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• FRIDAY September 3, 2010 61F Fair

Joe Nichols/Journey tribute band to headline second BBQ battle

The Battle of the Pigs BBQ and Car Show is bringing in country star Joe Nichols as the headliner for the event, set for May 28-29 at the Appalachian Fairgrounds. It’s a nice upgrade for the second year festival, said organizer Jacob Higginbotham.

“We really felt like we needed to take a step up with our entertainment to keep things growing. We want to try to accommodate the huge country music base in the area,” he said. “We’re already getting calls about it; his fan club is inquiring about how to get tickets.”


Those tickets are cheap — $10 for a two-day admission to the BBQ festival, including all shows. Children ages 6 and under get in free. The event, put on by the Rotary Club of Johnson City, is centered around a barbecue contest sanctioned by the Kansas City Bar-B-Que Society. There’s also an open car show, live music on both days as well as crafters, a Kids’ Zone and huge inflatables.

Proceeds from the festival will benefit Rotary children’s health and education programs.

The music lineup will feature Nichols playing May 29, a Saturday night, at 8. Opening for him at 6:30 will be Grits, a big hit at last year’s festival.

Nichols has put out three No. 1 hits on the country charts and seven top-10 songs, plus been nominated for four Grammys. His latest album is “Old Things New.” He’s known for hits like “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off” and “If Nobody Believed In You.”

The May 28 headliner will be Frontiers, a nationally touring Journey tribute band. A 6:30 p.m. show for that day is still being firmed up. Higginbotham said there will also be performances on both days by local artists.
“
Even though our headliner is country, we’ll still be doing some rock,” he said. “We don’t have too many festivals in the area that bring in rock bands, so we’re going to do that on Friday again.

“We’re kind of excited. We think we’ve got some good entertainment for our main stage.”

The festival will run from 4-10 p.m. on May 28 and 9 a.m.-10 p.m. on May 29.

Higginbotham said the festival is considering creating a VIP area for the Nichols show, with slightly higher-priced tickets. There’s also a plan to institute a People’s Choice contest where people can pay an additional $5 on Saturday and sample the barbecue pork from the competitive BBQ teams, then vote for their favorite.

Higginbotham said two barbecue vendors will also be there to give the public plenty of meat to eat. There was a shortage of barbecue last year when one of the scheduled BBQ vendors didn’t make the festival, so organizers are trying to make sure that won’t happen again.

For more information, visit www.battleofthepigs.com.Tickets   will be available for online purchase there starting in April, or they can be bought from any Johnson City Rotary Club member or, after May 1, at Roadrunner Markets.

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