County music performer Brad Paisley sings during the State Dinner with President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Kenya's President William Ruto and first lady Rachel Ruto at the White House, Thursday, May 23, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

CANFIELD — Brad Paisley and Lynyrd Skynyrd will be the grandstand concerts for this year’s Canfield Fair.

Paisley will perform Aug. 31 at the fair and Lynyrd Skynyrd will close out the 179th fair with a grandstand concert on Labor Day.

The fair board works with JAC Live in booking entertainment during the fair. Ken Bigley, COO for JAC Live, said after experimenting with comedy, R&B and other genres in recent years, this year’s lineup features two acts that have played the fair before and represent genres that have been popular with fairgoers in the past — country and classic / Southern rock.

Paisley is “an icon,” Bigley said. “We had been looking to try to get him back in the market for quite some time because he was a crowd favorite when he played the fair and when he played Covelli, and his just style of music resonates here.”

Paisley’s stage will definitely be bigger than his first Canfield Fair appearance.

According to fair board President Dave Mannion, “24 years ago in 2001, Brad Paisley, with just a two-year-old record contract, played the Canfield Fair on a portable stage in front of a blue tarp. I can guarantee you that is not the same experience our fairgoers will experience this year.”

The following year, Paisley played Stambaugh Auditorium. He played the grandstand at the Canfield Fair in 2005 and he headlined the Covelli Centre in 2015.

He also performed locally in 2008, when ABC’s “Good Morning America” did a whistle-stop train tour and broadcast its show from Gustavus.

Paisley has won three Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, 15 Academy of Country Music Awards and 14 Country Music Association Awards, including being named Entertainer of the Year in 2010. His songs have been streamed nearly 4 billion times.

Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd have an even longer history in the Mahoning Valley. The band has played the Canfield Fairgrounds Grandstand before, headlined the Covelli Centre and played outdoor festivals at Yankee Lake.

The original lineup appeared at Packard Music Hall in 1974, three years before the plane crash that killed lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitar player Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines.

Known for such songs as “Free Bird,” “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Gimme Three Steps,” Lynyrd Skynyrd was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006 and was included on Rolling Stone’s list of the Top 100 Bands of All Time.

“The last two times I’ve seen them, it’s just been unbelievable, how long (the show was) and the intensity they play with,” Bigley said.

Van Zant’s brother, Johnny Van Zant, who has been singing with Lynyrd Skynyrd since the band reformed in 1987, and Rickey Medlocke, who was a member of the band in the mid-’70s before leaving to start his own band, Blackfoot, continue the group’s legacy.

Lady A originally was announced last December as one of the Canfield Fair headliners, but the band canceled its summer touring plans after singer Hillary Scott revealed she was pregnant in February.

Tickets for Brad Paisley range from $39.50 to $125 (plus applicable fees) and tickets for Lynyrd Skynyrd range from $50.50 to $126 (plus applicable fees).

Both shows go on sale 10 a.m. Friday only through Ticketmaster. Tickets won’t be sold at the fairgrounds box office until later this summer.

An online presale runs 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday with the password: ROOSTER.