Ain't it grand. That was the sentiment Saturday night at the Frederick Fairgrounds as organizers and fairgoers alike celebrated 100 years of the grandstand that sits at the center of the complex -- a grandstand that played host to REO Speedwagon, the first in a week's worth of musical performers set to take the stage this week as part of The Great Frederick Fair. Grand may have been an understatement for Candice Bowers, of Manassas, Va., and her friends Lavonda Snider and Nicole Wyatt, both of Roanoke, Va. The trio of REO Speedwagon fans came fully prepared for Saturday night's concert, lugging along one object always essential for a night filled with rock 'n' roll: a homemade quilt. "She's amazing," Snider said of Bowers, the seamstress behind the blanket's architecture. "It probably only took her 30 minutes to make." Actually, it didn't. The product of two weeks' work, Bowers said she built the quilt with the sole purpose of getting it in lead singer Kevin Cronin's hands before the end of the night. According to Bowers, a schoolteacher, the body of the cloth featured the names of each band member throughout its storied history, along with the titles and release dates of each of the group's 25 original albums in honor of the 30th anniversary of one of the band's most successful releases, "Hi Infidelity."And if that wasn't enough to prove how much the group means to her, maybe the "E" that sat proudly on top of her white T-shirt as part of the combined "REO" Bowers and her friends combined to spell was. Despite her love for the band, Bowers said Frederick marked only the third time she has seen them perform. That's a trend she said she hopes to change after Saturday night. "The first time I saw them was in 1984," Bowers said, adding that Snider was with her at the time while Wyatt was "not even a baby." "Husbands and children and jobs got in the way, and we recently found them again." "Finding them" may have been an understatement as well. All three women went on to tell a story that featured what they called one of the most memorable experiences of their lives while seeing the group perform in Cherokee, N.C. After catching a guitar pick from lead singer Kevin Cronin, Snider said they were then able to talk to both Cronin and bassist Bruce Hall after the performance. Since then, Bowers said she has been able to keep in touch with Hall via Facebook, and various members of the band know exactly who Bowers, Snider and Wyatt are. "As long as they keep touring, we are going to be there," Bowers said while smiling. Not everybody at Saturday night's event could claim the same type of close encounters. The mother-son tandem of Lori and Mike Webber were aching to get through the gate as they waited to see REO Speedwagon for the first time. "I grew up in the '80s, so I really want to see them," Lori Webber, a Frederick resident, said with enthusiasm. "Growing up with that kind of music, this is something I really want to see." Proving the band's music has the ability to transcend generations, her son Mike quickly pointed out his reasoning to attend the concert with his mother. "In terms of more modern music, I listen to today's hits," the teenager said. "But I think there is a lot of what went into '80s music that is instilled in music today. A lot of the same beats, a lot of the same themes." Beats and themes were abound as REO took the stage to a recording of the Sam and Dave classic "Soul Man." The group then launched into the drum-heavy "Don't Let Him Go" before slowing down with "Keep On Loving You." "We started with the first two songs off the 'Hi Infidelity' record," Cronin shouted to the crowd after "Keep On Loving You." "And we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of that record, so we are going to play a whole mess of songs off that record." That they did. "In Your Letter," "Take It on the Run" and "Someone Tonight" all made appearances in the band's set that lasted well into the lit-up sky's night. But even as the hits kept coming and concertgoers kept singing, there was one thing about Saturday night's concert that was going to either make or break the evening for three women sitting not too far from the front row. "I got my picture taken," Bowers said minutes before REO Speedwagon appeared. "Lavonda took the picture while I was up there." Sure enough, in the frame of a digital camera appeared a pixelated portrait of Bowers handing over a bag to one of the band's guitar technicians. According to Bowers, the three women were assured the quilt would get into the band's possession before the end of the night. But after all the miles traveled, all the memories made and all the time and effort put into the construction of one blanket that may or may not ever make its way to its destination, was the night considered "grand" by any of the three women proudly displaying the letters "R" "E" and "O" on three separate T-shirts? "It's special," Bowers said, smiling. "It's definitely special." Copyright 2011 The Frederick News-Post. All rights reserved.

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It hasn't been around for all that long, yet a pre-Internet existence is growing increasingly hard to recall, particularly when it comes to music. In addition to songs, full-length albums, artist bios and videos, the lines to almost every song ever written are just a click away.
