Hooper resident Brenn Hill last played the Utah State Fair about 10 years ago, on one of the smaller stages that pepper the Utah State Fairpark, he said.
This year, he is back.
And the Weber State grad and country singer is headlining the grandstand on Sept. 16, giving you an idea of how far his career has progressed in the past decade.
Hill, 34, is one of the fastest-rising stars of the cowboy music subgenre of country music, and he is proud to be labeled a cowboy, considering he lives next to a pasture and said he still "feels a connection to the land."
Hill is just one of the headliners that will perform at the grandstand between Thursday and Sept. 18, with artists ranging from young Christian rock band MercyMe to 84-year-old country legend Ray Price, who was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame a whopping 14 years ago.
In an interview from his tour bus that was traveling from Illinois to New Mexico, Price said he used to play the state fair circuit years ago, until state fairs started booking younger and younger acts. But fair officials are recognizing they are ignoring a niche, Price said. "Older people like entertainment, too," he said.
Price was once a bunkmate with Hank Williams Sr. and one of his first bands included a young Willie Nelson, and is best known for bringing honky tonk music to the masses in the 1950s and then as one of the most popular progenitors of the orchestral Nashville Sound in the 1960s and 1970s.
He has never considered retiring, he said. "It's my life," Price said. "It's not just for the money. I enjoy it more now than I ever did."
Plus, everyone tells him that his voice gets better every year, Price said.
dburger@sltrib.com —
Grandstand entertainment at Utah State Fair
Thursday, Sept. 9 at 7:30 p.m. • Imagine (Beatles tribute band)
Free with gate admission - seating ticket required
Friday, Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. • Boyz II Men (R & B)
Free with gate admission - seating ticket required
Saturday, Sept. 11 at 7:30 • Mitchell Musso of "Hannah Montana" (pop)
Free with gate admission - seating ticket required
Sunday, Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. • Ray Price (country)
Free with gate admission - seating ticket required
Monday, Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. • Utah State Final of the Colgate Country Showdown with special guest Eli Young Band; Free with gate admission - seating ticket required
Tuesday, Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. • WiseGuys Comedy Night with Keith Stubbs, Ryan Hamilton and Greg Hahn; Free with gate admission - seating ticket required
Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. • America (classic rock)
Free with gate admission seating ticket required
Thursday, Sept. 16 at 7:30 p.m. • Brenn Hill (country)
Free with gate admission - seating ticket required
Friday, Sept. 17 at 7:30 pm • MercyMe (contemporary Christian)
Reserved seating ticket including gate admission: $25 in advance, $30 day of
Saturday, Sept. 18 at 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. • Fiesta Mexicana
Free with gate admission
Free show seating tickets
Will be available at the Utah State Fair's grandstand ticket office beginning at noon the day of the show. Limit 6 per person. Free show tickets do not include Fair gate admission.
