SPRINGFIELD – The one-and-only Crystal Gayle will perform 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 at the Clark State Performing Arts Center, Kuss Auditorium, in downtown Springfield as the second of three concerts in the Jeff Wyler/Clark State Country Artist Series.  

“Before country was ‘cool,’ Crystal was ‘class’…”  Never has one reviewer captured a platinum clad, Grammy Award winning career so beautifully.  

The blue eyed beauty from the Appalachian coal mining town of Paintsville, Kentucky would never again linger in the shadow of being Loretta Lynn’s baby sister.  Drop dead beautiful and dressed in designer threads, Crystal took country music to town on her arm in the ‘70s and introduced it to mainstream audiences.  Her warm, resonant vocal styling, individual as a fingerprint, captured the imagination and attention of audiences not usually tuned in and turned on by country music.  There was an undeniable sophistication and a beguiling charm about her look and her voice that was a memorable imprint on every listener.

Her many hits include “Cry Me a River,” “Sentimental Journey,” “It Had to be You,” “Smile,” and her signature song “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue.”  Her hit list of platinum and gold record sales was to be matched only by her awards and accolades.

She received CMA’s “Female Vocalist of the Year,” for two consecutive years and she became a Grammy Award Winner for “Best Female Vocal Performance,” thanks to her beloved “Brown Eyes” – a song that she today admits she has never grown tired of singing.  Crystal swept the Academy of Country Music Awards for three of their “Top Female Vocalist” statuettes.  As her music and her career path widened to mainstream audiences—so did her accolades.  She is the recipient of three “American Music Awards” –voted by the nation as America’s “Favorite Female Artist.”

Tickets for Crystal Gayle are $30 for adults, $24 for seniors and $20 for students and special rates are available for groups of 15 or more. Call the Ticket Office at (937) 328-3874 or toll free at 1-866-PAC-TKTS.  Ticket Office hours are 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and two hours prior to the performance.  Tickets are also available online at pac.clarkstate.edu.