LOVINGTON, N.M. – Over the last few years, the Lea County Fair and Rodeo has hung its hat on having the perfect combination of concerts to go with its annual exposition.
The 2016 edition is no different, with six nights of great shows headlining the full fair experience in Lovington.
“I’m excited that there was a lot of input from the community about dances and having more of the personal bands from around here,” said Corey Helton, chairman of the Lea County Fair Board. “There was some feedback that they wanted to see a lite more home-grown people. That’s why we have some of the acts like Jody Murph and Jody Nix. We’ve been getting a lot of requests for that.”
Nix, in fact, will be the featured act on the opening Saturday night, Aug. 6. Nix began his career at age 8 playing drums for his father’s band all over West Texas. He follows a trio of concerts – Los Traviezos, La Marquinaria and Arrolladora – that will be part of Hispanic Heritage night on the first Friday, Aug. 5.
While Nix’s roots are in Western swing, William Clark Green will show off a direct and hard-hitting style of music during his Tuesday, Aug. 9. Matthew West, a four-time Grammy nominee who has won numerous Christian music awards, will be the featured act on Wednesday, Aug. 10. West has sold more than 1.2 million albums and provides the perfect entertainment for the fair’s Faith and Family Night.
Murph – a singer/song writer from Justin, Texas, who holds a passion for Texas Music – will showcase his talents Thursday, Aug. 11.
“We’ve got several nights of music that people will want to dance to,” Helton said. “But we also wanted to make sure everybody got to have the big music acts we’re all so used to at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo with Neal McCoy and Justin Moore. Those two acts are going to be a great way to close out our event.”
McCoy has been a chart-topper for a couple decades. In fact, he was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009, with five top 10 hits to his credit. He will take the stage after the rodeo on Friday, Aug. 12.
Moore, the 2014 ACM New Artist of the Year, has multiple ACM, ACA and ACC award nominations, all while showcasing two gold albums. His style will be on the main stage on Saturday, Aug. 13. Moore’s fourth studio album, “Kinda Don’t Care,” is set to be released the day before his Lovington concert.
“We’ve been able to mix the dancehall music with some top-level acts for this year’s concert lineup, and I’m very excited about that,” Helton said. “I think this lineup is exactly what our fairgoers have been wanting for several years.”