The 2001 Oregon Jamboree will feature Lee Ann Womack, Tracy Byrd, the Sons of the Desert and Suzy Boggus, John Berry and Billy Dean.
The Oregon Jamboree released a partial list of talent during the annual Chamber of Commerce Awards banquet Saturday evening.
“This list represents less than half of it,” Jamboree Manager Peter LaPonte said. “We’re still going to be adding four more national acts.”
The announcement rounds out the Sunday evening, Aug. 5, performances with Womack performing at 6:15 p.m. to close the Jamboree. Berry, Boggus and Dean will perform individually and then as a group in a show that starts at 4:15 p.m.
The Sons of the Desert are scheduled for 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 4, and Tracy Byrd will play at 6:30 p.m.
Of the acts remaining to be announced, two will be headliners for Friday and Saturday evening of the event.
The 2001 Jamboree also features the return of the True Value Country Music Showdown state finals, starting at noon on Saturday of the event.
The ninth annual Jamboree will be held Aug. 3-5 and feature eight national and five regional acts for a total of 13 shows.
The country music festival will take place on the four-acre field south of Sweet Home High School bordering Sankey Park. It also includes camping at various sites throughout Sweet Home, food boots, beer and wine gardens and special displays.
The Jamboree is produced by Sweet Home Economic Development Group. Proceeds from the event go toward economic development projects in Sweet Home.
“We have offers in on all the open slots right now,” LaPonte said. “We’re just playing the waiting game right now. I think we’re going to have a great show. If our offers come through, we’re going to have a dynamite show.”
The talent purchasing is coming late this year, LaPonte said. Part of that is a change in the way performers are working. Artists are bundling together in packages of two or three acts instead of setting up their routing alone, so that means working with multiple groups, managers and talent agencies.
Last year, Lee Ann Womack topped the Billboard Country Album chart in the first week of sales on her third album, I Hope You Dance. She had number one hits with “A Little Past Little Rock,” “I’ll Think of a Reason Later” and “The Fool.” “I Hope You Dance” was a Top 10 hit. She was a 1999 Grammy nominee for best female country vocal performance. She won the 1998 TNN/Music City News award for Female Star of Tomorrow and the 1999 Academy of Country Music award for Top New Female Vocalist.
With seven albums under his belt and more than five million sold, Tracy Byrd will bring number-one hits like “Holdin’ Heaven” and “The Keeper of the Stars” to the Jamboree. Among his hits are “Watermelon Crawl” and “I’m From the Country.”
Billy Dean’s first single, “Only Here for a Little While,” went to number two and remained on charts for 26 weeks in the early 1990s. He hit number one on the followup with “Somewhere in My Broken Heart” and awards for The Academy of Country Music’s song of the year and top new male vocalist and a Grammy nomination. Since then, he has recorded six more albums, with many hits, including two number-one songs he penned himself.
Dean is joined by John Berry, whose talents are showcased on “Wildest Dreams,” his first album for Lyric Street Records. Berry began performing in Atlanta, Ga., at the age of 13. Since then, he has performed for President George Bush and Barbara Bush at a birthday bash in Houston, Texas. His credits include six albums on independent labels. Hits include “She’s Got a Mind of Her Own,” “What’s In it for Me,” “You and Only You,” and “Your Love Amazes Me.”
Suzy Bogguss will join Dean and Berry on stage. She received the Country Music Association Horizon Award in 1992 and the Academy of Country Music’s top new female vocalist award in 1989. She has gold and platinum records with Top-10 hits and awards from ASCAP. She has completed an album in all but one of the last 10 years. Her latest is Suzy Boggus.
Sons of the Desert are touring in support of their album, Change.