The deep voice of country singer Craig Morgan echoed through the Freeborn County Fair during his grandstand show Wednesday night.

Morgan played such hits as “That’s What I Love about Sunday,” “Almost Home” and “Redneck Yacht Club.” He got the crowd roaring by displaying his pride to be country.

“How many of you are country people?” he asked, to which the crowd cheered.

Most of the 7,000 seats were full of country fans excited to watch Morgan and his band, half of which were from Minnesota.

During the song “I’m Country” he introduced his band. The electric guitarist, who used to play with the Dixie Chicks, is from St. Paul. The bass guitarist is from Minneapolis. The fiddler, who used to play with Michael Jackson, was from California. The drummer is from Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The keyboardist was a hometown boy, Morgan said, and is actually from Albert Lea.

After the band introductions, Morgan continued with “I’m Country,” singing lyrics about getting his kicks from living in the sticks and asking the crowd who had been cow tipping.

The crowd cheered again.

Morgan said he toured the city during the day and he was impressed with its amenities. He is from a small town and assured the crowd that Albert Lea was not a small town.

Just before he played “My Kind of Woman,” Morgan asked if there were any country girls in the crowd. Country pride was definitely the theme of the night, and the audience ate it up.

Many of Morgan’s songs had an underlying theme of men serving their country. He served 10 years on active duty.

Most of the concert was upbeat and had children dancing in the aisles and adults swaying in their seats. The new concert setup at the Fairgrounds does not allow for any standing room, so concert-goers enjoyed the music from their seats.

In addition to playing crowd favorites and songs that were popular on the radio, Morgan played a few songs from his new CD, “Little Bit of Life,” due out in October.

The evening setting, crowd setup and light display made for an exciting and invigorating show.