Artists announced for upcoming Country Days

Farmington Country Days will take a musical focus in 2012 as organizers plan to “turn it up” with additional country concerts during the weekend festival June 1-3.

The lineup will include two double-header concerts featuring Nashville recording artists Ash Bowers, Bush Hawg, Eric Lee Beddingfield, and Jason Sturgeon.

“For a number of years, we’ve heard from festival-goers that they would like additional opportunities to hear great new music in the park during Farmington Country Days,” said chamber President Doug McDermott.  “So we’ve decided we’re going to ‘turn it up’ and give them what they want in 2012.”

McDermott said the festival has provided concerts at no charge for a number of years, featuring a single headline artist on Saturday night.

“Farmington Country Days has a history of bringing seasoned artists that audience members know and love, but often times festivals like these provide the opportunity to showcase new talent just emerging on to the country radio scene,” McDermott said. “With the speed of communication today, folks are finding new artists on everything from their mobile phones to their Facebook pages, and it’s time we start bringing that new music here to Farmington.

McDermott said the ability to bring four up-and-coming artists, each of whom is gaining momentum on radio and television, is rare but that the festival planning team couldn’t pass the opportunity to give the audience what it has been asking for.

McDermott said the featured artists each have a unique sound, but that they all share a hard-driving country sound that integrates hometown values and a little rowdy fun.

Ash Bowers and Bush Hawg will perform June 1, at 9 p.m., after the completion of the Accent Marketing/J98 Talent Competition. Eric Lee Beddingfield and Jason Sturgeon will perform beginning at 8 p.m. the following night.

Farmington Country Days concerts are made possible by mainstage sponsors Auffenberg GM Superstore, Big River Broadband, Centene Corporation, First State Community Bank, Parkland Health Center, and Pepsi.

Headlining Saturday night, Jason Sturgeon’s music has exploded onto the airwaves with the recent debut of his new single, “Time Bomb,” on CMT and it’s placement as the theme song for 2012 Monster Truck Nationals Competition.

The resulting album, “That’s Me,” is a vivid collection of audio snapshots of Jason’s life. From the hard-driving, unapologetic opening strains of the sexy, growling title track to the scorching heat of “Endless Summer,” you know exactly who he is, where he comes from, and what kind of ride you’re in for … which is not for the faint of heart.

After making a name for himself performing throughout the Southeast and releasing an independent album, Beddingfield teamed up with Grammy-nominated producer and musician Kent Wells to produce his new Rebel Dawg Records release, This Life Ain’t For Everybody. Wells has produced such acts as Dolly Parton, Hank Williams Jr., and Reba McEntire.

Named MusicRow Magazine’s 2012 Independent Artist of the Year, Beddingfield’s singles, “The Gospel According To Jones” and “Great Depression” gave him the two highest charting singles for a independent artist in 2012. This milestone represents only the third time in the history of the MusicRow chart that an independent artist has broken the top 20.

 Ash Bowers has currently been writing for his album while working in the studio with legendary producer Buddy Cannon, known for his work with Kenny Chesney, Reba McIntire, George Jones and Willie Nelson among many others.

His new single, “I Still Believe In That,” written by Bowers, Anthony Smith and Frank Myers, is an anthem for all things good.

Touted as the break-out band of 2012, and recently signed to RCA Nashville, Bush Hawg is working on their debut CD with Music Row veteran and multi-platinum producer Michael Knox, who produced such acts as Jason Aldean, Trace Adkins, and Montgomery Gentry.

With their high energy shows, hard-hitting guitars and drums, mixed with the lyrical style, instrumentation, and vocals of country music, Bush Hawg is breaking down the barriers of the Nashville establishment.

More information about Farmington Country Days can be found at farmingtoncountrydays.com.