ASHLAND — It was Diamond Rio, not REO Speedwagon, that headlined Wednesday night’s Summer Motion finale on the Ashland riverfront.

However, one of the latter group’s early hits, “Ridin’ the Storm Out,” would have made a perfect theme song for the evening.

A violent thunderstorm packing torrential rain, high wind and lightning ripped through the area as fans were packing the riverfront for an evening of country music featuring Cowboy Crush and Diamond Rio, along with a patriotic program honoring the U.S. Coast Guard and the traditional July 4 fireworks display.

The storm emptied the concert area as fans quickly ran for cover. For awhile, it appeared the evening’s festivities might be in jeopardy.

But Chuck Charles, the festival’s president, didn’t seem all that worried.

“We’re going to dry the seats off and we’re going to have Summer Motion,” he said, in response to a reporter’s query regarding the game plan for the evening.

Charles said the decision was made to go ahead with the activities once the storm had abated because radar did not indicate additional severe weather in the area.

“We’re expecting the weather to get better as the evening goes on,” he said.

And that proved to be the case. Aside from a brief, light shower near the end of Cowboy Crush’s set, Mother Nature didn’t cause more problems.

Most of the concert-goers who fled during the storm apparently came back, because a sizable crowd was on hand by the time the all-female group took the concert stage.

Cowboy Crush delivered a high-energy, 45-minute set that featured the group’s debut single, “Nobody Ever Died of a Broken Heart,” originally recorded by the group Trick Pony.

The group also showed off the wide range of its musical influences with covers of Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough,” Kansas’ “Carry On Wayward Son” and the Charlie Daniels Band’s “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

The latter two songs showcased the talents of the group’s primary instrumentalist, fiddler Renae Truex.

“You’ve heard of lead guitar players. Well, we don’t have one of the those,” lead singer Trenna Barnes told the crowd. “We’ve got a lead fiddle player instead.”

Truex proved the group didn’t really need a guitar player during a brief solo interlude, during which, using effects pedals, she coaxed sounds out of her instrument that were reminiscent of a blistering Eddie Van Halen guitar solo.

The emotional high point of the group’s set came when Barnes dedicated a ballad titled “He’s Coming Home” to families of service members “waiting for the loved ones to come back home safely.

“God bless America and God bless our troops,” Barnes said at the close of the number.

Following the fireworks display, which was set to a booming montage of patriotic music, Diamond Rio — a group that has ties to northeastern Kentucky and previously played Summer Motion a number of years ago — took the stage with “What a Beautiful Mess I’m In.”

Wednesday’s concert was preceded by the Summer Motion air show, which was in its second year. A light rain was still falling when the aerobatics began.

The star of the show, Cliff Robinson of Madison, Ind., and his Super Stearman biplane, dazzled the folks who had trickled back into the concert area with a dizzying series of dives, loops and other maneuvers.

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.