I can't imagine what rock journalism must've been like like before the Web, with critics having to rely on speaker-dulled hearing and multiple replays to flesh out the words to a song. Sure, there was usually a little booklet tucked into the inside cover of an album, but many favored photos over lyrics, perhaps offering some explanation as to why my best friend wholeheartedly believed the lyrics to the Rolling Stones' classic "Beast of Burden" were "I'll never leave your pizza burnin'" until well into college.
It was that line of thinking that had me poking through classic-rock catalogs, and ultimately led to the lyrical (and comedic) goldmine that is REO Speedwagon.
​The Midwestern melodic rock band peaked in 1980 with Hi Infidelity, charting multiple tracks in the Top 40 and over 10 million copies sold. Having been born just a year prior to the release, I can't recall a time when classics like "Keep On Loving You" and "Take it On the Run" weren't on the radio. I never made a conscious effort to learn the words; they just seemed to soak in over time, the way I imagine 90 percent of guys I know acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of sports statistics. It's also fair to say I'd also never paid much attention - until this week, that is.
When seen without the accompaniment of Kevin Cronin's soaring vocals, the words to what I'd always considered great love songs seemed anything less than romantic. Even the timeless "Can't Fight This Feeling" came off as, well...let's just say there's a word for men who can't resist the urge to come crashing through a woman's door (and crawl upon the floor) to profess their love: Stalkers. And in Texas we call them "target practice."
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. A few more literal interpretations of The Wagon's classics are listed below.
"Take it On the Run": My friend's roommate's girlfriend's sister's boyfriend's therapist's mom's pharmacist said that you were a cheating tramp, so I'm breaking up with you based on the word of a complete stranger.
"Back On the Road Again": Dear Sarah Sandra. We had some great times together on this Ramada Inn sleeper sofa. I've loved you since the day I met you, which was yesterday, but now it's time to hit the road. Take comfort in knowing that the next time we play a gig in... wherever the hell this is, I'll be sure and look you up.
"Roll with the Changes": Let me know when you're ready to put out.
"Keep On Loving You": I've decided to put the knowledge of your dirty, whoring ways out of my head and keep on loving you.
"Keep the Fire Burnin'": We can make it through anything...as long as I've got my little blue pills.
"Like You Do": Babe, the hookers in Times Square ain't got nothin' on you. I mean that.
"Don't Let Him Go": He's the kind of lover the ladies dream about: Handsome and rich with a nice, long "wick." So what if he's constantly pissing you off and running around with other girls? The man drives a freaking Mercedes Benz.

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REO headlined day one of the four day Rib America Festival, Military Park, Indianapolis, Indiana treating an all ages crowd to a 70 & 80’s rewind. Fronted by original member Kevin Cronin, REO Speedwagon continues to entertain after four decades in the music business. The band recently released a 30th Anniversary edition of Hi Infidelity (Then and Again…Live) which originally contained four monster hit records including the #1 “Keep On Loving You”, “Take It on the Run”, “In Your Letter”, and “Don’t Let Him Go.” It was a challenge to determine just which hits were house favorites as the audience sang along with every song in their set. However, “Riding The Storm Out” was probably the most celebrated.

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Singer-songwriter Kevin Cronin has been added to the list of performers appearing at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum's All for the Hall Los Angeles fundraiser on Tuesday, September 13th, at L.A. Live's Club Nokia. As a special guest, he will perform one song during the show. A limited number of tickets remain for the benefit concert, which will follow a "guitar pull" format and feature performances by superstars Zac Brown and Sheryl Crow and Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill. Tickets are available for $250 and $125 (reserved seats in the VIP section of the balcony with access to the VIP lounge) and $100 and $65 (reserved seats in the balcony). A limited number of VIP tables and floor seats are also still available for purchase at $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 levels (a significant portion of which is tax deductible); additional table purchase details are below. As lead singer and a principal songwriter for superstar rock act REO Speedwagon, Kevin Cronin wrote or co-wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including the #1 singles "Keep On Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling." A 30th anniversary edition of the band's seminal album, 'High Infidelity', was released in July. Cronin continues to tour with REO Speedwagon.

