Country music as taught by Byrd: If you have fun, you pass this class

Tracy Byrd had something to crow about -- a nomination for a country music award.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
CANFIELD -- Welcome to Life 101 with Professor Tracy Byrd.
Class commenced for 90 minutes Wednesday night in the Canfield Fair grandstand. Those enrolled -- several thousand admirers of Byrd's contributions to the field of country music -- didn't receive copies of a syllabus, nor did they need to buy textbooks. Listening and learning were their only requirements.
Casually dressed in a white printed western shirt, white cowboy hat and blue jeans, Byrd might have blended into the crowd on the midway if his face wasn't plastered on CD covers, T-shirts and posters.
Lecture topic No. 1: Know what Byrd calls "basic honky-tonk anatomy," especially if you're romantically involved with someone.
It's better to stay at home on Friday nights, as Byrd sings in his new single, "Drinkin' Bone," because "the drinkin' bone is connected to the party bone. The party bone's connected to the stayin' out all night long. She won't think it's funny, and I'll wind up all alone, and the lonely bone's connected to the drinkin' bone."
Fun-loving
Byrd won't be remembered as one of country music's most gifted vocalists, but his fun-loving character makes these slice of life songs enjoyable.
Topic No. 2: Men aren't complicated.
"The Truth About Men," the song that earned Byrd his first Country Music Association nomination earlier this week, is confessional yet defiant as Byrd sings about loathing shopping, loving football games on TV and lying when his true love's dress is too tight. It's proof of Byrd's knack for choosing cleverly worded songs that play well in live settings.
"The guys think I let out a bunch of secrets, but they never were secrets, were they?" Byrd asked early in the concert.
Topic No. 3: Always show your true colors.
Cover tunes
Most modern country singers feel obliged to tip their hats to the genre's greatest performers, but Byrd's choice of cover tunes were unusual and produced mixed results. Byrd's take on "Wildfire," the mushy ballad that Michael Martin Murphey recorded in 1975, paled in comparison with a quality performance of "Don't Take Her, She's All I Got," a 1971 hit for the late Johnny PayCheck.
Ever the storyteller, Byrd talked about how his mother forgot his 11th birthday and made up for it by buying him two albums instead of the usual one. His choices: Gene Watson and The Commodores. The most enjoyable part of Wednesday night was listening to Byrd and his band get funky by performing "Brick House." Shake it down, now!
Topic No. 4: Remember where you came from.
Byrd touched upon his best-known material -- tender ballads such as "Keeper of the Stars" that complement his rumbling voice, dance-hall favorites like "Watermelon Crawl," and sing-alongs, including "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous."
He took a great deal of pride in singing "Tiny Town," a song from his latest CD about memories of his hometown of Vidor, Texas. It's one that could apply to any number of communities in this region. Ditto "I'm From the Country," his 1998 ode to the friendliness and hospitality of rural folk.
Byrd's band, The Only Way to Fly, is led by Johnny Lee Carpenter, who excelled throughout the evening on fiddle, mandolin and acoustic guitar.
Final topic: Stay away from tequila! After "Ten Rounds With Jose Cuervo," a previous hit that he saved for his encore, you're liable to lose count and start all over.