Country Thunder is on its way

By Donna Lenz Wright/The Week

Three stages filling the air with country music, vendors selling everything under the sun, all the food you can crave and space to camp out for four days and nights-what more can you ask for?

Country Thunder is lined up and ready to entertain, July 16-19 in Twin Lakes. Campgrounds are set up and ready for music-lovers to move in for a long weekend of fun.

Come for some or all of the fun, but stay long enough to see all there is to see, encourages Glenn Starnes, Country Thunder general manager.

"It's the overall experience," he says. "It's all of it-the camping, the music, they food, the wares, the experience of a craft or an art-everything.

"And it's the people. We have a lot of people who come back year after year because they've made friends here and this is where they meet and see each other again."

With three stages going continuously, country stars big and small are as close as a short walk away.

The artists range from area favorites like Chasin' Mason, who performs two shows each day, to international headliners including Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Sugarland, Sara Evans and Jessica Simpson, who has just released her first country single, "Come on Over," with plans to stay country for the rest of her career, according to her Web site.

The music begins at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, around noon every day after that and continues past midnight each night, giving day and night people every chance to enjoy the event.

"If you haven't been, you need to come out and see it, experience it," Starnes said. "It's what you want to make it. Some come just for music, others for the overall experience."

Don't take somebody else's word for it. Get out of the house and enjoy a day-or four."

Single day tickets in advance are $35 for adults, $15 for kids 6-12 and kids 5 and under are free. Four-day tickets in advance are $139 for adults, $30 for kids 6-12 and kids 5 and under are free. One day VIP tickets in advance are $130-$160 for adults and four-day VIP tickets are $450-$600 for adults.

For more information, call 279-6960 or visit www.countrythunder.com.

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Country Thunder '08 lineup

Wednesday, July 16

3 p.m. - Fisher Stevenson

4:30 p.m. - Laura Bryna

4:30 p.m. - Trailer Choir

5:45 p.m. - Lady Antebellum

6:30 p.m. - Trailer Choir

7 p.m. - Joe Nichols

7:30 p.m. - Chasin' Mason

8:30 p.m. - Taylor Swift

9 p.m. - Chasin' Mason

10 p.m. - Carrie Underwood

10:30 p.m. - Harry Luge

12:30 a.m. - Harry Luge

Thursday, July 17

11:30 a.m. - Chasin' Mason

12:30 p.m. - Halfway To Hazard

2 p.m. - Ashton Shepherd

3:30 p.m. - Heidi Newfield

4:30 p.m. - Trailer Choir

5 p.m. - Keith Anderson

6:30 p.m. - Harry Luge

6:30 p.m. - Trailer Choir

7:30 p.m. - Rio Grand

7:30 p.m. - Chasin' Mason

7:45 p.m. - Emerson Drive

8:45 p.m. - Miranda Lambert

9 p.m. - Chasin' Mason

9 p.m. - Halfway To Hazard

10:30 p.m. - Dierks Bentley

10:30 p.m. - Harry Luge

12:30 a.m. - Harry Luge

Friday, July 18

12:30 p.m. - Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband

1:30 p.m. - Shawn Hammonds

2:30 p.m. - Rio Grand

4 p.m. - Heartland

5 p.m. - One Flew South

5:30 p.m. - Jason Michael Carroll

6:30 p.m. - One Flew South

7 p.m. - Randy Owen

8 p.m. - Rio Grand

8 p.m. - Chasin' Mason

8:30 p.m. - Clay Walker

9:30 p.m. - Chasin' Mason

9:30 p.m. - Ryan Shupe & The Rubberband

10:30 p.m. - Sugarland

11 p.m. - Harry Luge

12:30 a.m. - Harry Luge

Saturday, July 19

1:30 p.m. - Veronica Ballestrini

2:30 p.m. - Bluefield

4 p.m. - Danielle Peck

5 p.m. - One Flew South

5:30 p.m. - Luke Bryan

6:30 p.m. - One Flew South

7 p.m. - Kellie Pickler

8 p.m. - Chasin' Mason

8 p.m. - Jessica Simpson

9:30 p.m. - Rio Grand

9:30 p.m. - Chasin' Mason

10 p.m. - Sara Evans

11 p.m. - Harry Luge

12:30 a.m. - Harry Luge

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