WGNA's CountryFest 2001
Saturday July 7th 2001 Saratoga Equine Sports Center Saratoga Springs, New York
Story and photos by William Bolton
catamountcountrychronicles.com


     Fans started lining up at eleven or even earlier on Friday night to see the biggest country music show in the Northeast, WGNA's CountryFest 2001. Out of the thirty- some thousand people to come from all over New York and New England, most had made there way inside by nine thirty am. Their loyalty would be rewarded all day long. As a matter of fact, the rewards started while they still stood in line, as local band Vivid performed a pre-concert concert.

     Once inside the Saratoga Equine Sports Center folks were treated to a carnival atmosphere of tents full of food, drink, merchandise, information, interactive entertainment and even booths with representatives from some of the WGNA shows at which fans could meet their favorite on air personalities, sign greeting card banners that would be given to the stars, and show their support.





     Kicking off the show at about noon were Northeast Country Music stars The Back 40 Band. The group already laden with talent, was joined for this performance by Northeast Country Music Association's instrumentalist of the year George Schacher (of Aged In The Hills). It was extremely disappointing that their set was cut short by technical problems, but what they did do was great.


     Next up was the ball of energy known as Capitol - Nashville recording artist Chris Cagle. Chris sang a great set of songs from his debut album Play It Loud including the hits My Love Goes on and On and Laredo.





     The third act to take the stage was the incredibly talented singer / songwriter Phil Vassar. Phil put on a fantastic "show stealing" set singing and playing the piano. He sang songs primarily from his self - titled Arista - Nashville debut album including the hits Just Another Day In Paradise, Carlene, and Six-Pack Summer. He did a terrific cover of Billy Joel's Piano Man, but most interesting was that Phil also did a cover of Tim McGraw's hit song My Next Thirty Years. He knew the words really well, he should because he wrote it!


     As if the ladies had not seen enough beefcake already, next up was heartthrob and now TV star Billy Ray Cyrus. Billy Ray did songs from his current Sony -Nashville / Monument Records release Southern Rain including the title track and You Won't Be Lonely Now. He also of course did other fan favorites from his earlier albums.






     Arista - Nashville recording group Diamond Rio has been around for a while now and the polish sure shined through as they performed a wonderful, long set of hits from their previous albums and their current release One More Day including the title song and Sweet Summer.


     Finally, headliner Jo Dee Messina took the stage complete with her band and troupe of dancers. She sang hits from her previous albums as well as Burn, Downtime, and That's The Way It Is from her current Curb Records album Burn and did some dazzling dance routines along side her dancers. Jo Dee also showcased her wide ranging talent by making an audio collage of multiple genre of music including everything from Tammy Wynette to AC / DC.

     You would be hard pressed to find a better value in entertainment. This annual listener appreciation party is an event not to be missed period.



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