Tracy Lawrence is trying a new approach

By JOHN BENSON

entertainment@vindy.com

When Tracy Lawrence scored a No. 1 single with 2006’s “Find Out Who Your Friends Are,” the country artist felt like he was on top of the world considering he accomplished such a feat with his own record label, Rocky Comfort Records. However, what he didn’t count on was he’d learn firsthand about the title of the song as it related to a Music City backlash that would spread across the country.

“I’m real glad I did Rocky Comfort Records,” said Lawrence, calling from his Nashville home. “It was very interesting. We came out of the box, had a No. 1 record, won a CMA and ACM and then it seemed like we made a lot of enemies. We were a small label. We just slipped through the cracks, and a lot of people got egg on their face. And I’ve watched the doors close to that business model. Our philosophy was to keep the overhead down. Everything was outsourced. We had a small staff internally to keep our costs down. After that record went through, I watched radio absolutely shut down.”

When it’s pointed out his situation sounds similar to dealing with the mafia, Lawrence quipped, “Ya think?”

So now Lawrence — who enjoyed platinum and gold success on his first five albums: 1991’s “Sticks and Stones,” 1993’s “Alibis,” 1994’s “I See It Now,” 1996’s “Time Marches On” and 1997’s “The Coast Is Clear ” — plans a return on BamaJam Records, with a unique new-millennium business model that includes releasing two EPs a year through Wal-Mart. The popular singer said he hopes to have the new release out sometime this year. In fact, he’s already playing a few new songs that fans will hear at his Saturday show at the Dusty Armadillo.

“There’s an up-tempo song called ‘Hard Times,’” Lawrence said. “That draws from what I’m perceiving going around the country and talking to people about just the economic turmoil people are having and hoping everybody will get back to a more faith-based society, and not fall into the socialism we’re dealing with. There’s a lighter song called ‘Pills’ that’s a spoof of the drug-company advertising we see on television all of the time. There’s a cool midtempo song about being confident called ‘A Whole Lot of Me.’ So I have some new, cool stuff.”

Though Lawrence doesn’t feel he’s heading in a new musical direction, per se, content-wise, there may be a change happening based on how he approaches his songs.

“I’m to the point where I’m writing pretty much everything I do from here on out,” Lawrence said. “I’ve written a ton of stuff over the last year-and-a-half, and I just feel like I’ve had a social awakening.”