Music to match every taste at the Fair

In this non-election year, the State Fair music lineup has gone populist. The grandstand is presenting the North's favorite redneck hip-hop country/rock party boy (Kid Rock), the first and most enduring "American Idol" (Kelly Clarkson) plus Minnesota's favorite son (Garrison Keillor). JON BREAM

Longtime friends and first-time tourmates Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal are teaming up for the BonTaj Roulet Tour. Each band will play a separate set and then jam together for at least a half hour. See an interview in today's Variety A+E section. (7:30 p.m., $36.50.)

Jason Aldean likes to put a little drive in his country. His hits "Hicktown," "Johnny Cash" and "She's Country" make you turn up the radio. (7:30 p.m., $29.)

He's a little bit country, a little bit rock, a little bit hip-hop and all redneck. But Kid Rock has become an unlikely crossover hero thanks to last year's "All Summer Long." He's paired perfectly with Lynyrd Skynyrd, those Southern rockers who are down to one original member, guitarist Gary Rossington. (7 p.m., $41-$66.)

Fallen "Idol" Kelly Clarkson has rebounded from a misguided third album. The hits "My Life Would Suck Without You" and "I Don't Hook Up" have reconnected Clarkson with her fan base. Opening is Eric Hutchinson, whose popular "Rock and Roll" is a catchy slacker ditty. (7:30 p.m, $35.)

Jackson Browne, whose introspective California soft-rock landed him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, will survey his career, from "Running on Empty" to last year's politicized "Time the Conqueror." (8 p.m., $38.)

While he may have all the stage presence of a smiling statue, Randy Travis sings with depth and passion, whether he's offering one of his early country hits like "On the Other Hand," or more recent gospel favorites like "Three Wooden Crosses." Travis' conservatism will contrast with opener Joe Nichols, best known for "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off."( 7:30 p.m., $32.)

For the fourth consecutive year, the grandstand will devote a night to Christian music, with Dove- and Grammy-winning Casting Crowns from Georgia and their lite-rock sound, and BarlowGirl, a trio of sisters from Illinois who rock with harmonies. (7:30 p.m., $30.)

Keillor likes the State Fair so much (this is his seventh consecutive year there with "A Prairie Home Companion") that he wrote an article about state fairs for National Geographic this summer. His guests will include Mindy Smith. (7:45 p.m., $23-$28.)

No grandstand season would be complete without some facsimile of a 1980s rock hit machine. REO Speedwagon, still featuring frontman Kevin Cronin, and Styx, still claiming Tommy Shaw and James Young, is together again at the fair. Opening is .38 Special, fronted by Donnie Van Zant. (7 p.m. $34. )

Finals of the fair's Amateur Talent Contest. (8 p.m. Free.)

Comedian/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham has been a hit on TV talk shows. How will his array of puppets, including Peanut and Jose Jalapeno, fare at the grandstand? (8 p.m., $38.)

Leinie Lodge Bandshell

On the daytime schedule, old-school fans will enjoy the delightfully hip (in an Emmylou Harris kind of way) sounds of Joey + Rory (1 & 2:30 Thu.-Fri.) and Sunny Sweeney, who combines Texas twang, honky-tonk heartache and un-Nashville irony (1 & 2:30 p.m. Sept. 4-5). Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are so serious about their Cajun music that most of the vocals are in French. (3:30 & 4:30 p.m. Thu.-Fri.).

The Bandshell Tonight lineup, at 8:30 p.m. daily, includes the Original Wailers, featuring some of Bob Marley's reggae collaborators (Sat.-next Sun.); the pop rock of Minnesota's own Quietdrive, which has been a hit on the USO circuit (Aug. 31-Sept. 1); the return of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, which throws a Crescent City R&B party extraordinaire (Sept. 2-3), and Riders in the Sky, the witty Old West troubadours who have played at the fair's Heritage Square for decades (Sept. 6-7).

International Bazaar Stage

The big news on the free stages is the new Bazaar After Dark, which will feature evening sets at 8 and 9 p.m. by such middle-of-the-road crowd-pleasers as Rocket Club (Thu.-Fri.), Robby Vee (Sept. 4-5) and E.L.nO (Sept. 6-7). During the day, Davina & the Vagabonds offer the perfect blend of vaudeville entertainment and bluesy musicality (11:30 a.m., 12:45 and 2:15 p.m. Sat.-next Sun.) while former "Riverdance" vocalist Katie McMahon does authentic Irish music (11:30 a.m, 12:45 and 2:15 p.m. Thu.-Fri.).

One of the most consistently reliable stages at the fair has a great pairing of the passionate folk-blues of Charlie Parr (10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Aug. 31-Sept. 1) and the indomitable country of Sherwin Linton (2, 3 & 4 p.m. Aug. 31-Sept. 1). Evening highlights (with sets at 6:30 & 7:45 p.m.) include reinvented guitarist Billy McLaughlin (Aug. 31-Sept. 1); the sweet pop of Storyhill (Sept. 2-3) and rockabilly stalwart Deke Dickerson (Sept. 4-5).