Hot country group Lady Antebellum to play Darke County Fair

Lady Antebellum

GREENVILLE — When Darke County Fair board members booked country music act Lady Antebellum in fall 2009 to perform at this summer’s fair, they knew they were lucky, but they had no idea how lucky.

At the time, the band had already been named 2008 Best New Artist by the Country Music Association and had a hit with “Run to You.” Not long after the band signed to play in Darke County, its fortunes grew tremendously.

And as a result, so will the fortunes of the fair and its visitors.

“We’re thrilled to get them,” said fair board member Craig Bowman. “I feel this is the biggest thing at the fair in a long time. Maybe ever.”

Lady Antebellum has grown during the last year into one of the hottest groups on the country music scene. The trio’s second album, “Need You Now,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart. Earlier this month, the band received the most nominations for the 2010 Academy of Country Music Awards with seven nods, beating out the likes of Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley.

Tickets for the Aug. 22 concert go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 20, at a cost of $23 and $25.

“We try to make it affordable for the fair people,” said fair board member Craig Bowman. “We don’t want an act that causes people to spend $60 to come to the fair.”

The 4,700 available tickets are expected to sell out the day they go on sale , marking the first sellout in the fair’s history. The performance could bring in as much as $145,000 in concert tickets and fair admissions, organizers said.

“I’d say by noon I’d look for us to sell out. It’s just gonna knock the phones off the hook,” Bowman said.

The most successful concert in the fair’s history reportedly was the 2008 REO Speedwagon concert in which 4,225 tickets were sold and the fair made $110,000.

Darke County’s timing couldn’t have been better. Lady Antebellum is touring this spring and summer as Tim McGraw’s opening act, but will jump to top billing afterward.

“They (Lady Antebellum) are preparing for a headlining tour this fall,” said band publicist, Katie Shepard.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2216 or kmargolis@ coxohio.Com.