“Country Pride, County Wide” is the theme of the 2023 Lea County Fair and PRCA Rodeo. Celebrating its 87th year, the nine-day celebration is slated for August 4 – 12. Known as the best and largest county fair in the state of New Mexico and attended by more than 60,000 individuals, the event offers something for everyone.

In addition to the PRCA Championship Rodeo, Xtreme Bull Riding and the livestock show, 2023’s venue includes the annual parade, Wright’s Amusement Carnival, the fiddler’s competition and a week of concerts. Great food, the flower show, the arts and crafts showcase, farm and garden exhibits and commercial vendors round out the event.

This year’s impressive list (PDF) of concert series headliners was announced and unanimously approved at a cost of over $900,000 to the county by Lea County commissioners at their May 25 regular meeting. This year’s lineup offers diverse entertainment choices for all to enjoy.

Hispanic Heritage Celebration – August 4

The 2023 concert series kicks-off on Hispanic Heritage Celebration night, Friday, August 4 with two bands entertaining – The Mexican Norteño group Los Invasores de Nuevo Leon, created in 1977, and Los Rieleros del Norte.

Los Invasores de Nuevo Leon experienced great success “on both sides of the Texas-Mexico border during the 1980s and 1990s.” According to a review posted at SongKick.com, the group is composed of “rare talents”, and “many of their songs [like Amor a la Ligera, Eslabón por Eslabón and Mi Casa Nueva] have remained timeless cultural staples and are part of the reason that their shows are always sold-out smashes.”

Nominated three times for a Grammy and now residing in El Paso, Texas, Los Rieleros del Norte (“The Railers of the North”) is one of the oldest Mexican Norteño bands. Originally from Ojinaga, Chihuahua, Mexico, the band’s genre is Norteño-Sax with accordian. Los Rieleros del Norte’s “hybrid sound” was “fresh” at the time of the group’s inception and “still sounds wonderful today,” states one Songkick.com reviewer.

Wade Bowen – August 8

Singer/songwriter Wade Bowen takes the main stage on Tuesday, August 8. A “Red Dirt” singer from Waco, Texas, Bowen released in 2002 his first album Try Not To Listen – “a regional hit in Texas”. According to information noted at Wikipedia, Bowen “started a web series of live shows called Wade’s World” during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the series he “hosted other prominent Texas musicians [including Bruce Robison, Cody Canada and Jack Ingram] to play and tell stories about their songs every Friday night.”

For King and Country – Family Night, August 9 

For King and Country, formerly known as Joel and Luke, is the progressive, Christian pop duo to be featured at this year’s Family Night concert on Wednesday, August 9. 

Brothers “Joel and Luke Smallbone know how to spin a cocoon of sound that envelopes the listener, lace words of truth and use their voices to lift and inspire,” states information about the brothers on their website. “Quadruple GRAMMY®-winning” and “progressive pop artist-songwriters”, the Smallbone brothers understand “… what music can do, as a positive and emotional force in people’s lives….”

Joel and Luke immigrated to the U. S. from Australia as youngsters, settling in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2012, they were named by Billboard as “One of the New Artists to Watch”. Music news source American Songwriter has described the pair as “Australia’s answer to Coldplay”.

With albums and singles achieving both gold and platinum status, the duo has collaborated with well-known artists Dolly Parton, Timbaland, Tori Kelly, Lecrae, Needtobreathe. At the May 25 county commissioners meeting, District 4 commissioner Jonathan Sena expressed his special gratitude that For King and Country has been secured as the 2023 Family Night headliner.

The Frontmen – August 10

“The Frontmen Of Country features three singers who were THE voices of three of the top Country bands of the 90’s: Larry Stewart of Restless Heart, Tim Rushlow, formerly of Little Texas and Richie McDonald of Lonestar,” states The Grand Ole Opry website. Collectively Stewart, Rushlow and McDonald have “sold over 30 million records and had over 30 major hits between them.” The three “deliver a high energy show packed with fan-favorites” and “a truly one-of-a-kind concert experience.”

Tracy Lawrence – August 11

Country singer/songwriter/record producer Tracy Lee Lawrence was born in Atlanta, Texas in 1968. After spending his early years in Foreman, Arkansas, his performing career started when he moved to Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 15. In 1991, Lawrence signed with Atlantic Records Nashville and debuted his first album Sticks and Stones. He stayed with Atlantic until the label’s county division closed in 2001 and has since recorded for “…Warner Bros. Records, DreamWorks Records, Mercury Records Nashville, and his own labels, Rocky Comfort Records and Lawrence Music Group,” states information posted about him at Wikipedia. Lawrence’s style is “neotraditional” country and honky-tonk. In 1992 and in 1993 he was named “Top New Male Vocalist” by Billboard and by the Academy of Country Music, respectively. In 2007, the Country Music Association named him as the “Vocal Event of the Year”.

Alabama – August 12

Alabama is almost a household name and one of America’s country music greats. What better ending could have been contracted by the Lea County Fair and Rodeo Board to wrap up the 2023 concert series! Most famous in the 1980s, the group disbanded in 2004 and reunited in 2010, continuing ever since to “record and tour worldwide”. With over 41 number one country records on Billboard’s chart, Alabama has sold over 75 million records. According to Wikipedia, Alabama is the “most successful band in country music history.” In 2019 the band was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum. Alabama has the accolade of receiving from the Hall of Fame its first ever Lifetime Achievement Award. Radio broadcaster Gwen from Midland’s Lonestar 92.3 says it all. “I am so excited, it has been decades since Alabama has publicly played a show around here.”

Make your plans early. Sellout concerts are predicted. Tickets will be available online for all 2023 Lea County Fair and PRCA Rodeo events.