Idol Chatter & Voice Views

Josh Gracin’s season of American Idol was seven long years ago.

But fans of the show remember.

Boy, do they remember.

Fans like Judy Warner, 44, of McSherrystown, who arrived at the York Fair’s Faire Vue Cafe at 1 p.m. Wednesday for his 8 p.m. show, just so she’d be assured of sitting in front when Gracin took the stage.

“I’ve followed him since Idol,” she said, interrupting her interview to scoot her seat closer to the stage when late arrivals threatened her unobscured view. “His voice is very distinctive.”

Kathy Wolfe, 56, of Hanover, beat Warner to the cafe by an hour. That’s right, she arrived at noon; it was her second Josh Gracin concert.

“The fact that he was a Marine is pretty cool. And his voice is very good. He should have won that year (Idol season two).”

For those who don’t remember, Ruben Studdard prevailed that year; Gracin finished fourth.

Karen Emenheiser, 62, of Hanover, had a front-row seat, too. And she’d waited quite a while to see Gracin perform live.

A couple of years ago, she had tickets to see him open for another country star — she thinks it was Trace Adkins — on the York Fair Grandstand.

She recalls that Gracin had to pull out of the concert. She thinks it was because a hurricane hit Texas and messed up his travel plans.

Whatever the reason, once she found out Gracin wasn’t performing, she requested her money back.

“I first saw him on Idol,” she said. “He’s got a good voice. And he’s nice to look at, too.”

Performing an acoustic set while accompanied by guitarists Loren Ellis and Jack Campbell, Gracin treated York Fair fans to an 11-song show that lasted a little more than an hour.

His set included all of his top 10 country hits — “Brass Bed,” “I Want to Live,” “Nothing to Lose” and “We Weren’t Crazy.”

And it included a sampling of songs from his new album “Redemption” that he plans to release later this year. Like “Get Back to Us,” “Over Me,” “Lie to Me” and “Cover Girl,” his current single.

In an interview last week, Gracin promised an edge to his new music. He displayed that edge with a cover of Tom Petty’s “Free Falling.”

And the original tune, “Why’d She Have to Kill My Dog,” was just one of many lighter moments during his set. Gracin didn’t say whether or not it would be featured on the upcoming album.

Not all the fans in the packed Fair Vue Cafe learned of Gracin through Idol.

After all, before Carrie Underwood, before Kellie Pickler, he was the first former Idol contestant to enjoy breakout success as a country artist.

Jennifer Frank, 30, of Dover, said she became a Gracin fan from hearing his hits on the radio.

“He’s got a smooth country style,” she said. “His looks don’t hurt either.”

Frank was attending the Lady Antbellum concert at the fair Friday night when she heard the news that Gracin would be playing a free show (with the cost of fair admission) on Wednesday.

“Which I thought was really cool,” she said. “So it’s another night at the fair.”

So, was waiting seven hours for a Josh Gracin show worth it?

Absolutely, according to Warner.

“Some of those new songs are great,” she said, waiting near the front a line after the show, hoping for a chance to meet Gracin. “I can’t wait for the album to come out.”

Editor’s Note: If you want to hear Gracin’s new single, go here. He has a three-song EP available for free from his website. And, if you want to check out Idol Chatter’s pre-concert interview with him, head here.

Wednesday’s concert was one in a weeklong series of free country shows brought to fair fans courtesy of radio station WGTY 107.7; Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. show features Laura Bell Bundy of “Giddy On Up” fame. Go here for a story on all the shows.

Anyway, enough words. On with what the gals want to see. More photos of Josh from Wednesday’s performance at the fair.

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