Singletary rides high with a little help from his friend

We started like a year before we even thought about going into the studio. I wanted to do a country album, and I wanted to do something that nobody else was really doing out there. I wanted to be different and be myself. I knew what I wanted to hear and what I wanted to get. We were very fortunate to get some great songs and went and listened every day. Two and three times a day at different times. I wanted songs that were lyrically very strong. Didn't have a lot of words. Songs that really say a lot but don't have a lot of words in them. I've got one uptempo song on the record called, "Too Much Fun" that's probably borderline for having too many words and the most different record on the whole album.

HOW PICKY DID YOU ACTUALLY GET?

When I did my song search, I knew what I wanted to hear, and it wasn't nothing for me to say, "This isn't what I'm looking for." We'd walk into a place and say, "You can't be too country." They'd start playing us things that were happening on the radio, and I'm country as they get as far as singing and being traditional, and nothing on the radio was really country as far as I'm concerned. There's not that many country singers out there...Randy Travis, Chesnutt, Alan Jackson. We went to (Sony) Tree (Publishing) one day, and the pluggers started playing a song and I started shaking my head, "No, No, No, No," and they started playing us some old Vern Gosdin/Hank Cochran songs, and I started saying, "Yeah, that's the kind of music we want." There's a song called "Would These Arms Be In Your Way" on the album. They played that to us and I said, "Now that's the kind of music I want to cut."

No. To be honest I'm trying to develop that talent. My writing skills are kind of rusty, but I'm working on developing that talent. Hopefully, later on, I'll be writing some of the things on my album.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE?

My style is very traditional. I've got that old country. You know, George Jones, Merle Haggard, Johnny Paycheck, Lefty Frizzell. My style is also real raw, real simple. It don't take much to understand what I'm talking about.

WHERE DO YOU THINK COUNTRY MUSIC IS HEADED? ARE YOU LOOKING FOR IT TO RETURN TO A MORE TRADITIONAL STYLE?

I would hope. If it don't, I can hang it up (Singletary said jokingly). I would hope it happens that way. With singers like Ken Mellons and Wesley Dennis and some of the new singers out there, I think it might be the traditional way. Randy also keeps it alive.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS?

I strive to be the person I am right now. I don't want to change. I know my lifestyle will change, but the person, good Lord willing, will never change. I want to have a wonderful family and be happy. As far as my career, I want to make a good living and just get out there and sing country music for the people who love country music.