FRYEBURG — Singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson, who just garnered four Country Music Association nominations, will perform at the Fryeburg Fair. Also taking the stage will be Heartland, “American Idol” finalist Kristy Lee Cook and a lineup of musicians who’ll fiddle, play bluegrass and bring a high-energy party to fairgoers.

The fair runs Oct. 4-11. Johnson will appear Saturday night, Oct. 10, on the big stage.

His CMA nominations are for Best New Artist, Single of the Year (“In Color”), Album of the Year (“That Lonesome Song”) and Song of the Year (“In Color”).

The eight-day Fryeburg Fair features six nights of free entertainment in front of the main grandstand, starting at 8 p.m. (There is no additional charge for admittance once on the grounds.)

The evening lineup features the Bob Charest Band on Monday night, New Found Grass on Tuesday, Heartland on Wednesday, Kristy Lee Cook on Thursday and The Kokomo Beach Show on Friday. Fireworks will follow Friday night’s performance.
In addition, live music will be performed daily at each of the fair’s five parks.

Daily gate admission is $8 for the week, $10 on Saturday. Children under 12 admitted free; seniors admitted free on Tuesday.
Monday night is traditionally reserved for Maine and New Hampshire bands. This marks the second year that fairgoers will be invited to dance along. An area will be set aside on the pavement in front of the grandstand for those that want to swing and sway to the music.

Johnson has a backwoods Alabama upbringing, but is a formally trained musician who knew music theory as early as junior high school. He spent eight years as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. The week he was discharged, the rest of his unit was ordered to Iraq. By then, Johnson was in Nashville trying to launch a country career.

He arrived on Jan. 1, 2000, spending every dime he had to make the move. He took a job as a salesman for a sign company, then worked for an industrial pumping company. In 2001-2004, he ran his own successful construction firm, restoring buildings devastated by fires, hurricanes and tornadoes.

Johson’s hit single, “The Dollar,” launched his career in 2005. Since coming out of self-imposed seclusion and eventually writing “That Lonesome Song,” Johnson was nominated for three Grammies and five Academy of Country Music awards. In April, he was stunned when he won the ACM’s Song of the Year honor for “In Color.”

Heartland is as all-American as the rich musical heritage of its native Alabama. Born as a band in 1994, Heartland smashed onto the national charts in 2006 with its debut single, “I Loved Her First.”

That hit established Heartland as the first group in country music to reach No. 1 on the first single outing since Diamond Rio accomplished the feat 15 years earlier. The band’s debut CD zoomed to a No. 3 debut on the Billboard Country Music Charts and crossed mainstream lanes to reach an impressive No. 11 ranking on Billboard’s All Genre Chart.

Quickly established as a major drawing card with concert audiences, Heartland opened in 2006 for Brad Paisley on tour in Lake Tahoe. The band has a new single, “Mustache,” an up-tempo song that came out this summer.

Clark was a Top 10 contestant in last season’s American Idol competition. The Oregon native sold her favorite horse to raise money to travel to Philadelphia and audition for the show. Her rendition of “Amazing Grace” earned her a trip to Hollywood and a seventh-place finish. She has a 10-song CD titled “Why Wait” and will perform some of those songs at the fair.

The Kokomo Show has a high-energy party concept and blends it with the classics sounds of artists like The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffet as well as The B 52s, Blondie and UB40. The show is described as a lighthearted and nostalgic journey through the surfing era and beyond, complete with elements of comedy, dance and audience participation. The show that has performed throughout the world features audience participation with sizzling dancing and dazzling choreography.

Newfound Grass is a group of New England musicians who offer a modern twist on contemporary bluegrass, drawing on their collective backgrounds in jazz, soul and rock. They will perform songs from Flatt & Scruggs, Lonesome River Band, Lou Reid and Carolina, Alison Krauss and Ricky Skaggs. Newfound Grass will be joined by local fiddlers.

The nine-member Bob Charest Band brings energy and fun to all styles of music.

Daily entertainment ranges from magicians and country bands to cloggers and strolling musicians. Among the entertainers throughout the week will be Denny Breau, the Half Moon Jug Band, Rick Adam and his One Man Band, the Dave Rowe Trio, the Dick Kaplan Band and the Blue Hill Brass Quintet.

For more information on entertainment as well as other fair information, go to www.fryeburgfair.org or call 935-3268.

FRYEBURG — An award-winning exhibition about the forest heritage and culture of northern Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York will be on display at the Fryeburg Fair Oct. 4-11. The Northern Forest Center’s mobile museum, “Ways of the Woods: People and the Land in the Northern Forest,” will return this year with several new exhibits and videos.

“Ways of the Woods” combines multimedia displays housed in an image-covered, 18-wheel tractor-trailer with outdoor displays, artifacts and children’s activities.Featured will be a video about the work of researchers at the University of Maine’s Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative to expand the use of wood to include biofuels, chemicals, plastics and other products currently made from fossil fuels and other raw materials.

“Ways of the Woods” will be open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day of the fair except Sun., Oct. 11, when it closes at 6 p.m.