Phil Dirt & The Dozers, Ronnie McDowell
headline great concert line-up for 2011 Fair
Over the years, the Cumberland County Fair has brought some of the best bands and individuals, in the entertainment world, to Crossville. This year, beginning on Monday night, Aug. 29th, “Phil Dirt & The Dozers” will kick off the week with their concert getting underway at 7:30 p.m. The Fair Board and Mr. Entertainment Ralph England have another great Fair Week of concerts for music lovers. Here is a line-up of the entertainment for the 2011 Fair.
Monday – Phil Dirt & The Dozers
The band Phil Dirt & the Dozers could turn out to be one of your favorites — especially if you’re an aficionado of rock ‘n’ roll from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. Actually, because of their vintage, they call themselves America’s premier “Rock ‘N R’oldies” band. Their manager, Steve Cover, says the Columbus, Ohio group, has played more fairs, festivals and corporate shows than any other band in the nation. They do about 250 shows a year.
Listen to a few tracks from their albums, and it’s easy to see why. Founding member Steve Cabot can do a falsetto that rivals that of Frankie Valli, Roy Orbison or Mike Love of the Beach Boys, then turn around and do a mellow Elvis with the best of them. Mark Frye, who has been with the band since 1983, not only does keyboards, saxophone, flute and bass guitar, he also does soundtracks for TV documentaries that have earned him two Emmy awards.
Their albums and many of their shows include such classics as Orbison’s Blue Bayou, Pretty Woman and In Dreams; the Five Satins’ In the Still of the Night (I Remember); Elvis’ Love Me Tender and Jailhouse Rock; the Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations and Wouldn’t It Be Nice; the Platters’ My Prayer; Arthur Conley’s Sweet Soul Music; and even the Platters’ Only You.”
They have been a regular at Cumberland Fair for many years and have a lot of fans here.
Tuesday Night — Elvis sound-alike, Ronnie McDowell
Best known for his visual and vocal resemblance to Elvis Presley, Ronnie McDowell enjoyed a series of Top Ten hits on the country charts during the first half of the ’80s. McDowell was born in 1950 and raised in the small town of Portland, TN, and started singing publicly while serving the Navy in the Philippines. He hit big in 1977 with “The King Is Gone,” a tribute to Presley written immediately after the singer’s death; released on the Scorpion label, the song climbed into the Top 20 of both the pop and country charts.
McDowell capitalized on this exposure, to land another hit, the Top Five country single “I Love You, I Love You, I Love You,” in 1978. The following year, he was tapped to sing the vocals for an Elvis TV movie starring Kurt Russell. Afraid he was becoming pigeonholed, McDowell teamed up with producer Buddy Killen at Epic Records in hopes of broadening his style. The plan worked, as McDowell became a consistent country hitmaker. He scored a number one hit in 1981 with “Older Women,” which kicked off a string of 11 consecutive Top Ten hits on Epic; of those, “Wandering Eyes,” “Watchin’ Girls Go By,” “You Made a Wanted Man of Me,” and “In a New York Minute” all made the Top Five
Wednesday Night — Gospel group “Gold City”
With over 49 hit songs and over 40 recordings, Gold City has earned numerous awards, including Album of the Year, Song of The Year, Group of the Year and Vocalists of the Year, as well as many Dove nominations including a Dove award for There Rose A Lamb.
Traveling the United States and Canada over 200 dates a year, Gold City has an unparalleled dedication to the ministry of spreading the gospel.
