Country singer Josh Gracin poses for a photo with Nicole Allen of Cedar Rapids.

If you are one the millions who watch American Idol you know season two top-four finalist Josh Gracin, who performed Saturday night at the BBQ Roundup.

I don’t think of Gracin as being on American Idol because I never watched him on it. I know him from the radio. He has made a name for himself as a great country star and former U.S. Marine, who served his country proudly.

Gracin is a straight forward performer. The Michigan native didn’t talk much between songs during his performance. He did take time to get the crowd involved by tossing out drumsticks.

To open the show – and with the band already on stage, the speakers began to blare out the music and the lights went dim – the American Idol audio clip came on you heard, “Josh Gracin is back for another week.” Everyone started screaming as Gracin came running on stage.

While his twang served him on the successful singles he played during the show “We Weren’t Crazy,”  “I Wanna Live,” the speedy “Nothin’ to Lose,” he took the opportunity to try out a new sound.

Gracin mixed a side of rhythm and blue to his repertoire of of country music with the song “Long way to go.” He also had a take on Adele’s “Someone Like You.” Gracin wasn’t his best at singing it but you have to give him credit for trying something different.

There was defiantly some funny parts to the night. He stopped singing in the middle of a song because there were so many bugs and he probable swallowed a few.  He turns to his band members asking them how many bugs they have swallowed and of course they all replied. They then burst right back in the song “lets, lets,lets  get back to you”

Gracin’s show was full of high-energy with a great onstage presence that captured the crowd from beginning to end.

Josh Gracin was one of the better performers I’ve seen.  He is into the fans and involving them as evident by hundreds of screaming fans singing his songs.

Gracin ended the evening signing autographs and taking photos with fans after his show. It is what makes him a great performer.

- Nicole Allen

Country singer Josh Gracin performs at the BBQ Roundup in downtown Cedar Rapids.

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