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SINGER-SONGWRITER KEVIN CRONIN TO PERFORM AT THE COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM'S ALL FOR THE HALL LOS ANGELES FUNDRAISER
He Joins Zac Brown, Sheryl Crow and Vince Gill at L.A. LIVE's Club Nokia on September 13
LOS ANGELES, California, September 6, 2011 - Singer-songwriter Kevin Cronin has been added to the list of performers appearing at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's All for the Hall Los Angeles fundraiser on Tuesday, September 13, at L.A. LIVE's Club Nokia. As a special guest, he will perform one song during the show.
A limited number of tickets remain for the benefit concert, which will follow a "guitar pull" format and feature performances by superstars Zac Brown and Sheryl Crow and Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill. Tickets are available for $250 and $125 (reserved seats in the VIP section of the balcony with access to the VIP lounge) and $100 and $65 (reserved seats in the balcony), and may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets or online at www.ticketmaster.com, or 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Mon.-Fri. at the STAPLES Center Box Office located at 1111 S. Figueroa St. No fees are charged at the STAPLES Center box office or at the Club Nokia box office on show days (open after 5 p.m.).
A limited number of VIP tables and floor seats are also still available for purchase at $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 levels (a significant portion of which is tax deductible); additional table purchase details are below.
As lead singer and a principal songwriter for superstar rock act REO Speedwagon, Kevin Cronin wrote or co-wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including the #1 singles "Keep on Loving You" and "Can't Fight This Feeling." A 30th anniversary edition of the band's seminal album, High Infidelity, was released in July. Cronin continues to tour with REO Speedwagon.
All for the Hall Los Angeles will offer a unique opportunity to see these acclaimed singer-songwriters interact with one another as they take turns swapping songs, stories and personal recollections. The "guitar pull" is a Nashville specialty; it originated in the homes of Nashville songwriters who gathered to try out new compositions for their peers. Nashville’s most storied guitar pulls were hosted by Johnny and June Carter Cash. The hallmarks of a great guitar pull are spontaneity and camaraderie.
The Museum launched All for the Hall, its first-ever non-bricks-and-mortar fundraising campaign, in 2005. The campaign addresses the Museum's need for long-term financial security and will provide a safety net for the institution and its work. This is the fifth year the Museum has taken its "annual giving" event on the road, hosting previous All for the Hall events in New York in 2007 and 2008 and in Los Angeles in 2009 and 2010.
All for the Hall Los Angeles patrons are offered their choice of seating for 10 for $10,000, or seating for five for $5,000. Individual tickets are available at $1,000 per seat. A cocktail reception and dinner will precede the guitar pull. To purchase tickets, patrons may contact Rachel Shapiro at rshapiro@countrymusichalloffame.org or telephone (615) 416-2069 or (800) 852-6437.
All for the Hall Los Angeles is chaired by AEG Live Chairman Tim Leiweke and produced by Creative Artists Agency's Rod Essig, Vector Management's Ken Levitan and BMI's Jody Williams. The event is made possible by the generosity of AEG Live, Club Nokia at L.A. LIVE and travel sponsor Southwest Airlines. The 2011 host committee for All for the Hall Los Angeles includes Orly Adelson (dick clark productions), Justyn Amstutz and Lori Armistead, Mark Bloom (UBS Financial Services), Thomas Carroll (SunTrust Bank), Essig, John Frankenheimer (Loeb & Loeb), Gary Haber (Haber Corporation), Levitan, Bob Romeo (Academy of Country Music) and Gary Veloric (Red Stripe Plane Group).
About the Performers
Georgia native Zac Brown is the leader of the Grammy-award winning Zac Brown Band. The band's debut major label release, The Foundation, was one of Billboard's Top 20 albums of 2009, and yielded five #1 hits, including "Chicken Fried" and "Free." The band's follow-up album, You Get What You Give, which was released in September 2010, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart and was recently certified platinum by the RIAA. The band's honors and accolades include "Best New Artist" wins at both the 2010 Grammy Awards and the 2010 CMA Awards, and a 2009 "Top New Vocal Group" nod from the Academy of Country Music.
