T. Graham Brown, Candy Coburn announced as final entertainers for NIBROC

T. Graham Brown, left, and Candy Coburn will play the opening night of the NIBROC Festival in Corbin Thursday.

The final musical entertainment has been booked for the next week’s NIBROC Festival in Corbin, and the principal organizer of the event said there should be something for everyone to like this year.

NIBROC 2012 will kick off next Thursday with the return T. Graham Brown, who first played at the festival in 1982, and returned six years later. This is his third go-round at NIBROC.

Up and coming country star Candy Coburn will warm up the crowd as the first musician to take the main stage as the festival’s opening act.

Bruce Carpenter, Executive Director of the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and principal organizer of NIBROC, said this year’s musical lineup may be one of the strongest in the festival’s 60-year history.

"We are starting out with a great Thursday night. T. Graham Brown was the very first act I booked when we started the entertainment 29 years ago. At the time, he drew the largest crowd we’d ever had. He probably still ranks in the top 10 or 12 as far as crowds," Carpenter said. "Candy Coburn is and up-and-coming country start … I think she will surprise a lot of people by the show she puts on. I would high recommend anyone who loves music to come down to the festival Thursday night for both shows. I think you will see a great entertainer in the opening act as well as the headliner."

Brown, a native of Athens, GA, first arrived in Nashville in 1982 and found work as a studio singer. He was quickly signed to Capitol Records. His first single release, "I Tell It Like It Used To Be" became a hit as did the follow ups "Hell And High Water," "Come As You Were" and "Darlene." Brown and his incredible band, affectionately known as the Rack Of Spam, hit the road and haven’t looked back since. And the hits kept on coming.

"Brilliant Conversationalist" not only scored on the country charts but its accompanying video garnered airplay on VH-1. His version of Otis Redding’s "Dock Of The Bay" became a hit in Germany while "Rock It, Billy" was a success in England. He was nominated for Country Music Association Awards in 1987, 1989 and1990 and won in 1992 for the Vocal Event of the Year with George Jones and others on "I Don’t Need Your Rocking chair."

In 1998, T. Grahm Brown’s single "Wine Into Water" not only inspired the lives of countless individuals but went all the way to the top of the Christian Country Music chart and was awarded the number one independent music video of the year.

T. Graham Brown’s latest release "The Next Right Thing" was rated top 5 country CD by the USA Today and The Chicago Tribune rated it the No. 1 Country CD of the year. T. Graham Brown’s "Live At Billy Bobs" has just hit the streets and is also getting rave reviews.

Coburn brings a high energy, country and rock mix as Brown’s opening act. She is a Kentucky native who was raised in Missouri.

Her latest single, "Don’t Walk Away (Radio Version)," was released to radio beginning January 2012.  Written by Candy, her guitarist Josh Carroll, and friend Josh Long, the ballad was chosen for release due to its popularity with audiences across the country since its introduction to the set list of the live show soon after it was written.

Concerts on NIBROC’s main stage will begin about 7:30 p.m. and are free and open to the public, with the exception of STYX on Friday night. Since there is no opening act, that show will start at 9:00 p.m.

Coburn and Brown will be followed Friday night by the biggest act of the festival, rock legends STYX. Starship featuring Mickey Thomas and Celebrate with Peter Rivera will close out the festival next Saturday.