DECATUR, ILL. (05-29-2015) – The Farm Progress Show, along with Richland Community College and sponsored by Syngenta, featuring Golden Harvest and NK seed brands, once again hosts a concert featuring country music recording artist Craig Morgan on Wednesday, September 2.
Known as the nation’s greatest ag showcase, the 62nd annual Farm Progress Show runs September 1, 2 and 3, at its Progress City location in Decatur, Ill.
“The Farm Progress Show is delighted to offer a concert again in Decatur,” says Don Tourte, Penton Agriculture, vice president and market leader. “The concert is a great addition to the jam-packed schedule of the Farm Progress Show. It’s a perfect way to share an enjoyable evening with Farm Progress Show exhibitors, visitors and members of the Decatur and surrounding communities.”
Craig Morgan isn’t your typical country music star. His music ties to his varied life experiences as a soldier, sheriff’s deputy, EMT, adventurer, TV host, motocross racer, outdoorsman, farmer and family man. Morgan’s hit songs include “Almost Home,” “Redneck Yacht Club,” “International Harvester,” and “That’s What I Love About Sunday.” “I’m an American country boy who loves his country, his family and his God,” says Morgan, “and all of those things collectively dictate who I am.”
“We are pleased to showcase Syngenta and, for the second year, our Golden Harvest and NK seed brands during this year’s 2015 Farm Progress Show,” said Melissa Lord, customer event & tradeshow lead, Syngenta. “We are thrilled to welcome Craig Morgan as the featured artist. Customers and fans alike are looking forward to a special evening of entertainment, which Syngenta is happy to provide alongside its mission to deliver top-performing hybrids and varieties that will help them grow more corn and soybeans.”
Concert location and timing
The concert will be held near Richland Community College, just south of the Farm Progress Show exhibit field. Concert goers will park in the same lots used for show visitors. The concert gates will open at 4:00 p.m. with the opening act beginning at 5:30 p.m. and Craig Morgan taking the stage at 6:30 p.m. The opening act will be named closer to show time.
Concert ticket information
Advance tickets are $25. Order tickets online at etix.com, richland.edu, and farmprogressshow.com. All tickets are general admission and lawn seating. There will be no ticket refunds or exchanges.
Show information
The Farm Progress Show is the nation’s leading outdoor farm show and features the most extensive state-of-the art information and technology available for today’s agricultural producers. The country’s top agribusinesses, plus many regional and local manufacturers and suppliers, are regular exhibitors. Farmers and ranchers from across North America and around the world visit the Farm Progress Show to see agriculture’s latest product introductions, meet face-to-face with agribusiness professionals and gain hands-on knowledge.
The 2015 Farm Progress Show is located in northeast Decatur, south of I-72 and west of Richland Community College. The show is open to visitors September 1, 2 and 3, from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and 8:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday. Admission at the gate is $15 for adults, $8 for ages 13 to 17. Adult ticket discounts are available online. The concert is a separate event and a separate admission ticket is needed. The public is welcome at the show and concert. For additional information, visit farmprogressshow.com.
About the Farm Progress Show
Farm Progress Show, www.farmprogressshow.com, the nation’s largest outdoor farm event, annually hosts more than 600 exhibitors displaying new farm equipment, tractors, combines and farm implements; seed and crop protection products; and many additional farm supplies and services. The 62nd annual event will be held in northeast Decatur, Ill., Sept. 1-3, 2015.
Producers from the U.S. and around the world attend this industry-leading annual agricultural event. Ag manufacturers and suppliers from across the country and around the world are exhibitors. Field demonstrations are a show mainstay. Field demos include side-by-side tillage techniques, GPS and precision equipment, and tractor and combine performance comparisons, when weather allows. Live cattle-handling demonstrations include the newest cattle chutes, equipment, animal health products and work techniques. Additionally, the show features restored antique machinery and entertainment.
The show is an excellent learning opportunity for producers and includes a wide variety of learning opportunities presented by exhibitors.
The Farm Progress Show is a Penton Agriculture (pentonagriculture.com) event.
