O.C. POP MUSIC REVIEW : Travis Tritt Is Real Certain He’s for Real

It’s a good thing Travis Tritt is an engagingly gritty performer, because it takes that and more to rise above the young singer’s love for what may be the dullest trend in contemporary country music. Like the glut of “how-ol’-Hank-woulda-done-it” songs in the last decade, the 27-year-old newcomer larded his 85-minute performance at the Bandstand on Sunday with protestations of how the music is supposed to be, instead of just shutting up and being what it’s supposed to be.

On the hit “Country Club,” he not only ran through a litany of requisite good-ol’-boy traits, but when he sang “I drive an old Ford pickup truck” he interjected, “I really do!” --as if it was some remarkable proof of what a real guy he is. Defending his moribund mix of country and rock on “Put Some Drive in Your Country” (as if the styles hadn’t previously been paired by everyone from Elvis and Johnny Cash on down), Tritt found it necessary to declare: “I’m just as country as anybody you’re gonna see in your entire life.” The thing is, ol’ Hank and just about everybody else who had an effect on country music sang about the life they knew, rather than just spewing out credentials trying to prove they had a life.

When the material gave him a chance, Tritt showed he’s certainly capable of injecting real feeling into his music. He’s an impressive singer, with a voice like a twanged, somewhat-less-impassioned Stevie Ray Vaughan.

On “I’m Gonna Be Somebody” his singing rose above a hackneyed lyric to convey a sense of blue-collar desperation and yearning. His ballad vocals on the country-soul “If I Were a Drinker” and the hit “Help Me Hold On” earned the screams offered by his female fans in the packed club.

Sporting a black, fringed and studded buckskin jacket and somewhat manicured redneck hair and beard, Tritt definitely has his star sparkle and stage moves down.

He has a competent five-piece band, though it didn’t leave much of a signature on the songs. That may be due in part to the fact that these aren’t the same Nashville studio pros who played on the records. Still, his stage outfit, which shares the name Country Club with his debut album and song--moved nimbly from hard country to Southern boogie.

Tritt performed most of the tunes from his album, including “Dixie Flyer,” “The Road Home” and “Drift Off to Dream,” as well as boogie-ized versions of Chuck Berry’s “The Promised Land” and the Doobie Bros. 1973 hit “Long Train Runnin’.” There were also a couple of unreleased numbers, including Tritt’s own hook-filled breakup song, “Here’s a Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares.” He recently recorded a pair of songs with the re-formed Little Feat, “Bible Belt” and “Time for a Change,” but neither appeared in his set.

Incidentally, if there’s a jukebox in Hell, it surely will be crowded with those “gee-stardom-is-tough” road songs that so many artists feel compelled to share with us, and Tritt’s unrecorded essay on that theme deserves inclusion. Given a country/space-jazz backing that fully warranted the ersatz fog that had been rolling off the stage throughout the show, Tritt--who only landed three Top 10 hits (including two at No. 1) with his debut album and who is handled by megastar manager Ken Kragen--delivered five minutes of solid self-pity about how rough it is up there giving away every ounce of energy he has. Jeez, if it’s all that draining, maybe he’ll need to get someone to drive his pickup truck for him.