Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 6, 1995 TAG: 9510060029
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JIM PATTERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
That has led to goofy, successful dance-hall hits like ``Watermelon Crawl'' and ``Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous.'' It also got Byrd the so-called career record that cemented his place on the charts - the No. 1 ballad ``The Keeper of the Stars.''
His new album, ``Love Lessons,'' features a sure-fire hit about chasing women called ``4 to 1 in Atlanta.'' The title refers to the supposed woman-to-man ratio in that city.
``Yeah, I'm married,'' said the dark, thin man nicknamed T-Byrd by his friends. ``There's guys out there that are chasing women every night, so they want to hear something like `4 to 1 in Atlanta.'
``Basically we're on stage ... we're acting. I mean we're not singing about reality all the time.''
``Heaven in My Woman's Eyes'' is the song on ``Love Lessons'' that Byrd put there for himself and his wife, Michelle. Don't look for it on the radio, because Byrd doesn't think much of its commercial potential.
``If I've got a 15-year career,'' Byrd said, ``who wants to hear me sing about how great my marriage is for 15 years?''
Byrd, 28, is part of a triumvirate of this generation's big-time country singers from Beaumont, Texas. Mark Chesnutt and Clay Walker are also from the area, which gave the world George Jones.
Byrd got his start with Chesnutt, playing in his band and then replacing him as the house act at the Cutters nightclub in Beaumont. Shortly thereafter, Byrd followed Chesnutt to Nashville and scored his first hit in 1993.
Byrd, like Chesnutt and Walker, is a so-called hat act. That means they're young (Chesnutt is the oldest at 32), photogenic and favor starched jeans, print shirts a la Garth Brooks and cowboy hats.
Byrd takes pains to point out the differences - musical, not wardrobe.
``Clay leans a little more toward the blues kind of pop kind of thing, I think,'' Byrd said. ``Mark I think leans more toward the George Jones kind of thing in a lot of ways.
``Mine I think is more down the alley where I wanted it to be, more of the [George] Strait kind of thing and then a little bit of Western Swing thrown in there and twisted in there.''
The most likable trait in Byrd's records is a healthy dose of buoyant humor. The first single from ``Love Lessons'' was a bouncy Top 20 hit called ``Walking to Jerusalem.''
You might expect a gospel message from such a title. Songwriters Sam Hogan and Mark D. Sanders use that presumption to breathe new life into a worn-out country music cliche - the cowboy with a new high-society sweetheart who ignores him around her snobby friends.
Byrd cheerfully laments that the woman is snubbing him so bad he may as well be ``Walkin' to Jerusalem, Marchin' with Methuselah, Readin' signs in Arabic, Ravin' like a lunatic.''
The line dancing clubs have been kind to Byrd, and songs like ``Honky Tonk Dancing Machine'' on the new record are designed to cater to them.
According to The Dance Card, a magazine that tracks how much songs are played at the clubs, two of Byrd's songs from last year are still played in clubs, and ``Walking to Jerusalem'' is a smash.
His next single, ``Love Lessons,'' was reviewed in The Dance Card as ``yet another belly-to-belly floor filler. Whether it's high energy two-steps, or heart rending ballads, Tracy Byrd has got the magic touch.''
Byrd learned to play music in Texas clubs, where, he said, ``you tailored your music to jitterbugs, two-step or polka. So that's kind of how I learned how to pick and write songs that they can dance to.''
But he doesn't think his career will be harmed if the clubs move on to new trends. ``Willie [Nelson] was always so versatile that he always moved with whichever way the trend was going, you know? So I think I can do that.
``Where I'd really like to see the music go is just get as hard core country as it could get.''
by CNB