incongruous than turning such an honest, genuine, straight-from-the-heart art form into the most despicable affront to popular music since disco? Hell, at least disco had a melody and performing it actually required a little musical talent.

Today, just when we thought the hot country train couldn’t drag us any lower than the phony commercialization of Rascal Flatts, the dismal vocalizing of Kenny Chesney or the vapid adolescent poetry of Taylor Swift, here comes Big & Rich to the New York State Fair Grandstand, on Friday, Sept. 4. (Tickets are $30 and $35.) They’re more hip-hop than country with a hip-swiveling guy in a big hat, known as Cowboy Troy, as their main conspirator. What they try to pass off as clever, hip and creative is actually a desperate attempt to make a splash by being different because they don’t have the talent to excel at singing and playing. Expect this show to be the low point in a dismal State Fair for country fans. 

Candy Coburn, Big & Rich’s opening act, deserves cheers for more than music because of her dedication to the battle against breast cancer, brought to life in the inspirational song, “Pink Warrior.”

The only other “country” grandstand show is Kenny Chesney’s fifth appearance on that stage, on Friday, Aug. 28 (tickets run $55 and $65), and he’s really not getting any better. Predictably enough, shameless radio stations play his soulless starter country to death and the Country Music Association jumped in to surrender all credibility their awards had left by naming this second-rate singer Entertainer of the Year four times. His organization will likely prove again this year that they’re totally lacking in class and professionalism by refusing a photo pass to the Syracuse New Times, presumably because Kenny’s previous reviews on our pages have been consistently and deservingly negative.

While we’re willing to cut the new State Fair concert promoter Triangle Talent some slack, they should make it a priority to give country fans some better choices next year, acts like Craig Morgan, Blake Shelton, Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson or the return after several years of Alan Jackson. Or how about showing some real integrity by defying the blacklist and booking the Dixie Chicks, a great act that has never played here. After all, back in November, America showed we had finally decided that the Chicks’ doubts about Bush were well founded.

It’s worth noting that George Strait, the current king of the cowboys, has never played the Geddes playground, indeed has never played Syracuse. Hard to believe, impossible to accept, but true. Although he may be tough to fit at the New York State Fair due to his asking price and his preference for daylong, big-venue festivals, what a coup it would be.

Those attending Chesney’s show should arrive early to catch young Jake Owen, a soulful throwback singer who has shown real promise with songs such as “Don’t Think I Can’t Love You” and “Startin’ With Me.”

Meanwhile, Chevrolet Court will host at least one genuine country singer, the dynamic Sara Evans, who plays Thursday, Aug. 27, 8 p.m. Although she’s hardly a traditional holdover, Evans employs her explosive voice on songs that often can be described by the title of her first CD: Three Chords and the Truth. Earlier that same day at Chevy Court, young Chuck Wicks, best known for the sugary “Stealing Cinderella,” seeks to establish himself among the flood of pretty boys on hot country radio. He goes on at 2 p.m.

The first country CD for former Hootie and the Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker, who plays Chevy Court on Sunday, Aug. 30, 8 p.m., was both commercially successful and credible in terms of poignant songs and sincerity of delivery. Although his Capitol disc Learn To Live leans toward pop, it surpasses a lot of today’s country with introspective, intelligent lyrics.

Another young country singer, honky-tonk kid Eric Church, is persistent in trying to get his hardy voice and spirited style noticed, the latest attempt being the single “Love Your Love,” a catchy, if derivative, track. He’s at the courtyard stage on Friday, Sept. 4, 2 p.m. 

Speaking of catchy, country’s very own Barry Manilow, Lee Greenwood, will check into Chevy Court for a 2 p.m. show on Thursday, Sept. 3. The former Las Vegas lounge act and composer of commercial jingles has been more recently celebrated as the flag-waving crooner of “God Bless the USA.”

The token country veteran act is the Oak Ridge Boys, a harmonizing foursome that dates back to its gospel roots in the early 1970s. Also due at Chevy Court on Thursday, Sept. 3, 8 p.m., the quartet from Tennessee has always been a little too Vegas to be really country. But they surely know how to put on a show that takes full advantage of their lengthy list of hits, among them, “American Made,” “Love Song” and the quirky “Elvira.” Oom-pa-pa-mow-mow!