The Hanson Memorial Free Stage at the 2021 Polk County Fair will feature a great lineup throughout the weekend. You won’t want to miss two acts that will feature Hall of Fame Entertainer Sherwin Linton with performances Friday at 1:00 p.m., 2:15 p.m., and 3:30 p.m., along with Duely Noted (Dueling Pianos) performing Saturday at 7:00 p.m. and 8:15 p.m.
SHERWIN LINTON
Linton has been inducted into 12 different Hall of Fames, most being music or entertainment. He said his love for both started at a young age. “Even when I was six years old, I made my first guitar by using a cigar box and taping ruler on it and then running some rubber bands across it to make it look like a guitar,” said Linton. “I continued from that, and by the time I was fifteen, I had my first electric guitar.”
Linton first performed at the Polk County Fair back in 1972 and has been performing on numerous different stages over the course of his career. He has a background in radio and went to Brown University to study the field. He started a band in Minneapolis, and they started touring around, traveling everywhere from the Midwest to out East to kickstart his career.
Linton plays all kinds of music, with his biggest being traditional country, and he says that his three shows at the Polk County Fair will all have a different theme. “We will open with a classic country show that will feature a lot of older classic songs,” said Linton. “The second show will be classic 50’s rock and roll show opening up with “Rock Around the Clock,” and will include Elvis, Chuck Berry songs, and much more. In the third show, we will do a tribute to Johnny Cash.”
Linton was a friend of Johnny Cash and even appeared on his show many times. He even recorded a live tribute album to Johnny Cash called “Hello I’m not Johnny Cash.” All three shows will include something for all music lovers who won’t want to miss this chance to see Linton in person.
DUELY NOTED
Duely Noted features Cassondra Ruprecht and Jacy Smith and will perform twice on Saturday night. Jacy will not be with on the trip as she is pregnant with a due date the night of their performance, but Ruprecht has assured that their replacement is fantastic and up to the task.
Duely Noted was established in 2016 and resides out of the Twin Cities. Ruprecht says she has always been into piano and enjoyed playing. “I was always really into piano and wanted to teach myself the art of taking requests during shows,” said Ruprecht. “I really started to buckle down and start teaching myself different songs, roped Jacy into it, and went from there.”
The duo has always wanted to stand out from the rest of the performing groups. “We’ve always said what can we do to be different from all the other female singers in the Twin Cities,” said Ruprecht. “It turned into this really fun interactive show; we love getting the crowd involved by taking text message requests, we play around with people and make them feel a part of the show.”
This is the first time Duely Noted will be playing at the Polk County Fair, but they’ve done numerous fairs over the Midwest and in Idaho. Ruprecht is happy to be playing at this years’ fair now that things are opening back up. “Our agent Tim Stevens found us this gig and we’re just excited to be playing now that things are back open after COVID-19.”
The fair runs through Sunday, July 11, and for a full list of events, you can head over to https://www.polkcountyfairfertilemn.com/.
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