NEEDTOBREATHE

GRAMMY nominated multi-platinum band

NEEDTOBREATHE is a dynamic force in rock, who have generated over one billion streams, topped several Billboard Radio, Album and Sales Charts and have sold- out arenas and amphitheaters all over the world. ey’ve garnered two Billboard Music Award Nominations, and appeared on nearly every network television show including e Today

Show, Good Morning America, Ellen, e Late Late Show with James Corden and CBS’ Sunday Morning.

Even as the pandemic raged NEEDTOBREATHE continued to expand its fan base, as evidenced by their 2020 album release, Out of Body. eir surprise eighth studio album Into e Mystery was their 5th No. 1 album. An accompanying feature length documentary was released the following November in theatres across the US. Visit needtobreathe. com for more.

NEEDTOBREATHE received worldwide critical praise and debuted in the Top 5 of three Billboard Charts.

4 p.m.: Matt Baker 5 p.m.: Sterling 6 p.m.: Tammy Harris Barton

Flowers

Did you know that you can find flowers in a competitive exhibit at the Fair? That’s right - from lilies to cacti, roses to ornamental grasses, dahlias to hanging baskets, perennials to decorative arrangements and much more, the Fair has you covered for any type of flower entry you could dream of. This exhibit is simply iris-istable. Many have rose to the occasion and entered their flowers grown from hard work and extra love so grab your best buds and make your way down to Peoples Bank Farm Pavilion.

LaborDay Weekend

Chase Rice has established himself as a powerful force in Nashville and beyond.

Chase has 2.2 million albums sold and over 2.1 billion total streams and a legion of passionate fans. As he crafts a new album in his rural Tennessee home-turned-studio, he genuinely sees the recent single “If I Were Rock & Roll,” available everywhere now, as the launching pad for music that says what he wants to say and how he wants to say it.

e song serves as a follow up to his three-part project, e Album, featuring his latest No. 1 hit, “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen. (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” and Platinum-certi ed Top 10 hit “Lonely If You Are.” is is the same gravellyvoiced Chase Rice fans rst fell in love with years ago – but better. Freer. Unbeholden and uninhibited, somehow capable of evoking Chris LeDoux and e Chronic, camp re singalongs and stadium anthems, all at once. e new music builds upon the success of his sophomore album, Lambs & Lions, which featured the Double-Platinum, two-week chart topper “Eyes

On You” – Rice’s rst No. 1 as an artist and the moststreamed song of his career. Lambs & Lions followed Ignite the Night, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and No. 3 on the all-genre chart, producing a pair of Top 5 hits; “Ready Set Roll” and “Gonna Wanna Tonight.”

In addition to selling out arenas with Kane Brown and stadiums with Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks, Rice also consistently sells out venues across the U.S. and Europe on his own headlining tours and he will join Jason Aldean’s Rock N’ Roll Cowboy Tour this fall.

About Chase Rice

With more than 2.4 million albums sold and over 2.5 billion total streams, plus a legion of passionate fans at his high-energy concerts across the globe, Chase Rice has established himself as a powerful force in Nashville and beyond. With the critically acclaimed album I Hate Cowboys & All Dogs Go To Hell crafted in his rural Tennessee home-turned-studio available everywhere now, Rice’s sound continues to evolve to re ect the realities of his life; from emotional reckoning to an admiration of the Western way of life.

e new music serves as a follow up to his three-part project, e Album, fea- turing his latest Platinumcerti ed No. 1 hit, “Drinkin’ Beer. Talkin’ God. Amen. (feat. Florida Georgia Line)” and Platinum-certi ed Top 10 hit “Lonely If You Are.” is is the same gravelly-voiced Chase Rice fans rst fell in love with years ago – but better, freer; unbeholden and uninhibited. e new music builds upon the success of his sophomore album, Lambs & Lions, which featured the triple-Platinum, two-week chart topper “Eyes On You” – Rice’s rst No. 1 as an artist and the most-streamed song of his career. Lambs & Lions followed Platinumcerti ed Ignite the Night, which debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and No. 3 on the all-genre chart, producing a pair of Top 5 hits; Platinumcerti ed “Gonna Wanna Tonight” and double-Platinum “Ready Set Roll.” In addition to guesting on soldout arena tours with Kane Brown and Jason Aldean plus stadium shows with Kenny Chesney and Garth Brooks, Rice consistently sells out venues on his own headlining tours, including the Way Down Yonder Tour underway now in support of his new music. e Las Vegas native quickly became known as a go-to hitmaker, penning bangers like Rihanna’s “Unfaithful,” “Russian Roulette” and “Take a Bow,” along with Beyoncé’s

For more information, visit ChaseRice.com and follow Rice on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok @ChaseRiceMusic and on Instagram @ChaseRice.

