Rambler and Fan Fair 1999

The first stop you'll want to make at the site is the schedule of acts that will be appearing. Organized around their respective record labels, it appears that some of the smaller independent labels are being squeezed out of their usual Monday spot in order to get some of the spill-over from the big-name labels on stage. The Oak Ridge Boys (Richard Durban is my hero) will open the fair by performing the National Anthem at 9:45 am (CDT) on June 14th. The Fiddling Championship, usually held Saturday and at the now demolished OpryLand Theme Park, is missing from the schedule. In addition, you can get a listing of the booths that will be in place to visit during the event. I go for the music and only visit the booths during the lunch break when they tend to be the most crowded. You'll also find registration information for tickets, assuming there are any left by this time.

Promised again this year is a webcast of the event. This is supposed to include behind-the-scene still photos, and coverage of "every live concert event, press hall interviews, peeks at the exhibit halls, and much, much more." I caught some of this last year ant it was the next best thing to being there. You can expect a lot of traffic on this site during the event and hopefully they'll provide some high bandwidth coverage for people with broadband connections.

The Country Music Association has changed their address and updated their site! The navigation is much better and more information is provided. There is some good information here for dedicated fans of the genre (and not just the music). Much more information is provided on membership in CMA for those who are in the profession. The Press Release page provides op-to-the-minute news on CMA related events. The links section provides three types: member sites, events and festival sites and other sites. The last was disappointing; don't even bother. The member links are subdivided into vaious categories and what's not here is almost as interesting what what is. It does provide a good jump-off point for people just exploring the various sires of the Country Music genre.

Keep this one bookmarked!

Until next time - happy surfin'.

Steve, the Country Music Guy

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