Country Concerts Within Driving Distance in August

August will be a good month for country music fans, as several of the top names in the genre will be appearing within driving distance of our area.

The month will kick off with an August 1 Keith Urban concert at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in St. Louis. Urban is appearing as part of this year's Country Megaticket. Jerrod Niemann and Brett Eldredge will open.

Here's a blast from the past. Diamond Rio, a group with a total of 32 chart hits and over 10 million albums sold, will be at the Shawnee Bluff Vineyard in Eldon, Missouri, also on August 1. We actually were just talking about Diamond Rio in the office the other day, when we were discussing country stars we'd love to see make a huge comeback.

The State Fairs are also coming up in August. In Springfield, the Illinois State Fair, Missouri State Fair, and Iowa State Fair are all taking place August 7 - 17. Each fair has Florida Georgia Line appearing, and each fair has also booked Jake Owen. Sara Evans and Joe Nichols will be at the Missouri State Fair, The Illinois State Fair will have 'American Idols Live,' and Lady Antebellum will be at the Iowa State Fair.

The Sangamon Auditorium in Springfield will host Willie Nelson on August 12. This is a rescheduled date from the concert Willie was to perform last September.

The Washington Town and Country Fair has booked some pretty big country music stars for their stage, including Trace Adkins, David Nail and Easton Corbin. The fair is August 6 - 10.

Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line and Tyler Farr are all appearing together on the Burn it Down Tour, which will come through St. Louis on August 22 - 23 at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater.