Country festival at the Prairie Capital

With 14 acts in two days, Y’allapalooza brings stars, newcomers and in-betweeners to Springfield

Before deciding to take the plunge and go to a Y’allapalooza, informed readers may be wondering, “What exactly is a Y’allapalooza?” Those up on the contemporary country music scene could likely recognize the moniker from outdoor concerts mostly happening around the Midwest during the last several years. Rockers will get the “palooza” part as a takeoff from Lollapalooza, the popular alternative rock road show of the early 90s started by Jane’s Addiction main man, Perry Ferrell.

The “palooza” term is much like people use the term “gate” these days — if it’s a political scandal just add “gate” as in Watergate, if it’s a big party concert, just add “palooza” for immediate understanding.

Now we’re getting somewhere in our search for a definition of a Y’allapalooza. It appears some bright guy or gal somewhere, took “y’all,” the rural sounding, definitely Southern dialect contraction of “you all,” attached it to the aforementioned “palooza” and created a title for an instant modern country concert event. The first shows were held sometime around nine or ten years ago – the history of the naming is rather vague, but the idea caught on and continued in various venues with an assortment of acts. When Prairie Capital Convention Center General Manager Brian Oaks began developing a plan to bring a group of country stars to Springfield for a midwinter event, he knew what he wanted but still didn’t have a name for it. “We wanted to do something different, something that was a first-time event for Springfield,” Oaks said. “Working with WFMB (a local FM country station) we held a naming rights contest and got over 1,500 entries — a great response — way better than we expected and Y’allapalooza was the overwhelming choice for a name.” Oaks visited Nashville last October, attending a convention of booking agents showcasing artists in Music City USA to pursue the plan. He approached different promoters with his concert idea and a major booking agent took right to it, setting the PCCC up with 14 acts over two days. The artists ranged from hit-making stars to fresh newcomers and several in betweeners.

“I asked them what they thought about doing an indoor show as a festival,” he said. “They liked the idea so much they used this concept in Chicago.” Indeed, during the usually slow time right after the holidays, booking a two-day event would seem like a great idea. The Friday acts in Springfield play in St. Charles, near Chicago, on Saturday and vice versa. In one of those often talked of win-win situations, the bands have a nice run not far from their Tennessee base, fans get extra treatment from the festival-like atmosphere, and promoters and venues receive a subtle boost in a usually down time of the touring season. In fact, if things go well the event is to be continued, making Y’allapalooza at the PCCC an annual event.

“We love the concept of taking two or three headliners on one night and being able to showcase up-and-coming stars as well,” said Oaks. “We’ll have established artists and the stars of tomorrow on the same stage, then available for fans to meet.” The event aims at capturing the feel of the highly successful Fan Fair held annually in Nashville, where artists perform showcases and hold meet-’n-greets allowing fans to mix with the stars beyond what normally occurs during a standard concert outing. From the beginning Oaks believed his concept to be more than your average stage show, and sold the notion as an event that reached out to fans and performers alike, creating a festival atmosphere indoors, purposefully bringing together the artist and the audience. “The idea is to be more than a concert. We’ll have food areas, caterers, prizes, giveaways, meet- ’n-greets, WFMB charity raffle and, of course the live music,” Oaks said. “It’s going to be one big two-day party and a first for Springfield.”

Now, meet the artists who will appear.

LeAnn Rimes
LeAnn Rimes first hit the big time in a big way when at age 13 she scored a major national hit with Blue, and instantly became the cute little girl with the mature, huge voice. To most listeners of country music that is who she is and always shall be, but Rimes moved on in her career. She’s written children’s books, acted in films, had a successful pop album in Europe, recorded a duet with Jon Bon Jovi, sold over 37 million records, had numerous hit singles, and won many music industry awards including two Grammys. She managed to accomplish this without the typical problems associated with other teenage stars.

Rimes certainly blossomed since the early teenage years both as an artist and a star. Her recent music videos show a more adult side of LeAnn, one designed for mature-audiences, cashing in on the risqué direction in popular country music culture. On Family, her most recent CD, Rimes takes a definite autobiographical turn, writing or co-writing nearly all the songs, stepping out as an artist with an intent vision rather than just a pretty girl with great voice.

Phil Vassar and Friends
Like many stars of the Nashville hit machine, Phil Vassar began in the business as a songwriter and worked his success as a tunesmith into stardom. After years of writing hits for others, he crashed onto the charts with his selftitled debut in 2000. He continues to make chart-topping records and he tours constantly.

Vassar performs an energetic live show, careening around the stage, pounding the piano and squeezing every last bit of energy out of his songs and the audience.

After a recent record label switch from Arista to Universal South, Vassar released Prayers of the

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Friday Jan. 16

Doors open at 4 p.m. and show starts at 5 p.m.

LeAnn Rimes, Trent Tomlinson, Jonathan Singleton, Phil Vassar and Friends, one more act to be added later.

Saturday Jan. 17

Doors open at 3 p.m. and show starts at 4 p.m.

Joe Nichols, One Flew South, The Lost Trailers, Chris Young, Julianne Hough, Keith Anderson, Jason Aldean

Tickets are $80 for both days or $50 for one day and are available at the Prairie Capital Convention Center box office (1 Convention Center Plaza, 217- 788-8800, www.springfieldpccc.com) or at any Ticketmaster Outlet or Ticketmaster Charge-By- Phone (217-544-9400, www.ticketmaster.com).