Ne-Yo, the three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning R&B hitmaker, iconic songwriter, actor, entrepreneur and philanthropist, will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18 as part of the Northwest Washington Fair’s Grandstand Entertainment Series.

NE-YO has sold a cumulative 20-plus million adjusted albums worldwide. His debut single, 2005’s “So Sick” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certi ed quadruple platinum.

Since then, the Motown Records/Compound Entertainment recording artist has racked up a collection of hits including “Sexy Love,” “Closer,” “Because of You,” “Miss Independent” and “Push Back” [feat. Bebe Rexha and Ste on Don]. ree of his albums have entered SoundScan’s Top Current Albums chart at No. 1.

Ne-Yo has also proven to be as powerful with his pen as he is in the studio and on stage.

2006 breakup anthem “Irreplaceable,” and songs for such artists as Jennifer Hudson, Usher, Carrie Underwood and Celine Dion, among others.

Ne-Yo’s lm and television credits include NBC’s World of Dance, Net ix’s Dance Monsters, Empire, Stomp the Yard, Save the Last Dance, Battle: Los Angeles, George Lucas’ Red Tails, e Wiz Live!, Starz’ Step Up: High Water, Hip Hop Family Christmas Wedding and e Sound of Christmas.

Most recently, NeYo released his eighth full-length album, Self Explanatory, which includes standout singles such as “Stay Down” [feat. Yung Bleu],” “Don’t Love Me,” and “You Got e Body.”

Born in Camden, Arkansas as Sha er Chimere Smith, Ne-Yo and his family moved to Las Vegas when he was a young child. According to Wikipedia, the stage name Ne-Yo was coined by Big D Evans, a producer with whom Ne-Yo once worked, because Evans claimed Ne-Yo sees music like the character Neo sees the Matrix.

Tickets to see Ne-Yo at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds are $50$75. However, tickets do not include gate admission unless you purchase VIP seating. VIP experience includes the best seats in the house, premium parking, gate admission to the fair, full no host bar and dinner. Cost for VIP is $195. Purchase tickets at nwwafair.com/p/tickets.

More on Ne-Yo at neyothegentleman.com.

Learn more about the Northwest Washington Fair at nwwafair.com.

When it all goes right, an artist’s third album is something special. e point where inspiration meets empowerment, everything comes together, and a creative revelation is born. And for Triple Tigers Records country star Russell Dickerson, that is absolutely the case.

Marking the follow up to a series of hits, each one burning with the intensity of a romantic blowtorch, Dickerson’s self-titled LP3 takes that same heat and lights bold new res, all over his life.

Soul-mate symphonies wrapped in epic country devotion. Rural R&B bangers with all the swagger of a free spirit, plus the steady hand of a family man. And stadium sized small-town anthems, built on forever-young thrills yet tempered by the wisdom of time. It’s the work of a superstar on the rise who’s already been rewarded for opening up his soul, and is now giving fans the full picture.

“After nally having some success, there’s a pressure for sure,” Dickerson admits. “But there’s also a new freedom, too. I trust my instincts, and now my instincts are telling me to just to be 100-percent me, and creatively just let it ow.”

A Tennessee native from a musical family, those instincts have always guided the singer-songwriter – all the way from church choir to co ee-house gigs and eventually Music Row itself. But following his gut wasn’t always so cut and dried. Taught piano early on, he took up drums in high school and formed his rst band, trading athletic promise for the rush of the stage and growing into an intoxicating performer. A dynamic front man who lifts crowds up on his own wild-eyed energy, with a near superhuman ability to translate uttering hearts into musical notation, Dickerson grew up in the shadow of Music City, a kid who counted himself a student of the ‘90s and 2000s country giants. And yet, it took forgetting everything he knew to nd success.

It was just after graduating from Nashville’s Belmont University that Dickerson rst hit the road. Wielding an independent spirit and a rich vocal – plus a drive to succeed and an SUV – he’d pack up and head out with his self-written songs, often relying on his wife Kailey for not just inspiration, but photography, video production and more. As the odometer racked up miles, though, it became tough guring out “something country fans would like,” Dickerson admits. But still, he forged on.

