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What's Brewing

Trying on a country ensemble

By SUSAN THURSTON
Published August 12, 2005

Last weekend, I wore a cowboy hat in public for the first time.

One of those trendy straw kinds from Urban Outfitters. A nice Florida turquoise.

I felt really silly until I pulled up at the Toby Keith concert and saw I wasn't alone. Hatted heads filled the Ford Amphitheatre.

As a new country music fan, I'm fast learning that having the right clothes and accessories is key to joining the club. Faded jeans, tight T-shirts, clunky belts and straw hats easily fit the bill - for girls as well as guys.

I never thought I'd like the twang. Growing up, I hated country, mostly because of the TV show Hee Haw. Back then, I would rather clean my room than watch those goofy barnyard crooners, who came on after the nearly as dreadful Lawrence Welk Show.

Then the movie Coal Miner's Daughter came out in 1980, telling the true-life story of country legend Loretta Lynn. All that poverty, misery and black soot. They could keep their country music.

And what's with Dolly Parton? Those can't be real.

A trip to Nashville changed all that. I got roped into walking down Fifth Avenue - the Sunset Boulevard of country - and seeing dying-to-be-discovered bands at Lotties and the Wild Horse Saloon. From Johnny Cash to Gretchen Wilson, every name in country considers the town mecca.

It doesn't take long to get into the country crowd. A few Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban CDs, and you're off to a honky-tonk start. Try some Tammy Wynette, Reba McEntire and Hank Williams for an oldies education.

People like country for basic reasons. You can relate to the songs. And you can actually understand the words. No slurring the lyrics in country. No super-fast talking. The singers have stories to tell, and they want you to remember them.

Take Toby Keith. His concert last Saturday offered 90 minutes of songs about love, cheating, drinking and having fun. Agree with his stand on the war or not, his fiery patriotism stirs the core. And these days, with news of American soldiers dying all the time, couldn't we stand a pep rally now and then?

Granted, country has plenty of detractors, and rightfully so. Above-the-waist, too-snug Wrangler jeans still show up at concerts, as do mullet hairdos and black leather chaps. A Ford pickup shared the stage with Toby, to the delight of many men in the audience.

After the show, many headed to the Dallas Bull on U.S. 301, one of the area's few country bars. It has stages for line dancing and live bands, and a parking lot full of potholes - probably for the enjoyment of all the 4-by-4 drivers.

The place attracts country fans from Pinellas to Polk counties.

"Line dancing has become my obsession," said Lesley Jacobson, 25, while taking a break on Tuesday.

She and her friends come to the bar from Lakeland several times a month for the dancing and the country. It always takes the edge off a tough work week.

"It's the kind of music that puts a smile on your face," said Branden Cook, 22.

Ahhhh. This from a guy who cranks heavy metal in his car.

Sluggo the bouncer says he sees it all at the Bull, from 18-year-old high school kids to 60-year-old grandmas. All come for the music and the good times, to forget about the bad - and, of course, wear their hats.

THE LAST DROP: Brad Paisley performs at the Dallas Bull on Tuesday. It's unclear how the bar landed one of the biggest names in country, but no one's complaining. Arrive early because only the first 400 people will get in. Fans are already talking about camping out.

Susan Thurston can be reached at 226-3394 or thurston@sptimes.com

[Last modified August 11, 2005, 09:00:07]