The outfits of the three members of Trick Pony might have been strangely incoherent Thursday at the Freeborn County Fair. Their clothes for the late show were reminiscent of Kid Rock, mid-nineties Madonna and even traditional George Strait. But the minute the group started to perform, any possible mistaken identity was pushed to the back of the mind as Trick Pony filled the fairgrounds with their distinctive country sound.

All those years performing at small clubs has paid off for Heidi Newfield, Ira Dean and Keith Burns. The three’s constant movement and mostly upbeat sound didn’t allow for a lull in the excitement.

Trick Pony mixed country hits with a few tracks from an upcoming CD to be released in November. The music ranged from deep and dark to fun and south of the border.

They started out with radio favorite &uot;Pour Me&uot; and ended their encore on the same note.

Favorites like &uot;Just What I Do,&uot; &uot;On a Night Like This,&uot; and Johnny Cash’s &uot;Big River&uot; brought the crowd to their feet.

Bassist/vocalist Ira Dean’s antics were a constant source of hilarity whether he was doing a Bill Cosby impression or climbing up the staging. Dean even told of the first time he met Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash.

&uot;Mr. Jennings walked into the studio and the first thing he said was &uot;Who the hell let Kid Rock up in here?&uot; Dean recalled.

Dean switched vocalist duty with Newfield as she took time to play the harmonica. Newfield worked the crowd expertly, constantly dancing as she sang or taking the crowd into the show.

Burns brought more of a traditional country feel to the stage, and had an excellent guitar duet with one of the band’s backing players.

Trick Pony is off to perform in Wisconsin and Illinois before heading back home to Nashville for couple of days rest, then back on the road.