By Donna Thornton/News Editor
The City of Southside is preparing for City Fest – an afternoon and evening of fun, food, crafts, games and music on the grounds of Southside High School July 20.
It’s will be the seventh City Fest, and the third year that Southside’s own Kate Falcon has been a performer at the festival.
The headliner for the show is country artist Mark Chesnutt. Stereo Revival will kick off entertainment at 2 p.m., followed by The Leverton Brothers at 3 p.m., Ballyhoo at 4:15 p.m., Kate Falcon at 5:30 p.m. and Buck Wild at 7 p.m. Mark Chesnutt is scheduled to take the stage at 8:30 pm. The festival also features vendors, childrens activities and food.
“I continue to be very excited about the opportunity to perform in my hometown,” Falcon said. “Three years ago I was just starting out after having had the chance to open for Travis Tritt. Mayor Wally Burns and the City of Southside gave me an incredible opportunity to be able to showcase my talent and do so in my own community.”
“Since then, I have continued to feel very blessed to be able to return each year moving further down in the lineup each year,” Falcon said.
“One of the things I feel strongly about is that it is very important to always remember where you come from and remember the people that have helped get you to where you are in your career. I truly believe that the support of this entire community has helped give me the momentum I need to go forward in pursuing a country music career.
Falcon has continued to grow as a performer, and to perform for growing crowd. The rising 9th-grader performed at Riverfest last month.
This year finds Falcon performing not only her favorite past and current country hits, but also a couple of her own songs – the first single, “I Can,” is available on iTunes, Amazon and other music download sites. Falcon’s song is currently #41 on the independent country music artist Chart.
And Falcon said she will be performing her new single and future release, “Cry Myself Awake.”
The new single was written by two amazing Grammy award winning songwriters, Josh Kear and Ed Hill, Falcon said. Both have penned songs for artists such as Carrie Underwood, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Reba, Lady Antebellum and Luke Bryan as well as many others.
“I really love this song and can’t wait for the fans to hear it in a live setting,” Falcon added.
“I am planning to continue working on developing new songs during the next few months and focused on bookings for 2014 with my band. My band members are Mark Scott (lead guitar), Kevin Dodd (bass guitar), Jeffrey Freeman (drums) Butch Dixon (steel guitar) and Craig Edwards (piano),” Falcon said.
“They are very dedicated and have been instrumental in helping me develop an amazing set list. I am also in the process of working on corporate sponsorships for the future.
“I can’t wait to see what the future holds but I do know that I will continue to work very hard and be grateful for the many opportunities that I have been given to me. I truly appreciate all of the support of my fans.
Admission is free for all the entertainment Cityfest has to offer. Activities and performances begin and 2 p.m. and are expected to wrap up at 10 p.m.
For more information about Cityfest, visit www.cityofsouthside.com.
For further information about Falcon and her music, visit www.katefalcon.com, and follow her on Twitter at @katefalconmusic or facebook.