The Pike County, Missouri Fair is bringing in big names for this year's entertainment on Saturday night…John Michael Montgomery, Daryle Singletary and Justin McBride!

John Michael Montgomery

John Michael Montgomery has turned an uncanny ability
to relate to fans into one of country music's most storied careers. Behind the
string of hit records, the roomful of awards and the critical and fan accolades
that have defined his phenomenal success lies a connection that goes beyond his
undeniable talent and his proven knack for picking hits. Since the days when
"Life's A Dance" turned him from an unknown artist into a national
star, John Michael’s rich baritone has carried that most important of
assets–believability. Few artists in any genre sing with more heart than this
handsome Kentucky-born artist.

It is readily apparent in love songs that have helped
set the standard for a generation. Songs like “I Swear,” “I Love the Way You
Love Me” and “I Can Love You Like That” still resonate across the
landscape–pop icon and country newcomer Jessica Simpson cited “I Love The Way
You Love Me” as an influence in a recent interview. It is apparent in the 2004
hit “Letters From Home,” one of the most moving tributes to the connection
between soldiers and their families ever recorded, and in “The Little Girl,” a
tale of redemption that plumbs both the harrowing and the uplifting. It is
apparent even in the pure fun that has always found its way into John Michael's
repertoire–songs like “Be My Baby Tonight” and “Sold (The Grundy County
Auction Incident),” where John Michael's vocal earnestness takes musical whimsy
to another level.

John Michael's origins lie in deceptively modest
beginnings. He was born in Danville, Kentucky, to parents who imparted a
lifelong love of music.

"Where most people have chairs and sofas in
their living rooms," laughs John Michael, "we had amplifiers and drum
kits."

The family band played on weekends throughout the
area, and John Michael and his brother Eddie eagerly soaked up everything about
it.

"To a certain extent," he says, "my
dad always had a natural ability to draw fans and entertain people; I don't
care if it was on the front porch, the living room, or on a stage. I think that
transitioned to me and my brother being able to do that on stage."

John Michael took over lead singing chores after his
parents divorced, and he performed for a while in a band called Early Tymz with
Eddie and their friend Troy Gentry. Nashville talent scouts began hearing about
and then seeing John Michael perform and by the early '90s he had a record
deal.

The hits followed steadily, with songs like
"Rope The Moon," "If You've Got Love," "No Man's
Land," "Cowboy Love," "As Long As I Live,"
"Friends" and "How Was I To Know" establishing him as one
of the elite acts of the era. He received the CMA Horizon award and was named
the ACM's Top New Vocalist, setting off a long series of awards that included
the CMA's Single and Song of the Year, Billboard's Top Country Artist, and a Grammy
nomination. Heavy touring meant he kept the close touch with fans he had begun
in the clubs back home.

"You get to know your fans and what they like
more and more through the years," he says, "and you kind of gravitate
towards one another."

Indeed, he has always had an extraordinarily close
relationship with his fans, and they have stayed with him through good and bad
times.

Asked what he thinks gave him the edge in a career
that calls millions but gives stardom to just a few, he pauses, then thinks
back to the legacy of his parents.

"I reckon it was good genes and good
blood," he says with a smile. Few who know the depth and breadth of his
own growing legacy would disagree.

Daryle Singletary

Hardcore country traditionalist, Daryle Singletary,
has built a career based on musical integrity.

“When I moved to Nashville
in 1990, I left Georgia telling my Daddy, ‘I want to make my living in country
music,’” Daryle recalls. “I didn’t tell him I wanted to be played on the radio
every day or be on the video channel every day. I said, ‘I want to make a
living playing for the people who enjoy my kind of music.’ Fortunately and
thankfully, I have been able to do that since 1995.

“We’ve been very fortunate
to stay on the road, year in, year out. I continue to work and continue to
build a fan base. There are still people out there who want to hear traditional
country music. I’ve been fortunate to be able to always keep it real and not
have to compromise. I can’t ask for nothin’ better, I don’t guess.”

Daryle Singletary earned his
notoriety for country authenticity with such unforgettable hits as “I Let Her
Lie,” “Too Much Fun,” “Amen Kind of Love” and “The Note.” His new album Rockin’
In The Country
further polishes his reputation for finding brilliantly written country songs
and singing them to perfection. “Love You With The Lights On,” the collection’s
first single, is as romantic a love ballad as he has ever sung. “That’s Why God
Made Me” is a classic country story song. The unusual lyric of “Going Through
Hell” makes it an album standout.

On past albums, some of the
greatest talents in his industry have lined up to sing with Daryle, including
George Jones, Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Paycheck, Merle Haggard, Ricky Skaggs, John
Anderson and Rhonda Vincent. Rhonda returns to sing harmonies on Rockin’
In The Country,
alongside her award-winning brother Darrin Vincent of the bluegrass group
Dailey & Vincent. On the album’s title tune, Grand Ole Opry superstar
Charlie Daniels is Daryle’s celebrity collaborator.

Although Daryle recorded “How
Can I Believe in You” for the album several years ago, the recent death of its
writer and originator, Vern Gosdin, makes it an especially poignant inclusion.
In addition to the single, Daryle’s revival of “Take Me Home Country Roads” and
the cute novelty “They Know How to Grow ‘Em,” are also newly recorded.

“We originally wrapped this
record up in 2004,” Daryle explains. “And I think Koch Records closed in ’05.
Now they have a new, comeback country label with E1 Music. We went to them and
asked if we could re-do some of it and record some new things, and they agreed.
It’s been an awesome thing. I thought these songs were going to be lost
forever, and they’re some of the strongest I’ve ever recorded.

