How to go
What: Yuengling Bands and BBQ with Cassadee Pope, Craig Wayne Boyd and others
Where: Montgomery County Fairgrounds, 1043 S. Main St., Dayton
When: Noon Sunday, May 31
Cost: $5 in advance, $10 at the gate. VIP tickets and parking $25-$40.
More info: www.dineoutdayton.com
Tasty barbecue, live country music and cold, cold beer are the three big draws at Miami Valley Restaurant Association’s Yuengling Bands and BBQ at Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Dayton on Sunday.
This year’s festival closer is Cassadee Pope, who performs at 7 p.m. Other performers include Craig Wayne Boyd, Old Dominion and Alexis Gomez. Like all MVRA events, there will be plenty of great food from local purveyors such as Company 7 City BBQ, Hickory River, 1776 Grill and Ritter’s. And as the name suggests, there will be plenty of Yuengling beer (and non-alcoholic drinks) to help wash down the food.
Here’s a look at the festival’s co-headliners.
Cassadee Pope
Pope, a native of West Palm Beach, Fla., was the singer for pop-punk band Hey Monday before leaving for a solo country career in 2012. She began touring to support her self-released EP. Pope’s career received a big boost later that year when she was selected to appear on the third season of NBC’s “The Voice.” She was crowned the winner that December.
A month later, Pope signed a deal with Republic Nashville, part of the Big Machine Records family. Her first single, “Wasting All These Tears,” was released in May 2013. It reached No. 5 on Billboard’s country singles chart. The music video for “Wasting All These Tears” was nominated in two categories, “Female Video of the Year” and “Breakthrough Video of the Year,” at the 2014 CMT Music Awards. She won in the latter category.
Pope’s debut full-length, “Frame by Frame,” was released in October 2013. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s country album chart. “Frame by Frame” yielded a second single, “I Wish I Could Break Your Heart,” which peaked at 35 on the country singles chart.
The singer is currently working on a new album. In March, Pope shared a snippet of a new song, “Let Me Go,” on her website to let fans get a taste of what’s next.
Craig Wayne Boyd
Like Pope, Boyd has been making music for years but owes his current high profile to “The Voice.” The Texas native was the winner of season 7, which wrapped in December 2014. And like Pope, Boyd was also mentored on the show by Blake Shelton, who also coached season 2 winner Jermaine Paul and season 4 winner Danielle Bradbery.
Boyd is currently in the studio working on a new album with producer Aaron Pearce (Pitbull, Jill Scott, Ricky Martin). The still-untiled album is the follow-up to his independent 2013 full-length, “I Ain’t No Quitter.”
About the Author