Chris Krupar will represent the City of Vision at the 28th annual Colgate Country Showdown New Mexico Championship this Saturday at Sky City Casino in Acoma.

The event starts at 6 p.m. and is free. Krupar is encouraging his fellow Rio Ranchoans and friends to come cheer him on.

The lead singer of local band Open Road defeated 18 other contestants in a recent contest in Socorro to land a spot in the state championship

Courtesy Photo Chris Krupar will perform at the 28th annual Colgate Country Showdown New Mexico Championship this Saturday at Sky City Casino in Acoma.

Krupar said he will sing the same songs at Sky City that he did in Socorro. One is a cover of Jimmy Wayne’s “Do You Believe Me Now?” and the other is one he wrote titled “Just Kickin’ Back.”

If Krupar wins the contest Saturday, he will pocket $1,000 and advance to one of five regional finals. If he’s successful there, then he will compete in the national final on national television at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., for $100,000.

Krupar said he heard about the contest four years ago but always seemed to miss the deadline. This year he was determined to enter it.

“This year, I told my wife I’d really like to give this competition a try,” he said. “I missed the one in Albuquerque and I saw there was one more available and I decided to go for it.”

While his ultimate goal is to win the competition, he also wants to raise the awareness of local country music and his band.

“People look at Albuquerque and they think of rock and classic rock bands and I’d like to turn that around even if I don’t end up famous anywhere, but Rio Rancho and Albuquerque, that’s OK,” Krupar said. “If I get to Nashville, that’s great. Winning in Socorro was a pleasant surprise and winning state will be a great surprise.”

Krupar said his band has plans to release an album soon.

A native of Trafford, Penn., Kruper developed an interest in country music by watching “Hee Haw,” a variety show that centered on country music and rural comedy.

He started taking guitar lessons at age 9 and stepped on the stage for the first time when he was 12, at a Veterans of Foreign Wars social hall.

He joined his first band, The New Beginning Band, at 14 as a rhythm guitarist. The band played gospel and Christian rock

A few years later, Krupar played in an alternative band called Wishart and said they were one vote away from making the show “Star Search.”

He and his wife Tina moved to Rio Rancho from Pennsylvania four years ago. Krupar works for the City of Albuquerque as an information systems administrator.

He said he chose to live in Rio Rancho, opposed to Albuquerque, because of the inexpensive housing and beautiful views.

“We chose Rio Rancho because they offer more choices,” Krupar said. “Albuquerque is nearly all built up and on our income, for what we wanted and to have a decent view of the Sandias, we chose Rio Rancho.”

Open Road recently played at the Santa Ana Star Center as part of Albuquerque radio station KRST’s 30th Birthday Bash.