“I told myself ‘I’m just gonna keep going,” Dickerson explains. “‘I’m gonna keep driving my run-down SUV all across America playing for 25 people and 250 bucks a night, until something happens.” Something did happen, of course, but not the way he expected. Dropping the idea he could gure out what fans wanted, Dickerson instead embraced what he liked, and 2015’s “Yours” was the result.

A total surrender to true love that is now a 3X-Platinum Number One, “Yours” was a creative breakthrough, a torrential downpour of devotion followed by three more Platinum chart toppers in the same vivid, personal vein – “Blue Tacoma,” “Every Little ing” and “Love You Like I Used To.” Dropping two albums – Yours and Southern Symphony –streaming numbers soon hit 2.2 billion and led to tours with omas Rhett, Lady A, Kane Brown, and more, plus a reputation as one of country’s hottest new talents. And crucially, it sparked a whole new con dence.

Dickerson’s third album nds him doubling down on love songs with uncommon romantic depth, building whole galaxies of awestruck wonder around a single moment spent loving his wife. But he’s also become a father, welcoming the birth of son Remington in 2020. And like all of us, he’s come to appreciate friendship and connection more than ever. e rst and most obvious example was “She Likes It” (with Jake Scott), a slinky, lusty slow groove with an unapologetic R&B sound so bare it’s almost naked – and therefore a forbidden thrill – with Dickerson going step-by-step in a hot-blooded buildup of passion. “It’s so simple. It’s so clean. It’s so relatable,” he says. “I think that’s why the song has done so well, is just that refreshing minimalism.” e track arrived in 2021 and is now climbing the Billboard Country charts – and looking like another game-changing hit – but elsewhere Dickerson takes love out of the equation, taking the same authentic approach to nostalgia that he does to romance. Chest-thumping tracks like “I Remember,” “Blame It On Being Young,” “All the Same Friends” and “Beers to the Summer” capture foreveryoung fun like a country-pop Polaroid, while “Big Wheels” revs up a gravel road guarantee that he’ll never get beyond his raising.

Spurred on by pandemic isolation, he spent the majority of 2020-2021 putting pen to paper, drawn over and over to those three simple topics – love, family, and friendship. Taking stock of how far he’d come (and the everyday joys that still meant so much), 15 tracks were chosen – all co-writes with the likes of Ashley Gorley, Jon Nite, Chase McGill, Lori McKenna, and more. And then Dickerson turned to the studio.

Co-producing with Dann Hu , Zach Crowell, Casey Brown, Josh Kerr, Ben Johnson and Alyssa Vanderhym, Dickerson captured that “100-percent me” element by freely fusing di erent genres and di erent eras into country textures just as vibrant as his big personality – and they certainly stand out, even in today’s format.

“I still got that redneck blood in me,” Dickerson says with a laugh, describing a country-trap anthem which wears its rougher edges with pride. “I still love some big wheels and back roads. at was my life, my upbringing, my musical taste. … And on top of all that, it’s just a banger.”

Likewise, passion still courses through the veins of Dickerson’s love songs, feeling just as tactile and adventurous as ever. “She’s Why” captures the playful side of a mature relationship in that same irty minimalism as “She Likes It.” And with “18,” Dickerson taps into pulsating ‘80s pop, using the throwback energy to imagine going back in romantic time. But for as much fun as Dickerson has – and anyone who’s seen him live knows that’s a lot – his straightforward honesty shines brightest.

Tracks like “God Gave Me a Girl” follow the same blood-rushing arteries as his heart-pounding breakout hits. e epic “I Wonder” gets lost in the what-ifs of an ill-advised breakup with Kailey back in college, and in the quiet ballad “Just Like Your Mama,” all that would have been lost becomes clear.

Tender and presented in tribute to both his wife and son, the track revolves around a simple wish that any father can relate to – but only Dickerson could write. Now three albums in, it’s proof positive that “RD” has found his mark, and hearts-on- re authenticity is the name of his game.

“No matter how far we get into this, I want people to know it’s still me. It’s still RD,” he says. “I’m still the hyper, outgoing, fun-loving, crazy dude on stage. But also these songs are so meaningful to me. It’s not all hype and smoke and lights. I am a songwriter, and no matter where country music goes, I’m not chasing anything except Russell Dickerson.”

Learn more about Russell Dickerson at russelldickerson.com.