A platinum-selling country group will headline the Last Chance Stampede and Fair on July 22, officials announced Monday afternoon.

Country quartet Little Big Town will shake the new grandstands at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds, and "American Idol" finalist Kristy Lee Cook will open the show.

Tickets to the evening performance will go on sale March 9. They'll be available at the fairgrounds administrative office and online, with seats marked at $28 and $33. A ticket to the show includes general admission to the fair that day.

Little Big Town is promoting its November 2007 release, "A Place to Land," a follow-up to the band's 2005 smash hit, "The Road to Here," which sold more than 1 million copies and produced four Top-20 hits, including "Bring It On Home," "Good As Gone" and "A Little More You." The foursome was honored with nominations at the Grammy Awards, the Country Music Association Awards and the CMT Music Awards.

The band formed in Nashville in 1998 and has toured with George Strait, Kenny Chesney, Keith Urban and Martina McBride.

"All we ever wanted to do was to travel around and write songs and play them for people," guitar player Jimi Westbrook said in a press release. "There's great joy in that for all of us. We have a great life doing what we do, and we just want to keep doing it. We want to keep exploring, growing and finding new challenges."

The show will be a christening of sorts for the new $8.1 million exhibition hall and grandstands at the fairgrounds.

"We've worked hard to bring in an act that we feel will appeal to a lot of people," said events coordinator Amy Robbins. "Little Big Town puts on a great show and it'll be a lot of fun and a great addition to our fair."

Cook, an Oregon native, got her first big break when she traveled to Philadelphia to audition for "American Idol." Her rendition of "Amazing Grace" earned her a ticket to Hollywood, where she finished seventh on last season's competition, a press release said. She's since put out a 10-song album titled "Why Wait."

Reporter Larry Kline:

447-4075 orlarry.kline

@helenair.com