2025 Freeborn County Fair entertainment announced – Albert Lea Tribune

The Freeborn County Fair board on Monday announced the 2025 Grandstand entertainment, which will feature a variety of country, rock and Christian music.

This fair will run from July 29 through Aug. 3.

Tuesday, July 29: Craig Morgan

Kicking off the entertainment will be multi-faceted entertainer Craig Morgan, who has made a name for himself as a country music icon, TV personality, author, celebrated outdoorsman and patriotic Army veteran.

Morgan has amassed nearly 2.5 billion career streams and charted over 25 songs on Billboard, thrilling massive crowds with signature hits including “Bonfire,” “Almost Home,” “Redneck Yacht Club,” “International Harvester,” “This Ole Boy,” “Soldier,” and the multi-week No. 1, “That’s What I Love About Sunday.”

In late 2023, Craig released his newest project Enlisted, a six-song collection of reimagined hits and brand-new songs featuring collaborations with Trace Adkins, Luke Combs, Jelly Roll, Gary LeVox, Blake Shelton, and Lainey Wilson.

Inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry, Morgan served 17 years in the Army and Army Reserve.

Wednesday, July 30: Confederate Railroad

Confederate Railroad first rolled onto the national country music scene in the early ’90s.

Headed by founder and frontman Danny Shirley, the former backup band for both David Allan Coe and Johnny Paycheck got their big break by signing with Atlantic Records.

The first single from their debut album (“Confederate Railroad”) was “She Took It Like A Man.” It went to No. 26, a preview of what was to come. “The next two singles, “Jesus and Mama” and “Queen of Memphis” went to the top of the charts. Three more huge hits followed, “Trashy Women,”  “When You Leave That Way You Can Never Go Back” and “She Never Cried.” “Trashy” would lead to a Grammy nomination and become their signature song. That album with six hits and nearly three million sales brought Confederate the Academy of Country Music’s Best New Group Award in 1993, as well as numerous nominations from the Country Music Association and the British Country Music Foundation.

The second album, “Notorious,” produced one of the group’s most popular songs “Daddy Never Was the Cadillac Kind,” which became a No. 1 video as well. “Elvis and Andy” and “Summer in Dixie” would further establish the Railroad as one of the most versatile acts in the business. This album would sell more than one million. Their overall totals are 18 charted hits and five million albums sold.

Thursday, July 31: Anne Wilson

One of Nashville’s most inspiring young trailblazers, Anne Wilson is known for her transcendent vocal and down-to-earth storytelling.

The Lexington, Kentucky, native recently released “Rebel,” fusing the heart of contemporary Christian music with the sound of country. It features her hopeful, healing debut country single “Rain In The Rearview,” as well as chart-topping Christian radio ballad “Strong.”

The genre-bending album follows her Grammy-nominated 2022 debut “My Jesus,” with the title track becoming a platinum-certified No. 1 hit on Billboard’s Christian Airplay chart. Since then, Wilson has tallied over one billion global streams, made her Grand Ole Opry debut and wrapped her entirely sold-out headlining ‘My Jesus Tour.’                                                                     Already named a Spotify Hot Country Artist to Watch, one of CMT’s Next Women of Country and a 2024 Opry NextStage

Artist, she has made high-profile appearances on TODAY and ACM Honors, while earning her first-ever CMT Music Awards nomination, as well as a Billboard Music Award.

Friday, Aug. 1: Hairball

Vocalists Kris Vox, Dave Moody and Drew Hart lead the band through a 2-plus hour homage to some of the biggest arena acts in the world, including Van Halen, KISS, Motley Crue, Queen, Journey and Aerosmith. The Hairball stage becomes an entirely new rock concert before your very eyes countless times throughout the night. 

2025 finds Hairball celebrating its 25th year of rocking hundreds of thousands of people across the country, adding more characters, more pyrotechnics, more lights, more sound, more props and more surprises, performing every show as though it could be their last. 

Hairball has been a favorite at the fair in years past, performing in 2024 and 2019 in recent years.

Saturday, Aug. 2: Parmalee

Known for their distinct family harmony, irresistible melodies and sure-fire radio favorites, Parmalee has not-so-quietly become one of the genre’s most undeniable contemporary country hitmakers. With three consecutive No. 1 singles in as many years, they have more chart-toppers than  any other group in country music.  

The group has  accumulated more than 1 billion on-demand streams and four total No. 1 country radio singles.  Most recently, they topped the charts with “Girl In Mine,” which was named Billboard  Magazine’s Most Played Country Song of 2023. That song was the follow-up to Billboard’s  Most Played Country Song of 2022, “Take My Name.”

The band landed a multi-platinum smash  in 2020 with “Just The Way,” a collaboration with Blanco Brown. Their first No. 1 was a nod to their native state, “Carolina.”  

In September 2023, Parmalee released “For You 2,” an 18-song deluxe version of their 2021 album, “For You.” While Parmalee had enough tracks to complete their fourth full-length  album easily, the men decided to extend the legs on “For You” with five new songs and attract even more people to the hit-rich collection.