Singer brings Faith to Blue Hill Fair

She’s one of the fastest-rising stars in country music, but it was a very down-to-earth Faith Hill who won over the large crowd at the Blue Hill Fair Monday night.

“There’s a lot of ya,” the seemingly flattered Hill said in her Southern accent soon after taking the outdoor stage and witnessing the packed grandstand and shoulder-to-shoulder audience standing in front of the stage. “I feel very welcome at Blue Hill,” she added.

During the nearly 1 1/2-hour performance it became evident why the spunky 27-year-old singer from Star, Miss., had drawn such a crowd to the Labor Day concert.

With her strong vocal range and backed up by her seven-member band, Hill belted out nearly all of the country music hits that have skyrocketed her to fame in less than two years. These songs included her up-tempo No. 1 singles “Wild One” and “Take Me As I Am,” and her cover of the Janis Joplin tune “Piece of My Heart,” which Hill also took to No. 1 on the country singles chart.

The singer also introduced the audience to several cuts from her newest album, “It Matters To Me.” Among tunes from this album, Hill’s second, was the first single, the slightly rock ‘n’ roll flavored “Let’s Go To Vegas,” written by her background vocalist Karen Staley.

Also written by Staley and featured on the new album is the gospel tune “Keep Walkin’ On.” Hill and Staley’s duet on this toe-tapping number provided one of the highlights of the show.

Hill proved not only that she could rip into rockin’ country songs during the concert, but also that she is very capable of delivering tender ballads such as her newly recorded “I Can’t Do That Anymore” and the Elvis Presley classic “Love Me.”

Throughout the Blue Hill concert, Hill kept the audience entertained not only with her musical talents but also with her girl-next-door personality. The singer chatted about washing her clothes at a Blue Hill laundromat on Monday morning; she posed for a picture with a fan’s dog; and she insisted that a boy give her a kiss after she received a bouquet of flowers from him.

“He didn’t want to get off the stage,” Hill joked about the boy who quickly became the envy of many male members of the audience.

Hill also made frequent references to her mother during the performance, and said she would include mention of her Blue Hill experiences in her next letter to her mom in Mississippi. The singer also performed the number “You Can’t Lose Me,” which she dedicated to her mother.

After an encore number at the fair, Hill met with fan club members and boarded her bus to head for New York City, where she performed on “The Late Show with David Letterman” Tuesday night.

“I can say to David Letterman, `If you want a taste of real America you go to Blue Hill, Maine,”‘ Hill said prior to exiting the stage Monday.