Country music stars Byrd, Messina to perform July 29 at Adams County Fair

MENDON, Ill. — The Adams County Fair Board will welcome country music icons Tracy Byrd and Jo Dee Messina to the stage on Saturday, July 29 during this year’s Adams County Fair.

Byrd became a household name on the country music scene in 1993 when his third single, “Holdin’ Heaven,” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Country Music Charts. He has garnered attention for his range of tunes, from slow, romantic ballads to party songs like “Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous” and “Watermelon Crawl.”

One popular ballad, “The Keeper of the Stars,” shot to No. 1 on the singles charts and was named the Academy of Country Music’s Song of the Year in 1995.

Messina kicked off her notable career with “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” which immediately made her a household name. She has posted nine No. 1 hits and 16 Top 40 songs. She has been recognized by the ACM Awards, CMA Awards and Grammy Awards.

Messina became the first female in country music history to celebrate three consecutive multi-week, chart-topping songs. She has amassed more than half a billion streams on Pandora, hundreds of millions of album and single streams on Spotify and Apple Music, and millions of views on YouTube. She had one of the top 20 country albums of the 1990s on the Spotify platform. Her social media accounts are followed by more than one million fans.

 “The music of Tracy Byrd and Jo Dee Messina is like the soundtrack of country music in the 90s,” said Melissa Shriver-Hackamack, a director with the Adams County Fair Board.  “This concert will be an amazing way to see these country music legends live.”

Grandstand seating for the concert is free with adult admission to the fair that night. Track seat tickets will be sold beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 3 inside Farm and Home Supply in Quincy.

This year’s Adams County Fair runs from Wednesday, July 26 to Tuesday, Aug. 1 at the fairgrounds, located 15 minutes north of Quincy.