A Chesnutt for Everyone

Tonight’s concert at the Ventura Theatre is the area’s country music E-ticket event of the week.

Nashville recording artists Mark Chesnutt, Gary Allan, Chely Wright and Keith Harling will roll into town with the Crown Royal Untamed & True 2 tour.

Vocal chameleon Chesnutt will headline the show. Unlike some recording artists who are real stiffs on stage, Chesnutt delivers the goods in his live performances.

Since “Too Cold at Home,” his first hit single in 1990, the versatile Texas crooner has generated enough top-10 singles to easily fill a greatest hits album.

Yet because Chesnutt can adapt his voice to various musical modes, many country music fans recognize his songs quicker than they recognize the singer. From torch songs to Cajun rockers, here are some hits you can expect: “Old Flames Have New Names,” “Almost Goodbye,” “Woman, Sensuous Woman” and “Bubba Shot the Jukebox.”

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And it’s a sure bet Chesnutt will perform “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing,” the popular title track of his current CD on the Decca label.

Radio station channel surfers may notice that Aerosmith’s rock version of the ballad, from the film soundtrack of “Armageddon,” is also enjoying heavy airplay these days. Asked why he recorded the song, Chesnutt has explained that he and his producer, Mark Wright, chose songs that would showcase Chesnutt as more than a country-music traditionalist.

The success of the ballad has demonstrated Chesnutt’s wider appeal. But if there is any doubt about his country roots, just listen to his a capella version of the Hank Williams anthem “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.” With one verse and a chorus, Chesnutt can generate goose bumps in your deepest musical erogenous zones.

Decca label-mate Gary Allan offers an unapologetic country sound including fiddles and pedal steel guitar on his second CD, “It Would Be You,” which spawned an eponymous hit single. So far the Long Beach native has scored well on country charts by embracing the honky-tonk Bakersfield tradition with his tenor interpretation of ballads such as “Her Man” and “I’ll Take Today.”

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The Academy of Country Music named Chely Wright Top New Female Vocalist in 1994 for her first album, “Woman in the Moon,” with good reason. Raised in Kansas on gospel and country music, Wright embodies the best of the deep-rooted country “thang” that keeps the pilgrims returning to worship at the Grand Ole Opry and Branson, Mo.

When Wright takes the stage tonight, listen for two ballads from her current debut CD on MCA, “Let Me In” and “Shut Up and Drive.” The first reflects the rich emotional heritage of Loretta Lynn, Connie Smith and Emmy Lou Harris. Musically lush and lyrically intelligent, “Shut Up and Drive” is a wake-up call for women who are stuck in neutral in relationships with frog princes.

Rounding out tonight’s show is MCA’s new 6-foot-5-inch crooner Keith Harling, probably best known for the clever hit single “Papa Bear.”

DETAILS

Doors open at 7 p.m.; show time is 8:30. Limited special seating is available with dinner reservations. Concert tickets are $27 per person. The Ventura Theatre is at 26 S. Chestnut St. For more details, call the box office at 653-0721.

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FYI: Ticket-holders who show up for Willie Nelson’s concert Thursday at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza will be all dressed up with no country legend to hear. The concert is rescheduled for Nov. 22. For more information, call the box office at 449-2787.

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Up the coast at the Galleon Room, the Steve McPeters Band will keep the dance crowd moving, starting at 9 p.m. Caught Red-Handed will take the musical reins at 9 p.m. Saturday. And at 9 p.m. Thursday, Steve Woods and Kerri Wilson will perform country favorites.

The Galleon Room is at 5925 Calle Real in Goleta. For more details, call 967-0128.

Robyn Loewenthal can be reached by e-mail at drrkl@juno.com.