Photo by Bill Green Country music star Aaron Tippin entertains fans at Thursday night's concert with Mark Chesnutt and Lorrie Morgan at The Great Frederick Fair.

Judy Kinna, 63, of Jefferson , came to hear Morgan.

"I've always liked her," she said. "She has an authentic country voice."

And rightly so. Morgan is the daughter of the late Grand Ole Opry star George Morgan and said she and her siblings literally grew up in the wings of the Opry stage. Her first performance was at the age of 13 at the Opry.

Bonny Stotler, 48, of Keedysville, said she's a fan of all three artists, but mostly Morgan and Tippin.

Her friend, Cindy Paradise of Sharpsburg, said she has been a Tippin fan since his release of "Where the Eagles Fly," post Sept. 11. A post-Sept. 11 song by Toby Keith turned her on to country, but when she heard Tippin's song she rushed out and bought the album.

"My son's in the Army Guard and I believe in America," said Paradise, 49.

Dale Haller and his wife, Bonnie, are traditional country music fans.

"I like Mark Chesnutt's 'Too Cold at Home,'" Dale said.

"I just like country music," said 71-year-old Jim Brewer of Mount Airy , who attended the concert with his wife, Pearl, 63.

"We try to go to one or two shows a year," said Pearl -- something they've done for about 30 years.

Gloria and Chester Smith, 52 and 63, respectively, have been to just about every country concert at the fair for the past five years.

"I like their music," Gloria said of Thursday night's lineup. "We live too far from Nashville, so we come to the fair to see country performers."

Morgan took the stage first, belting out a few of the biggest hits of her career, "Watch Me," "What Part of No" and "Except for Monday."

The singer will be in the studio next week to record a new album and tried out a few of those songs -- all of which she wrote or co-wrote. She performed her favorite from the new album, which she said was also the most depressing. "Mirror Mirror" is a melancholy song about loneliness and sadness. All the songs, she said, were written from her life experiences.

She closed her segment of the concert with "Something in Red," which brought applause and whistles from the crowd with the first few notes.

After a 20-minute stage change, Tippin rocked the crowd with the first release from his latest album, "Ready to Rock (In a Country Kind of Way)," which includes the singer's trademark country yodel. The album, titled "Now and Then," is the first release on his label, Nippit.

Tippin danced and flexed his biceps in "Honky Tonk Superman," a fun song that goes back to his earlier days. He performed songs that were tributes to his late father, "I Got it Honest" and "He Believed," a song he co-wrote with his wife, Thea.

He paid tribute to the military with the song that kicked off his career in 1990, when he was invited to perform for troops in Saudi Arabia with Bob Hope. Tippin said every time he meets a veteran at his concert he takes the time to tell him or her, "Welcome home. Job well done and thank you for my freedom." He's performed overseas for U.S. troops several times and said he will be heading to Iraq over Thanksgiving.

"I wouldn't have all those memories if it wasn't for one little song," said Tippin, before breaking into "You Gotta Stand for Something (Or You'll Fall For Anything)."

By 9 p.m., Beaumont, Texas native, Mark Chesnutt had not taken the stage. His hits include "Bubba Shot the Jukebox," "Almost Goodbye" and "Brother Jukebox." His latest release is "Rollin' With the Flow," which debuted at No. 49 on the country music charts.