“I remember I was writing
with Billy Lawson one day, and nothing was happening. We went to lunch, and I
said, ‘Let’s go back and just listen to some of the oldest things you have.’ So
he started playing me songs. He played me, ‘Real Estate Hands.’ He played me, ‘She
Sure Looks Good in Black,’ and he played me, ‘If I Ever Get Her Back.’ He
played me some great, wonderful, country songs.”

Those three are among the
finest moments on Rockin’ In The Country. They also rank as three of the finest vocal
performances of Daryle Singletary’s career.

Rounding out the collection
are two lovely romantic tunes, “Background Noise” and “She’s a Woman,” the
latter of which Daryle and Billy Lawson co-wrote. Both boast outstanding
productions by Greg Cole and Chuck Rhodes.

The producers have grown up
alongside the singer. They know his musical taste, his personality and his
character.

Daryle is from rural
Georgia. His father is a postal worker and his mother is a hair dresser. They
sang gospel music on weekends. By the time he reached his teens, Daryle was a
rabid country music fan, enthralled by the sounds of Keith Whitley, George
Strait and one of his all-time favorites, Randy Travis.

He moved to Nashville in the
fall of 1990 and made the rounds of Music City’s nightclub talent contests,
picking up $100 here and there. Producers Greg and Chuck began playing in his
band at a club called The Broken Spoke. Daryle recorded a pair of singles for
the independent label Evergreen Records in 1992, but neither was a success. In
the meantime, he was badgering his idol with letters. After members of the
Randy Travis band heard Daryle at The Broken Spoke, they urged the star to
listen, too.

With Randy as his
co-producer, Daryle Singletary issued his debut album on Giant Records in 1995.
It included the career-launching singles “I’m Living Up to Her Low
Expectations,” “I Let Her Lie,” “Too Much Fun” and “Workin’ It Out.”
Traditional honky-tonk fans shouted “Hallelujah!” in response. Daryle’s second
album, issued in late 1996, featured “Amen Kind of Love,” “The Used to Be’s”
and “Even the Wind.” His third, which appeared in 1998, included “The Note,” “That’s
Where You’re Wrong” and “My Baby’s Lovin.’”

Daryle Singletary began his
first relationship with Koch Records with the 2000 CD Now and Again. This was also where Greg Cole
made his debut as Daryle’s record producer. Daryle and Greg, now joined by
Chuck Rhodes, followed that album with the statement-of purpose collection That’s
Why I Sing This Way
in 2002. That album featured stellar collaborations with Paycheck, Jones,
Yoakam and Haggard. The original version of Rockin’ In The Country was to have followed, but the
company got out of the country music business in 2005.

The singer moved to
Shanachie Records for his 2007 CD Straight From the Heart. In addition to having guest
appearances by Skaggs, Anderson and Vincent, the album featured Daryle’s
versions of such country classics as “The Bottle Let Me Down,” “Some Broken
Hearts Never Mend,” “Lovin’ on Back Streets” and “Fifteen Years Ago.”

Now, at last, comes the
long-delayed release of Rockin’ In The Country on the new E1 Music imprint. This
is Daryle Singletary’s stone-country masterwork. Ever since he performed its
selections on a national radio program five years ago, fans have been
requesting such songs as “She Sure Looks Good in Black” and “Real Estate Sale”
at his concerts.

The voice you hear saying, “Y’all
come back now,” at the finale of “They Know How to Grow ‘Em,” belongs to Daryle’s
Georgia-born wife, Holly. They married in 2003 and moved back to their home
state in 2008.

“It was definitely a tough
decision to make,” Daryle says. “I’d been in Nashville for so long, and all my
friends are there. I still miss Nashville, so we try to come and visit once a
month. I always said I’d never move back home. But my priorities have changed
considerably since I was a kid who moved to Nashville. My wife and I want to
start a family, and what better place to raise kids than around their
grandparents? That’s what kind of made up our minds.”

The Singletarys raise horses
and crops on their small farm. Holly works as a nurse. Daryle says, “Without my
wife Holly, I don’t know where I would be at this point in my life”. When he’s
not on the road singing, Daryle Singletary is an avid hunter, competitive roper
and outdoorsman.

“I am also, still, a huge
country-music fan,” he adds. “I have such a passion for it. I still go to see
Merle Haggard and George Jones concerts. I still get chill bumps hearing Randy
Travis sing.

“The cool thing about
working with Greg and Chuck in the studio is that they kind of grew up with me
and my career. They know me as an artist. They know me as a person.

“I know who I am. I know
what I like. When I hear the song that I’m supposed to record, I know it. There
are still great country songs out there. You just have to ask for them and say,
‘Look, when I say country, I mean country."

“And lucky for me, there are
fans who still appreciate that. My fan base is not teeny boppers, which doesn’t
bother me a bit. They’re people who like it real, and that’s what I give them.

“Like I say, I’ve been very
fortunate. I just wanted to make a living doing something I love to do. I’m by
no means a millionaire, but I make a living singing what I love, honest country
music.”

 
Justin McBride

Justin McBride is a former
professional bull rider on the
PBR's Built Ford Tough
Series Tour. He is a two-time PBR World Champion (2005 and
2007), has a record 32 career wins, and was the first professional bull rider
to earn more than $5 million in the course of his career.

He is a country music singer and
is also one of the color commentators of the Built Ford Tough Series telecasts
on CBS Sports Network
and NBC Sports Network.

In 2007, McBride started a career
as a country music singer. Just a week before the 2007 PBR Finals, he released
his debut album, Don't Let Go.

On August 14, 2009, he performed
at the Grand Ole Opry.

On October 19, 2010,^[4] McBride released his first live
CD/DVD, Live at Billy Bob's Texas, which includes the single "Tonight Ain't
the Day".

In October 2012, McBride released
his second studio album, Everybody Loves a Cowboy.