Two more days: Diamond Rio ready for an evening of music in Morgan County

Residents from around the region will be in Martinsville Saturday night as RD Productions hosts this year's Morgan County Pre-Fair Concert at the Morgan County Fairgrounds, 1749 Hospital Dr., Martinsville.

This year's lineup includes local artists Rose O'Neal and Bigg Country.

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National recording artists Trace Adkins and Lonestar will be two of the headline acts, along with longtime country music group Diamond Rio.

Diamond Rio is a Grammy-award winning group that was founded about 40 years ago in the early 1980s.

Throughout its career, the band also has a number of Academy of Country Music (ACM) and Country Music Association (CMA) awards under its belt.

In an email to the Reporter-Times, pianist and keyboard performer Dan Truman for Diamond Rio said the band's decades-long career has been a blessing.

"All of our hits, all of the accolades, and then all these years later, we still get to walk out on stage and interact with hundreds of people who continue to love our music and sing our songs at the top of their voices each night," Truman noted.

Over its 40-year career, the band has released a string of top-10 hits on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart — including five No. 1 hits.

Those top hits include "Meet in the Middle," "How Your Love Make Me Feel," "One More Day," "Beautiful Mess" and "I Believe."

Truman said the band enjoys performing at smaller venues like the Morgan County Fairgrounds.

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"Many of these fairs bring a whole new dynamic to our performances," Truman noted. "A lot of the people at fairs have never seen us live, so we get to show people what we're all about, which is much more than songs on the radio. Not to mention, we are able to be much more intimate in most of these settings with the unique seating fairs offer, including crowds closer to the stage."

As with performing artists, the last couple of years have been difficult because many concerts were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concerts are now beginning to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.

"COVID was horrible for everyone in the world," Truman noted. "For us, it meant no work, no interaction with our fans, no paychecks, etc. I, personally, have come out of the pandemic with a renewed appreciation for our amazing career and a renewed energy."

While the band has ventured into several genres, its lone Grammy win came for its 2009 gospel album The Reason, the group has largely stuck to performing country music.

In Truman's opinion, country music is about everyday life.

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"(Country music) can help people on many different levels: personal challenges in life with the loss of loved ones, the heartbreak of romance, motivation to keep going, and then just simple celebration and feel good songs," Truman said.

Diamond RIo considers a number of artists as influential to the band; from legends such as Bluegrass legends Osborne Brothers to Jazz songstress Ella Fitzgerald and even groups like Boston and Chicago.

"That’s obviously a very diverse group of artists, but that’s really what we in Diamond Rio are all about – a combination of different styles with our collective heart being country to the core," Truman said.

Concert information

This year's concert is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, with parking starting at 2 p.m. and gets opening for platinum ticket holders at 3:30.

Those sitting in the gold- and silver-tiered sections will be allowed to enter the gates at 4 p.m.

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Tickets for the concert are available to purchase online at WCBK.com.

The dinner for this year's event, catered by Gather Around BBQ, will run from 4 to 6 p.m.

Ticket-holders are asked to bring their own seating to the event as the the stage will be set up in the fairground's midway.

Contact Reporter-Times editor Lance Gideon at lgideon@reporter-times.com or 765-342-1543. Follow him on Twitter: @LanceOGideon.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Trace Adkins in Martinsville: Diamond Rio ready to take the stage