2010 Big O Music Fest Saturday Artists & Performance Times

* Artists times are approximate and subject to change

  Gary Allan - It’s raw and emotional. It’s freight-train-to-nowhere lonely. It’s hard-rockin’, no-apologies country music that has traded in its twang for a gravelly growl millions of fans recognize as the voice of Gary Allan. And with LIVING HARD, his latest release from MCA Nashville, Allan once again proves that, though times may change, the thread of truth at the center of his music remains the same. “I think the fans are gonna feel that this record is different,” he says, “but the most important thing is that what I do is authentic. I’ve never pushed for a certain image. I’ve just always done my own thing.”  This time around, Allan says, that includes letting listeners ride along through his personal landscape over the past year. “The record has taken about a year to make,” he says, “and I think the whole thing reflects change. I think every record sort of reflects where I’m at, and I’ve made a ton of changes this year, just mentally and in how I’m approaching everything. “Oh,” he adds with a grin, “and I think it’s much more rockin’ than anything I’ve done.”  Allan decided to crank it up musically. “I just felt like I was growing so much and wanted the music to reflect that. I think the result has more of an edge.” More edge, from the man who’s already got a reputation as a bit of a Nashville outsider? “Hopefully country music feels like they need somebody like me in the fold just to shake things up,” he laughs. Not that this was all his idea – Allan feels some of the changes come from the fans themselves. “It’s not like I was trying for a new direction, it’s almost audience driven, too. l feel like I’ve got this young crowd with me now, I’ve got these rocker kids in my audience. And I grew up with that music, too,” says the California-bred singer, “so to me that stuff is right alongside Kris Kristofferson and Waylon Jennings. The people really dictate the music, too. I feed off the audience, whatever they’re really wanting is what they drag out of me. I’ve got the edgy side of the country crowd -- and I want to keep them.” - Click Here for Gary's Full Bio...

  Jamey Johnson - He could be basking in his songwriting accolades, but Jamey Johnson remains a restlessly creative maverick.  Jamey is the co-writer of the CMA and ACM 2007 Song of the Year “Give It Away,” recorded by George Strait. Trace Adkins, George Jones and Joe Nichols have also recorded his songs. But instead of sitting at home counting his royalty checks, Jamey Johnson recorded more than 40 songs during the past year. Not content with providing hits for others, the singer-songwriter has a powerful drive to sing, record and perform. “Writing is not enough for me,” says this intense artist. “I did not come here to just be a writer. I live to play….I’m not here to take a stab at it. I am going to DO it.”  Jamey is a study in contrasts. He was raised in a devout household, yet he spent part of his youth drinking beer and playing country songs at night on the Montgomery tombstone of Hank Williams. He has a backwoods upbringing, but is a formally trained musician who knew music theory as early as junior high school. He is deadly serious about his music, yet has an outrageous sense of humor. With his piercing pale-blue eyes and biker beard, he looks like a hell raiser, but he has the heart of a poet.  Click Here for Jamey's Full Bio...

  Phil Vassar - Phil Vassar’s unbounded energy and limitless talent have proven him, again and again, as one of Nashville’s most prolific and versatile stars. His resume boasts six #1 hits for country artists including Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, and Collin Raye, and three more as an artist in his own right. He’s been named the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year twice and has taken top honors from the Academy of Country Music, Billboard and MusicRow. Now releasing his sixth album, Traveling Circus, Vassar approaches his uniquely piano-based, rhythm and blues-infused, infectiously buoyant brand of country music from the back-to-basics school of thought. Phil bypassed traditional Music City session players and hired his road band to play on Traveling Circus. While the band had played on some of Phil’s Greatest Hits: Vol. 1 album, and had become his go-to guys for demo work, never before had Phil used them for a full album of original material. What’s more, Phil found that his road band, who contribute so much to the frenetic creative energy of his legendary live shows, were much better equipped to capture his concert sound than hired session musicians would be. With his road band, and friends, on board, Vassar had the opportunity to really get lost in the studio. Free of ticking time clocks, Phil was able to cut several songs, 11 of which ultimately made the album.  Click Here for Phil's Full Bio...

Colt Ford - Take a hefty portion of Southern charm, add a dash of country livin’, a pinch of urban style, wash it all down with a sweet, fresh sound, and you have Colt Ford. A man with such a blend of unique talents and tastes can only be the natural recipe for this new sound and musical format. Colt Ford embodies the seemingly unusual pairing of the Southern country and hip-hop musical influences that he heard growing up in small-town America just outside Athens, Georgia, not far from the new Southern hub for urban music in Atlanta. His newly styled country music is truly a blend of many American musical styles, including country, rock, hip-hop, and rhythm and blues. With this musical mixture, Colt blazes forward with a new, creative sound for the all-American everyman. Although the stories may differ for rural and urban listeners, Colt delivers a common message and emotion with an uncommon sound. Colt first album introduction came with the December 2008 release of RIDE THROUGH THE COUNTRY, his first record on label Average Joe’s Entertainment, in nothing less than grand style. The album has since broke down the door to Soundscan and Billboard Country chart Top 25 consistently each week and sold over 200,000 digital singles and 120,000 albums. The fan devotion depicted in music sales is also reflected in similar online enthusiasm boasting over 45,000 plays per day on MySpace – making him the #5 most-added country artists in the entire genre!

  Brian Davis - (Brian Davis was raised in the Carolinas somewhere between the Saturday night honkytonks and the Sunday morning steeples…surrounded by fields, farms and everything in between that makes country…country. You can hear it in his voice and the way he bends the strings on his telecaster, but there is also a side to him that along with his country roots, has brought the mass appeal and extensive fan base that he now enjoys…and that is his diverse love of music in everything from Matchbox-Twenty to Waylon to Counting Crows to Hank to Dwight Yoakam to Bob Marley to Garth to AC/DC to Tom Petty…and it’s ALL PACKED INTO HIS MUSIC!!!!!! Brian brings every ounce of influence to every show and delivers country music with an explosive high-energy sound and style that is THE perfect combination of every great concert that you have ever experienced rolled up in to one. Brian’s four studio albums are the fuel for his live shows encompassing everything from heart breaks to Good Times to tailgating to fishing to tryin’ to forget to tryin’ to remember to first times to last times to fallin’ in love and EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN!!! There is everything for everybody inside of his music!!!)