About Syngenta
Syngenta is one of the world’s leading companies with more than 28,000 employees in over 90 countries dedicated to our purpose: Bringing plant potential to life. Through world-class science, global reach and commitment to our customers we help to increase crop productivity, protect the environment and improve health and quality of life. For more information about us please go to www.syngenta.com.
About Craig Morgan
There is no one like him. Craig Morgan’s resume is one of the most varied and impressive on earth — soldier, sheriff’s deputy, EMT, adventurer, TV host, motocross racer, outdoorsman, farmer, family man. And then there is the career that ties it all together.
“Music is like a center for all those things,” says the man known as one of country’s best singers and songwriters since “Almost Home” put him on the map in 2002. “It’s the outlet for me to express everything I am. When I’m riding my dirt bike, you may not know about my music, and when I’m in a military environment, it’s not the center point. But my music career allows me to talk about and be a part of all of those other energies in my life. When I’m on stage, I get to express all of it.”
So it’s no surprise that his new Black River Entertainment CD The Journey (Livin’ Hits), which includes eight of his top hits and four powerful new tracks, is as much autobiography as musical statement.
“If you don’t know Craig Morgan,” he says, “you can listen to this album and see where I’ve been, where I’m at and where I’m going.”
“Where I’ve been” constitutes one of the most familiar and respected careers in modern music. In addition to “Almost Home,” which brings pathos, compassion and nostalgia together into a classic country song, Craig’s catalog includes working--class anthems like “Redneck Yacht Club,” “International Harvester” and “More Trucks Than Cars”; real--life love songs like “Tough” and “This Ole Boy”; and one that hits on pretty much every theme Craig brings to the table, “Little Bit of Life.” Then there is “That’s What I Love About Sunday,” a six-week chart topper whose love of American life in the biggest and smallest senses made it the most-played song of the year in 2005.
The Journey (Livin’ Hits) finds Craig again working with longtime friend and collaborator Phil O’Donnell, along with some of Nashville’s best musicians to introduce fans to four new songs that serve as windows on Craig’s past, present and future. He says, “You want to give people songs that have a hint of what they’ve come to expect from you, while at the same time allowing you to grow musically, and I think that’s what these new songs do, more so than anything I’ve ever recorded.”
“Wake Up Lovin’ You” finds Craig using all the power and precision of that instantly recognizable voice to tell the story of an all-consuming memory; “If Not Me” is everything we’ve known Craig for family, love, country and responsibility in a song gripping in its reality and drama; “Party Girl” is pure fun, celebrating the process of letting loose on the weekend; and “We’ll Come Back Around” talks about those on-the-edge moments that test the limits of great relationships, where even at the worst, both sides know love will win. Together, they show a fresh musical direction for Craig.
“I’m an American country boy who loves his country, his family and his God,” he says, “and all of those things collectively dictate who I am. I have no idea what God holds in store for me, but what I do know is that every day I just get up and do my life. I don’t go to work to be a singer. I just go live my life, and part of that is being a singer.”
An avid and lifelong outdoorsman, he began his career as an 18 year old EMT. He then served ten years in the U.S. Army, where he traveled much of the world and took up performing and songwriting, winning military contests in both. He moved to Nashville after leaving the armed forces, and was employed as a contractor, a sheriff’s deputy and a WalMart assistant dairy manager as he pursued music. He was singing demos when he was signed to his first label deal, thereby launching his hit-filled career.
Craig performs frequently for military audiences, both here and abroad (he has earned the U.S.O. Merit Award), and is a frequent guest at the Grand Ole Opry. In fact, the two came together when he was invited to join the hallowed institution in 2008 during an appearance at Ft. Bragg, one of the places he’d been stationed during his military career.
“When you’re talking about the people who come to my show,” he says, “well, I am those people. I’ve heard people say they’re a different person when they get on stage. I’m Craig Morgan all the time. The only difference between me on stage and me in the barn is that on stage I’m singing, and in the barn I’m feeding chickens or working on a tractor.”
All parts of his life come together on his television show, “Craig Morgan’s All Access Outdoors,” which is in its fourth season on the Outdoor Channel.
