A Safe, Shallow Country Venture

Honky-tonk night at the Orange County Performing Arts Center might seem a risky proposition, putting urban cowboys and cowgirls into seats usually reserved for fans of symphonies and ballets.

But in the venue’s first venture into country music on Sunday, organizers played it safe, putting on popular acts of little artistic importance.

Headliner Tracy Byrd seems to mean well, singing songs of wounded romance in his reedy baritone and following the tested formulas of old-school country. But he is little match for the legacy of George Jones and country’s other masters of broken hearts. Byrd’s music was mostly faceless balladry of astonishing low energy.

Byrd was a pleasant enough host in creased denim as he strummed an acoustic guitar. He found real inspiration in the middle of his set with a series of western swing tunes, including a lively rendition of “Route 66.” But the rest of his repertoire was sadly dominated by lovelorn material that was unconvincing, safe and forgettable.

Hit-maker Ty Herndon was a far more energetic presence, even if his music only rarely carried any lasting emotional weight. His songs tend to be romantic, wistful and catchy, such as his 1995 hit, “What Mattered Most.” He occasionally reached deeper into his genre’s roots for a few memorable moments, but his concern is with crowd-pleasing, not art.

Herndon was mostly content to play the upbeat host. He often stood singing beneath the spotlight, knees buckling, fans swooning in their red-velvet seats and snapping pictures. Even so, Herndon deserves credit for not abandoning his Texas roots altogether even as he adopts the cosmopolitan yearnings of too many modern country acts. He’s no great vocal interpreter, but Herndon was unafraid to maintain a twang in his pop, even commanding, “Everybody say yee-haw!”

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Despite the obvious show-biz trappings, the glittering smile, Herndon came off as genuine, not self-absorbed, and with no macho posturing. Recovering from a sore throat, he and his six-man band dove into some moving roots-flavored moments, including an acoustic rendition of the bluegrass classic “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.”

A short set of Christmas and gospel songs also showed the man at his most soulful, even as some fans whistled and hollered enough during the quietest a cappella moments to drown out a rodeo.

Opening the night was Tennessee-based crooner Keith Harling, who performed pleasant if insubstantial country pop. Wearing a white hat over shoulder-length blond hair, Harling made uncomplicated music that had one foot in traditional C&W; but little of the emotion found in the most moving honky-tonk.

Harling was helped by a tight backup band, reshuffling the fairy tale elements of his hit “Papa Bear” into a vaguely amusing song of romance. But aside from his grin and the occasional dance step away from the microphone to strum his blue acoustic guitar, Harling was a listless presence.