Country music legend Merle Haggard has been signed as the final headliner for the Oregon Jamboree’s 2016 festival, scheduled for July 29-31.
Haggard will headline Saturday night, July 30, with support from Neal McCoy and Josh Gracin.
Also new to the line-up are Nashville newcomers Cort Carpenter and McKenna Faith, both playing Friday on the Main Stage.
They join previously announced headliners Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith, along with Randy Houser, Chase Bryant and Old Dominion.
In a career spanning decades, Haggard has amassed 38 No. 1 hits, 19 ACM awards, six CMA awards and three Grammys. He arguably made his biggest mark with his 1969 album “Okie from Muskogee,” which earned him both ACM and CMA Album of the Year, Single of Year and Top Male Vocalist of the Year. He appeared in the 2005 Jamboree in Sweet Home.
McCoy is no stranger to Jamboree fans, having emceed the 2012 festival. A festival favorite and two-time Entertainer of the Year, McCoy has sold more than 6 million records and 25 charted singles.
Gracin, a former Marine who first gained public attention as the fourth place finalist on the second season of the hit talent competition American Idol, appears for the first time at the Jamboree.
His self-titled debut album was released in 2004, producing a No. 1 hit, “Nothin’ to Lose,”, and two more top five hits on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
His second album, We Weren’t Crazy, followed in 2008. This album produced five more chart singles, including a top-10 in its title track.
Nashville newcomer Cort Carpenter has Northwest ties as a Washington state native. Over the past five years, he has played to some of the nation’s biggest festivals and country music clubs. He plans to release his third Nashville studio EP in March.
Singer/songwriter and Nashville recording artist McKenna Faith grew up in the barrel racing circuit, where she competed in the World Finals.
Singing the National Anthem at the rodeos led to half-time performances, and eventually she traded in her saddle for her guitar.
Now she tours internationally, has shared the stage with country’s biggest names, and was the No. 1 selling independent female country artist on iTunes in 2014.
Her debut single “Somethin’ Somethin’” was recently released to country radio.