Trisha Yearwood Celebrates Gumption in Risk-Free Way

Give Trisha Yearwood credit: She is among the relatively few mainstream Nashville acts proving that it is possible to be country and commercial without also being corny and cliched.

Like virtually all the repertoire on her five albums (not counting a Christmas release), Yearwood’s early show on Monday at the Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana was built on songs written to evoke believable slices of life.

Of course, the Georgia native’s reward for increasingly mature records has been steadily slackening sales, with totals dropping for each release since her 1991 debut album topped 1.6 million. Still, by today’s bring-’em-in-and-move-’em-out standards, Yearwood, at 32, has achieved longevity as a country star.

But the believable slices of life Yearwood chooses to sing about (she doesn’t write her own material) are just a start down the right path, not a destination. Their familiar, straightforward scenarios steer clear of mysteries, emotional extremes and uncomfortable ambiguities.

At the Crazy Horse, an at-ease, wryly quipping Yearwood was at her best when applying her clear, confident voice to songs that celebrated gumption and strength. There is a tough, steely quality in her singing that put a hopeful spin on “Everybody Knows,” the title song and upcoming single from her new album.

It portrayed a woman struggling for balance after being dumped, and the trace of defiance and flinty humor Yearwood injected suggested her protagonist would be resourceful enough to find it. Even in an apologetic ballad, “Down on My Knees,” her forceful quality conveyed the strength it takes to apologize, more than any abject need to do it.

It’s no news that ‘90s Nashville takes most of its cues from ‘70s L.A. country-rock, and Yearwood, with that clean, powerful voice, takes some of hers from Linda Ronstadt. By listening to Ronstadt, Yearwood seems to have learned some of what not to do: While her voice was authoritative, she knew the value of restraint.

On the other hand, Yearwood gave no evidence that she is capable of the torn-up devastation Ronstadt can capture.

Her stingy, 55-minute, 13-song set left out some ballads that might have given her a chance to display the vulnerability needed to balance the strength that comes to her naturally. But it’s questionable whether she is capable yet of opening herself fully in that way.

Yearwood’s taste and control are commendable, but in art, daring wins the day. Her instincts are good, but her artistry needs to be radicalized.

* Trisha Yearwood performs tonight at the Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, 8 p.m. Sold out. (310) 276-6168.