Berrien fair sets lineup

Published 10:30 pm Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Arkansas native Justin Moore will headline the 2012 Berrien County Youth Fair, according to a recent announcement by fair officials.
Moore performs at 7 p.m. Aug. His hits include “Small Town USA” and “If Heaven Wasn’t So Far Away.”
Rock fans will also be entertained by Bret Michaels.  As front man of the band Poison, Michaels has been in the spotlight more recently as a reality TV star, winning “Celebrity Apprentice” and starring in his television series “Rock of Love” on VH1.  Michaels will be performing at 7 p.m. Aug. 16.
Also new to the lineup this year a supercross race. The “My Auto Michigan State Fair Supercross Series” points race will replace the demolition derby held on Saturday.

Justin Moore
Moore has been singing gospel and country music since the age of 2.  When he was 18, Moore moved to Nashville with a manager already on board.  He eventually signed a writing deal with Big Picture Music and, after a few years, received a recording offer with The Valory Music Co.  In 2008, Moore toured with some of country music’s biggest stars (most of whom are BCYF alum), including Trace Adkins, Brooks & Dunn and Luke Bryan.  In 2009 and 2010, Moore toured alongside Brad Paisley.
Moore was nominated for Music Row Magazine’s Breakthrough Artist of 2010.  His hometown anthem “Small Town USA” earned a #1 single status in 2009.  He followed this up by earning a top 5 hit “Backwoods.”  Moore’s live band show is high energy, non-stop, rockin’ country, where his songs tell the truth about a kid from a small town who’s doing all he ever wanted to do – play country music.

Bret Michaels
Michaels, a cultural icon, does more jobs in a single day than most people do in an entire lifetime, including rock star, reality star, spokesperson, businessman and philanthropist.  Michaels first rose to fame as the front man of Poison in the 1980s.  Since then, Poison has achieved massive success selling more than 25 million records worldwide.  Michaels’ solo career has been equally successful; his most recent solo album, “Custom Built,” topped the charts, reaching #1 on hard rock charts.
As a reality TV star, Michael’s “Rock of Love” series on VH1 is one of the most successful in VH1’s history.  He went head to head with some of the brightest minds in business on Donald Trump’s NBC hit “Celebrity Apprentice.”  He “Trumped” the competition with his Trop-A-Rocka Snapple, drink which proved to be so successful fans rallied to continue its distribution and it is now a permanent offering by Snapple.  As a philanthropist, Michaels continues to give.
In 2010, he partnered with an association close to his heart, the American Diabetes Association.  As a lifelong diabetic, Michaels acts as a spokesperson and sponsor for the disease and raises money for diabetes research.  He recently partnered with legendary guitar company, Dean Guitars, to design his first signature Bret Michaels series.
Michaels is also involved in extreme sports.  He recently created the first annual Bret Michaels Rock Hard, Ride Hard Award for supercross – a cash prize for the toughest and most tenacious supercross rider of the season.

New event
The supercross race will be a points race in the “My Auto Michigan State Fair Supercross Series.”  Fans are likely to see a mix of local riders in the amateur series.  This event will be general admission and gates will open for warm-up at 5 p.m.
The rest of the BCYF Grandstand lineup includes the tradition