Crystal Bernard Featured At Country Music Fest

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Dan Spalding, Times-Union Staff Writer-

Rising artists with varied backgrounds will highlight Saturday's annual Country Music Harvest Festival.

Instead of local or regional talent, the festival this year will feature up-and-coming national talent.

Crystal Bernard, who rose to prominence as a co-star on the TV sitcom "Wings," is in the midst of expanding a music career that has labored in the shadows of her Hollywood career.

Bernard will headline the show with support from The Ranch, an Australian country band, and Diamond Back, which performed last year under the name Clearwater.

Instead of being a day-long festival, this year's event will begin at 6 p.m. in Central Park and will not include arts and crafts booths.

Bernard, who's released a CD and video and will host CMT's Labor Day weekend video countdown program will surely showcase her single, "Have We Forgotten What Love Is," which she co-wrote with Billy Dean.

Bernard is as much a songwriter and singer as she is an actress.

She co-wrote five of the songs on her CD, "The Girl Next Door,' and has seen her songs recorded by Paula Abdul, Lisa Stansfield, Tracie Spencer, and Debbie and Angie Winans.

Her singing career gained momentum through efforts to pitch songs to Peter Cetera, former lead singer of the pop group Chicago. When Cetera listened to the demos, Bernard's voice stood out as much as the lyrics and Cetera asked about the voice.

The interest led to a duet for the two and a recording contract for Bernard. Bernard then took it a step forward by directing the video for the duet, '(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight.'

Meanwhile, The Ranch has been building a base of support since arriving in the United States from Australia about five years ago. The band has gained some exposure with the song "Walkin' The Country," which has been heard on country music video stations and will be released as a radio single in mid September from the self-titled debut CD.

Among those sponsoring the free concert are Owen's Supermarkets, Biomet, Rabb Water and Whatz Up. Despite the change in this year's format, some food and novelty booths will be included.

In case of rain, the festival will be moved to Warsaw Community High School. [[In-content Ad]]

Rising artists with varied backgrounds will highlight Saturday's annual Country Music Harvest Festival.

Instead of local or regional talent, the festival this year will feature up-and-coming national talent.

Crystal Bernard, who rose to prominence as a co-star on the TV sitcom "Wings," is in the midst of expanding a music career that has labored in the shadows of her Hollywood career.

Bernard will headline the show with support from The Ranch, an Australian country band, and Diamond Back, which performed last year under the name Clearwater.

Instead of being a day-long festival, this year's event will begin at 6 p.m. in Central Park and will not include arts and crafts booths.

Bernard, who's released a CD and video and will host CMT's Labor Day weekend video countdown program will surely showcase her single, "Have We Forgotten What Love Is," which she co-wrote with Billy Dean.

Bernard is as much a songwriter and singer as she is an actress.

She co-wrote five of the songs on her CD, "The Girl Next Door,' and has seen her songs recorded by Paula Abdul, Lisa Stansfield, Tracie Spencer, and Debbie and Angie Winans.

Her singing career gained momentum through efforts to pitch songs to Peter Cetera, former lead singer of the pop group Chicago. When Cetera listened to the demos, Bernard's voice stood out as much as the lyrics and Cetera asked about the voice.

The interest led to a duet for the two and a recording contract for Bernard. Bernard then took it a step forward by directing the video for the duet, '(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight.'

Meanwhile, The Ranch has been building a base of support since arriving in the United States from Australia about five years ago. The band has gained some exposure with the song "Walkin' The Country," which has been heard on country music video stations and will be released as a radio single in mid September from the self-titled debut CD.

Among those sponsoring the free concert are Owen's Supermarkets, Biomet, Rabb Water and Whatz Up. Despite the change in this year's format, some food and novelty booths will be included.

In case of rain, the festival will be moved to Warsaw Community High School. [[In-content Ad]]

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