Free-spirited, fearless and fierce, Sheryl Crow has garnered nine Grammys, released seven studio albums, which sold more than 35 million records worldwide, is a cancer survivor and passionate humanitarian, and has performed for President Obama. This year Crow unveiled her soul stylings on her seventh studio set, 100 Miles from Memphis. Raised in Kennett, Missouri, 100 miles from Memphis, Crow grew up listening to the irresistible soul sounds on the radio coming out of Memphis in the late '60s and early '70s, all of which shaped the artist she is today. Crow is a passionate supporter of a variety of environmental and health-related charities, including the NRDC, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the World Food Program. This year saw the opening of the Sheryl Crow Imaging Center in the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Los Angeles.
Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill possesses an achingly beautiful tenor, award-winning songwriting skills and virtuoso guitar chops. Together, they've earned him millions of record sales, 20 Grammys and 18 CMA Awards. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Gill is also regarded as one of country music's most generous humanitarians, participating in hundreds of charitable events throughout his career, including All for the Hall, the campaign to support the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Gill, president of the Museum's Board of Officers and Trustees, was also the Museum's 2009 Artist in Residence. His new CD, Guitar Slinger, will be released on October 25 on MCA Records.
About the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is operated by the Country Music Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization chartered by the state of Tennessee in 1964. The Museum's mission is the preservation of the history of country and related vernacular music rooted in southern culture. With the same educational mission, the Foundation also operates CMF Records, the Museum's First Library and Archive, CMF Press, Historic RCA Studio B, and Hatch Show Print.
More information about the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is available at www.countrymusichalloffame.org or by calling (615) 416-2001.
About AEG Live AEG Live, the live-entertainment division of Los Angeles-based AEG, is dedicated to all aspects of live contemporary music performance. AEG Live is comprised of touring, festival, exhibition, broadcast, merchandise and special event divisions, fifteen regional offices and owns, operates or exclusively books thirty-five state-of-the-art venues. The current and recent concert tour roster includes artists such as Taylor Swift, the Black Eyed Peas, Bon Jovi, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Justin Bieber, Leonard Cohen, Wisin & Yandel, Kenny Chesney, P!nk and Paul McCartney. The company is also currently producing shows in Las Vegas including Celine Dion at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casinos, and Barry Manilow at Paris. Our exhibition portfolio boasts the most successful exhibition of all time, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharoaohs, which has attracted more than 7 million visitors since 2005. AEG Live is also the largest producer of music festivals in North America from the critically acclaimed Coachella Music & Arts Festival to Stagecoach and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
About Club Nokia Club Nokia, a multi-use music, entertainment and concert venue--located in the heart of the acclaimed L.A. LIVE sports, residential and entertainment district--accommodates over 2,300 guests. Featuring state-of-the-art acoustics designed for live entertainment, Club Nokia is the perfect venue for emerging music acts and cultural shows while also providing excellent space for corporate events and private parties. The theatre brings the latest technology to music enthusiasts including an innovative interactive experience embedded in foot-controlled floor interfaces, touchscreens, and a large LED installation within the lobby of the Club Nokia space. This interactive experience allows users to scroll through the history and the future of Club Nokia events and interact with pictures, video and text messages submitted by fellow concert fans. Club Nokia has been honored two consecutive years at the annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards, in 2009 as "Best New Major Concert Venue" and in 2010 as "Nightclub of the Year," along with a Zagat Award for Best Live Music Club in Los Angeles (2009).
Since its opening, Club Nokia has hosted a massive array of eclectic events: packed concerts of every musical genre (Band of Horses, Motorhead, Adam Lambert, Drake, Matisyahu, Queens of the Stone Age, Vince Gill, the Specials, La Roux, to name but a few); comedians (Lisa Lampanelli, Sarah Silverman, Jim Jefferies and more); special month-long residencies (The Pee-wee Herman Show, Cirque Berzerk); awards shows (Grammy nominations concert, Revolver Golden Gods Awards) and private events.
For more information about All for the Hall Los Angeles, please contact:
Todd Brodginski:toddb@msopr.com Angela Villanueva:avillanueva@msopr.com Mitch Schneider:mschneider@msopr.com (818) 380-0400
EDITORS/PRODUCERS NOTE: More detailed information about All for the Hall Los Angeles, including updates, downloadable bios and pictures, event schedules and ticket information, is available at http://countrymusichalloffame.org/afthla/.
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