Rachel Platten fights the good fight at DuPage County Fair
The performing artists at the DuPage County Fair may represent different genres, but they all have a fighting spirit.
Pop star Rachel Platten set that tone during a well-attended concert Friday night at the Wheaton fairgrounds. Her hit anthem, "Fight Song," has resonated with everyone from cancer patients to politicians on the campaign trail.
And as main-stage headliner Friday, Platten unleashed the inspiring lyrics: "Starting right now I'll be strong/I'll play my fight song/And I don't really care if nobody else believes/'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me."
Then on Saturday night, country singer-songwriter David Nail will take the stage with music from his most recent album, "Fighter," a personal reflection on struggles in his marriage and career.
Finally, Boots 'n Britches, the two crooners in the fair's "Ag-Ventureland" tent, are fighting another kind of mission.
"Bringing law and order to the world of music," said Bob Barkwill, who strums the bass as "Deputy Boots" in the two-man act. "We're here to stamp out rap."
And as such, Barkwill and his right-hand man, Rod Cathcart, aka "Sheriff Britches," cover country classics from Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and George Jones.
The backdrop for their show is a 1923, 1-ton camper with a potbelly stove and a sign warning their audience not to use the outhouse. The pair from Williams Bay, Wisconsin, haul the restored camper on a flatbed trailer while they're on the road touring for 10 months out of the year.
"We get a lot of howdies, and a lot of people beep behind us." Barkwill said. "We're like the 'Beverly Hillbillies.' Truckers, everybody gets a kick out of it."