THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 26, 1996 TAG: 9609260032
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 56 lines
TY HERNDON was into drugs - Daron Norwood guzzled whiskey.
``We're buddies. We met during a tour, but we didn't talk about our mutual problems. We were in it,'' Herndon said. ``We've talked since then. Now, we talk about how much better our lives are now.''
Country Weekly magazine covered their stories recently in separate editions. Professionally, Herndon's story is a little more upbeat.
Norwood is searching for a label, while Herndon's aptly titled album, ``Living In A Moment,'' is in the Top 10.
``Life is good,'' Herndon said during a phone interview from a tour stop in Kelseyville, Calif.
Herndon's tour brings him to the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival, where he performs at 8:30 Friday night. The festival runs Friday through Sunday at the Oceanfront.
Two of the songs his fans will hear are the currently popular, ``What Mattered Most'' and the soon-to-be-popular - Herndon hopes - ``She Wants To Be Wanted Again.''
Both are from his ``Living in a Moment'' album which, the singer said, ``is really strong. Good radio stuff. We'll have five singles.''
He is not single. The album features, ``Her Heart Is Only Human,'' a song dedicated to his wife, Renee, who stayed with him during the tough years. It is a typical tell-it-like-I-feel Herndon song.
``I'm a firm believer in singing honest songs - things people can believe in. I want them to get pictures in their mind about their own lives from what I sing,'' he said. ``That's the basic rule I follow.
``The only way I have to do that is - songs from my life. If I can't get those pictures in my mind, I feel the audience won't be able to. It comes down to singing about things you know about. I'm 33 going on 60. I have a lot to sing about.''
The Butler, Ala., native has been singing since he was a youngster. His mother and two aunts were the Todd Sisters, his 80-year-old flat-top guitar-picking grandmother has a weekly radio show aimed at senior citizens.
``I'm a guest every time I'm down there,'' said Herndon, who was an Opryland regular soon after graduating high school, singing with a band called the Tennessee River Boys. Later, they became better known as Diamond Rio.
Herndon, who lives in Dallas, was on Star Search in 1983, winning three times. Ten years later he was voted Texas Entertainer Of the Year.
Professionally, he was initiated in what he lovingly calls, ``those damn ole Texas honky-tonks.''
Herndon's schedule is heavy.
``I do 214 performances a year,'' he said. ``Often, I wake up - and I don't know where I'm at.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
EPIC
Ty Herndon's ``Living In A Moment'' is in the Top 10.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY COUNTRY MUSIC
SINGERS by CNB