Fair Board Meets on Entertainment Snafu

Cheyenne County Fair Board members held an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss an unexpected problem that arose with fair entertainment.

The problem arose at the end of March when a fair board member, perusing the Cheyenne Frontier Days lineup, stumbled across an entry that showed the musical lineup of Walker Hayes opening for Keith Urban. A good combination, no doubt, but the problem laid in the fact that at the same time on the same night, Walker Hayes was supposed to be the headline show at the Cheyenne County Fair.

In explaining the situation to board members, Fair Board President Gerald Frerichs said the promoter told him that Hayes “thought he was signing for Cheyenne Frontier Days” when he contracted with Cheyenne County.

The “emergency” in Wednesday’s meeting came in the fact that musical acts are usually booked at least a year in advance, and finding one later in the game is pretty tough. But after the discovery, the booking agent Cheyenne County works through provided a list of acts he felt would be “equal or better” to the one lost.

In discussion, members weighed acts’ potential appeal between younger and older fair goers, with two older acts among the choices.

In the end board members chose Williamsburg, Virginia native Canaan Smith as a replacement. Members felt Smith could meet the tastes of a wide range of age groups. His hits include “Love You Like That,” and “Hole in a Bottle.”

After their experience with Hayes, and with the window narrowing, board members also picked an alternate band, “just in case.”

That band, A Thousand Horses, has opened for Jason Aldene.

The fair concert is Friday, July 27 at 7 p.m.