POP MUSIC REVIEW : Schneider Proves Beauty Is More Than Skin Deep : ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ star proves his second career is a credible one. He performs an intimate group of country songs at the Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana.

One thing proved by “Dukes of Hazzard” star John Schneider’s second career in country music is that ridiculously handsome actors who have everything going for them can be real people too.

Schneider is almost too perfect: Instead of hooch, he sips Postum; he drives a ’56 two-tone De Soto; he heads a child-oriented charity; he takes in stray dogs; he loves the flag and is best friends with his ex-wife.

And on top of it all, Schneider has consistently proved to skeptics that his musical talents run far deeper than just looking good on album covers. Though his first show Monday at the Crazy Horse Steak House ran a brief 75 minutes (he also performed Tuesday), it was an easy-natured sojourn through a credible career.

The show had been billed as a solo performance, though it turned out that Schneider was backed by three other musicians (including one-time Bonnie Raitt bassist Freebo). Still, it remained intimate, in part due to the stage setting--described by Schneider as “my living room”--which included a couch, fruit-laden coffee table, a saddle and other cozy possessions. Schneider delivered most of his show perched on the couch’s armrest.

Most of the intimacy came from Schneider himself, revealed in his songs and in a relaxed, humorous stage manner. Though he came on stage wearing a 40-liter hat, there was no awkward attempt made to enumerate his country credentials, no adopted twang nor obligatory Hank Williams medley. Instead he gave a folksy, moderately distinctive delivery to his 13 songs, accompanied by his nylon-stringed guitar and the restrained backing of the trio on acoustic guitar, bass and acoustic piano-toned synth.

Most of the songs were from his mid-’80s albums, including “At the Sound of the Tone,” “If It Was Anyone but You,” “What’s a Memory Like You (Doing in a Love Like This),” “Take the Long Way Home” and the No. 1 hits “Country Girls” and “You’re the Last Thing I Needed Tonight.” He also performed a strong new ballad, “In Between the Words.”

There are some good selections there. While the preponderantly sad, romantic ballads might have been chosen with his heavily female audience in mind, most weren’t just fluff but addressed the real sparks and short circuits of love.

But even as selective as Schneider’s song choices were, there was no escaping the cumulative blandness that results from getting one’s material primarily from Nashville’s professional songwriters’ mill. Schneider also worked in a few of his own compositions, which had their trade-offs. Though his lyrics and meter were clumsy in places, his songs at least had something of an individual stamp to them, and they certainly were the numbers that he put the most vocal feeling into.

Perhaps the best song of the evening was “The Least We Can Do,” a moving plea to save a marriage, which, he explained, grew from his own divorce from Tawny Little. Less effective, though more powerfully sung, was “What Would Grandpa Say?” a song he said he wrote in response to the flag-burning issue.

The song was direct in its evocation of his grandfather’s patriotism and devotion to country--and in one comment on buying Japanese cars, the lyric noted, “He fought the Mitsubishis in the war.” But the song’s broad stripes ignored the events of the past couple of decades, never speculating that, in times when government duplicity is almost a daily headline, patriotism might require more than just a sharp flag salute.