Entertainment
Don McLEAN
Saturday, 9/23 | 7:30 p.m.
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Don McLean’s American Pie was selected as one of the five greatest songs of the 20th century in a poll by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America. The other four songs were This Land is Your Land, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Respect, and White Christmas.
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American Pie was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003.
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Don McLean was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 2004.
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The following Don McLean songs have each been played over three million times on American radio: American Pie, And I Love You So, Vincent, and Castles in the Air.
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Don McLean always sings American Pie in concert, despite press accounts to the contrary.
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Johnny Cash wrote I Wish I Could Yodel after hearing Don sing Lovesick Blues in Cash’s home.
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Don McLean’s And I Love You So is the last song on Elvis in Concert, the last album Elvis Presley recorded.
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Don McLean’s hit record Crying features Elvis band and back-up singers, the Jordanaires.
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Don McLean has 50 pairs of custom-made western boots, and he wears only Levi 501 button-fly jeans.
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Don McLean was the first American artist to perform at the Sydney Opera House.
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Don McLean was the guest artist at the Boston Pops Fourth of July celebration in 2000, the first of the century.
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Garth Brooks introduced Don McLean as my idol to over 1,000,000 New Yorkers at a 1997 concert in Central Park. And the musicians sang American Pie together.
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Don McLean was the first songwriter to have No. 1 singles in two separate centuries.
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The Don McLean Foundation sends students, who cannot otherwise afford it, to college and contributes to homeless shelters and food banks in the state of Maine.
Lee Greenwood
Friday, 9/22 | 7:30 p.m.
Lee Greenwood is an American country artist who bridged the gap between traditional and contemporary country music. He is best known for his patriotic anthem “God Bless the USA.” The iconic song, which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2013, went far beyond what Greenwood expected when he wrote it in the back of his tour bus in 1983. The song has been in the top five on the country singles charts three times (1991, 2001 and 2003), giving it the distinction of being the only song in any genre of music to achieve that feat. It was also #1 on the pop charts after 9/11/01. Greenwood says, “USA is the song I always felt I needed to write. I wanted to have something that would unite Americans from coast to coast, and I wanted to instill pride back into our country.” While Greenwood could easily talk about the accomplishments in his life, this high-energy entertainer prefers to continue writing and recording with the same passion and integrity that has always fueled his amazing career. Greenwood continues to tour across the country and performs for many charitable events, lending his time and name to numerous organizations including Helping A Hero, of which he is the National Ambassador. Helping a Hero provides specially-adapted homes for wounded warriors and their families. Greenwood has also achieved success as an author, penning the politically-charged book, Does God Still Bless the USA: A Plea for a Better America, which was published in 2012. His latest, a children’s illustrated book, was released Memorial Day Weekend 2015 and is called Proud To Be An American (Clovercroft Publishing). Written to the lyrics of “God Bless The U.S.A,” and fully-illustrated with colorful pictures by Amanda Sekulow, the hardback book serves to encourage patriotism among our nation’s younger generation. It debuted at No. 1 on three Amazon children’s book charts the week of its release.
Dave Bray USA
Friday, 9/22 | Opening for Lee Greenwood
Saturday, 9/23 | Opening for Don McLEAN
As a United States Navy Veteran and national recording artist, Dave Bray USA considers his music to be a "continuation of service" and has dedicated much of his career to honoring our Veterans, active duty military, fire, police and first responders. He served as an FMF Corpsman for the U.S.M.C. Sniper Teams, and following his service went on to lead the patriotic rock band "Madison Rising" to national success with his rock rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner."
Dave's solo career took off with his album "Music on a Mission," which debuted at number six on the iTunes rock charts. Since then, he's charted numerous singles including "Last Call," a tribute to fallen police. His music videos have had millions of views.
Dave Bray USA has shared the stage with rock legends Aerosmith, Shinedown, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent, Kansas and Weezer, as well as country stars Charlie Daniels, Brantley Gilbert, Lee Brice, Hank Williams, Jr., Trace Adkins and Toby Keith.
