Festival stars love their strawberries

At least three of the headline acts at the Florida Strawberry Festival share more than a passion for country music.

They love strawberries.

"The berries are the best; we take flats home on our buses to enjoy," said Richard Sterban, a member of the Oak Ridge Boys since 1972.

Tracy Lawrence and Aaron Tippin say they, too, love the bright red berries.

Lawrence said he likes the festival because it has a lot of "good old country folks," better weather this time of year than Nashville and the fruit.

Tippin said, "I can't wait to get some strawberries."

All three acts are veterans of the festival stage.

Here's a quick look at each show:

•Tippin, 51, will perform at 3:30 p.m. today. Tippin, who said he's lost count of his festival appearances, promises a fun show.

"It's going to be a sing along from one end to the other," with such fan favorites as "You've Got to Stand for Something," "Honky Tonk Superman," "Where the Stars and Stripes and the Eagle Fly," and others, he said.

"We're going to have a ball," said Tippin, known for a broad range of music from rowdy anthems to rugged ballads.

Tippin was born in Pensacola and raised in South Carolina, but he feels like it's a homecoming when he plays in Florida, which he calls "one of the few places you can hunt turkey on flat ground."

•The Oak Ridge Boys, including Sterban, Duane Allen, Joe Bonsall and William Golden, play at 3:30 p.m. Thursday. Sterban said he and other Oak Ridge Boys members see the festival as a rite of spring.

Sterban said he has "lost track," of the times they've visited the festival but he said they typically play there every two or three years.

The group has been around for decades and the current members have been together for 38 years.

The show will open with the group's new album title song, "The Boys are Back," and include tunes as the patriotic "GI Joe and Lillie," the gospel "Troubling Mind" andthe old standard, "Elvira."

•Lawrence, 42, plays at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Lawrence, who has played the festival two or three times, said he's "been blessed" to have 18 No. 1 songs and other top 10 hits. He said his festival repertoire will include such hits as "Time Marches On," Paint Me and Birmingham," and "Lessons Learned."

His singles and albums have made the Billboard charts almost every year since 1991. Lawrence recently turned to the Christian contemporary market, scoring a No. 4 ranking with his 2009 album, "The Rock," selections from which will be part of his show. He is known for his charity work for schools and the homeless.