SHORT TAKES : Singer Says Affair Hurt Career

NASHVILLE — Country music singer Traci Peel says publicity from her romance with Mayor Bill Boner, who is still married, may be hurting her bookings.

“If you think that I have become a big draw with all the publicity, that’s not the case,” she said.

“If anything, I’ve probably lost some dates,” Peel said in an interview this week.

Boner, 45, a former congressman, has announced he plans to marry the singer when his divorce from his third wife is final.

Peel, 34, who has been singing professionally since the mid-1970s, performs in nightclubs and for conventions and fairs. She is a former member of The New Seekers pop group and briefly was in the backup band of country singer Ronnie Milsap.