DATE: Thursday, March 6, 1997               TAG: 9703060042

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: INTERVIEW 

SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   51 lines

``COUNTRY CUTIE'' WHITE DELIGHTS TEEN-AGE FANS

THOSE TEENYBOPPER mags are beginning to discover country music, at least where Bryan White is con-cerned.

Take the current issue of Teen Beat. It described the crowd at one of his concerts as ``adoring,'' called the 22-year-old ``adorable'' and used this reference in its headline: ``Country Cutie.''

In fact, there are so many teens involved with country music, there is now a mag called Teen Country. Guess who was on the cover of the October premiere issue.

Local teen hearts will flutter Friday when he opens for Vince Gill at Hampton Coliseum.

What is White's take on all this?

``A bunch of girls stand around with their friends and moms, murmuring something like, `Oh, you're so cute,'' he said from Lake Charles, La. ``You go, `I'm not cute. Leave me alone.' There's another avenue - it's so much fun to be part of all this. Another part of me wants to influence young kids.''

One method is performing in nightclub parking lots for fans too young to go to the club. Another is keeping it clean.

``How do you feel about some artists using profanity, obscenity, in their lyrics?'' White asked. ``For some, it may be their thing. For me, it's not.

``Unless you want your kids talking like that, it's not a very good thing for them to hear.''

The Academy of Country Music named White its Top New Male Vocalist in 1996. His current hits, ``That's Another Song'' and ``Sitting On Go,'' have also been honored. The latter was released about two weeks ago, debuting at No. 40 on the Billboard charts.

When the Oklahoma native is not singing on his current tour, he's watching headliner Vince Gill.

``I learn so much from him,'' White said. ``He's influenced me since I was a kid. I watch how he works on stage, how he performs, how he treats others. I've been doing some writing and I'm trying to focus more on it. But when you're worrying about sound checks, when you're getting ready for a show, when you're doing meet and greet . . . ''

Or doing soap operas. Last November, White guested on ``Bold & the Beautiful.''

``Man, I wouldn't trade this for anything,'' he said. ``Besides, I can't do anything else. I'd be on the welfare line, but as long as I could make music, it wouldn't matter.

``I've gotten a long way just being who I am and by being honest with people.'' ILLUSTRATION: Bryan White

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