Jimmie Allen at the Mississippi Valley Fair -- August 4.
Thursday, August 4, 8 p.m.
Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 West Locust Street, Davenport IA
Currently earning raves for his June release Tulip Drive – an album whose song list boasts, according to Entertainment Focus, “absolute classics destined to win over the hearts and minds of radio listeners and music fans” – chart-topping country star Jimmie Allen headlines an August 4 grandstand concert at the 2022 Mississippi Valley Fair, the singer/songwriter's plaudits including last year's Country Music Association Award for New Artist of the Year.
A Nashville resident born in Delaware in 1985, Allen signed a publishing deal with Wide Open Music, a songwriting imprint formed by singer-songwriter Ash Bowers, in 2016. After doing a talent showcase for representatives of Broken Bow Records in early 2017, he was signed to that label's Stoney Creek imprint and released his self-titled debut EP, with Broken Bow's executive vice president saying that the decision to sign Allen was one of the fastest they ever made at the label. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic.com compared the EP's sound to the "slick, assured style" of Thomas Rhett and Sam Hunt, while Rolling Stone's Brittney McKenna comparing Allen's contemporary R&B influences to those artists and Maren Morris. A track from the Jimmie Allen EP, "Blue Jean Baby," was also added to Spotify's "United States Viral 50 chart."
Allen's first official single "Best Shot" was released in early 2018, and the week of its debut, it was the second-most-added song to country-music radio playlists. The song made the Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, and Billboard Hot 100 charts, and Allen's debut album Mercury Lane was issued in October of 2018. The following month, "Best Shot" hit number one on Billboard Country Airplay, making Allen the first Black artist to send his debut single to the top of that chart. Mercury Lane's second single "Make Me Want To" also became a chart-topping Billboard Country Airplay chart, while in 2020, Allen released "This Is Us," a duet with Noah Cyrus. It was included on the singer/songwriter's 2020 EP Bettie James, and the project's second single was "Freedom Was a Highway," a duet with Brad Paisley that became Allen's third number-one smash and Paisley's 20th on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
In 2021, Allen became the first Black solo performer to win New Male Artist of the Year at the 2021 ACM Awards, and last September, the country star was announced as one of the celebrities competing on season 30 of Dancing with the Stars, with he and partner Emma Slater ultimately placing seventh. Last November, Allen also won New Artist of the Year at the CMA Awards – with the ceremony held 15 days before he performed at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade – and this past February, Allen announced that he would be a guest mentor on season 20 of American Idol.
Jimmie Allen performs his Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds set at 8 p.m. on August 4, and $80-100 MVF Fun Cards are required for admittance into any and all Grandstand concerts this summer. For more information on the concert and the Mississippi Valley Fair, call (563)326-5338 and visit MVFair.com.
