BILLY DEAN TO HEADLINE MISSOURI PEACH FAIR

ANNUAL COUNTRY CONCERT

 

            Grammy Award-winning artist, Billy Dean, will headline the annual country concert held as a part of the Annual Missouri Peach Fair in Campbell.

            Dean will perform on Saturday, August 13, on the second night of the week-long fair at the Campbell Community Building.  Opening act will be Heath Hartwell of Nashville, formerly of Qulin.

            A native of Quincy, FL, Dean began performing in his father’s band at the age of eight.  Throughout high school, Dean performed with his father and other musicians.  Also a basketball player, he was offered a basketball scholarship to East Central Community College, but left after one year to pursue his dream of a music career.

            After making the finals of the Wrangler Country Star Search at the age of twenty, he won the title of Male Vocalist on the television program Star Search six years later.  He was eventually signed to a publishing contract with EMI Music and a recording contract with SBK/Liberty.

            He made his chart debut in 1990 with the single “Only Here for a Little While” followed by The Academy of Country Music’s Song of the Year “Somewhere In My Broken Heart”  He followed up with nine more Top 10 singles spanning a period of eighteen years.    Some of his Top 10 hits include songs such as “Only the Wind”, “Billy the Kid”, “You Don’t Count The Cost”, “If There Hadn’t Been You”, “Trying To Hide a Fire In The Dark,” and his 2005 hit, co-written with Richie McDonald of Lonestar, “Let Them Be Little”.  The album, “Let Them Be Little” was inspired by those closest to Dean, his two children, Hannah and Eli, and his wife Stephanie.

            In addition to his Song of the Year Award, Dean was named ACM New Male Vocalist of the Year and received BMI Pop Awards, BMI Song Awards, BMI Million Air Plays Award, County Music Television Rising Star Award, NSAI Song of the Year, a Grammy for a Country Tribute “Amazing Grace” and a proclamation from the State of Tennessee House of Representatives.

            Billy’s appeal reaches beyond the music world.  He has appeared on numerous television shows as well as made-for-TV movies, including:  Blue Valley Songbird, A Face to Kill For, Lois & Clark, One Life to Live, Diagnosis Murder, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, The Montel Show and many others.  Billy continues to make contributions to the country music world by building brands with music and empowering children, by being a spokesperson for Averitt Cares for Kids, and Sunkist’s Take A Stand Program.

            Other activites slated for the Missouri Peach Fair in Campbell include a Youth Talent Show on Tuesday, August 16 and Parade at 10 a.m. on the final day of fair, Saturday, August 20.  Pageants for all ages will be held in addition to a Baby Picture Contest which will be held on Sunday, August 14.  The Miss Missouri Peach Fair Pageant will be held on Friday, August 12 at the Community Building.  Pageants held on the fairgrounds include:  Little Miss Peach Blossom and Little Miss Peach Queen held on Friday, August 19 and Junior Miss Peach Queen which will be held on Saturday night.

     A Toddler Contest for boys and girls ages 0-4 will be held at the Campbell Community Building on Saturday, August 20, beginning at noon.  The carnival will be open on the midway beginning on Wednesday, August 17 and will be open each night through Saturday, August 20.  Local entertainers will provide bandstand entertainment on Wednesday and Saturday nights, with Thursday night being Gospel music night on the bandstand.