Saturday, January 24, 2009
Spotlight 29 Casino, Coachella, California

Story by Melissa Schoos, photos by Pat Krause, Ken Dow and Yvonne Scott.

For more Pat Krause and Ken Dow photos of the concert, click here.

For more Yvonne Scott photos of the concert, click here.

Spotlight 29 Casino was the place to be on Sat., Jan. 24, especially if you are a country fan as I am. I jumped at the opportunity to attend the performance of the talented and beautiful local singer Karista Smith as well as three of my all time favorite country stars (in one room!) — Tracy Byrd, Tracy Lawrence and Richie McDonald, billed as the Country Rat Pack.

I spoke with a woman named Kathleen Jewett from Costa Mesa, Calif., who has been a huge fan off all three men, “for more years than I’d like to admit.” She tells me, “I can think of at least one song by each of them that has really touched me or mirrored the way I felt and different times in my life.”

Smith came on to the stage and the audience was immediately under her spell. She has a strong and lovely voice and the songs that she performed were touching and thought provoking.

Born in Palm Springs, Calif., Smith grew up an hour north in Yucca Valley. An aspiring songwriter, she was only 14 years old when she was picked up by Epic records. Since that time, she has continued persevering towards her goal of being a country singer and songwriter.

Smith is rapidly being recognized for her amazing vocal and live performance talents. She has appeared in-studio and received airplay on radio stations in Arizona and California.

Smith has a charming way about her that only makes her songs seem more real and meaningful. Thanks to the powerful and honest performance of her songs, I was left wishing I could hear more. …

That is until I heard the distinct, deep and sexy voices of Byrd, Lawrence and McDonald checking their microphones behind the curtain. I was so excited to see them all in person.

One of the great things about this particular type of show is that it is somewhat like an improv. It was a chance to really see what these men were all about. They had a friendly way about them and it was clear that they were enjoying their “boy time” on the road.

The first one to sing was Byrd. The moment he began the song “(Don’t Take Her) She’s All I Got,” I was singing right along with him, or at least the words were matching his. I did not want him to stop singing and found myself wishing that I could see two solid hours of just Byrd.

That was until Lawrence sang “Time Marches On,” This song is another classic that always puts me in a nostalgic mood. There was something so familiar and comforting about Lawrence’s deep voice with its distinct inflections that instantly made me want more of him. I was ready for two hours of Lawrence also.

After a bit more teasing and elbow ribbing, McDonald, former lead singer of the platinum-selling group Lonestar, sang another one of my favorite songs called “Amazed.” All around me I could hear audience members remarking, “I love this song!” and “That’s who that guy is!” Couples from the audience seemed to be feeling romantic because there was slow dancing happening in the aisles all over the showroom.

McDonald not only has a gorgeous, buttery voice, but it was also very distinct. When I hear a song of his on the radio, it is always obvious that it is “that guy from Lonestar” singing it. He sang it so perfectly and exactly how I remembered it and I reflected on the different times this song was appropriate to my circumstances.

I was surprised to learn that McDonald wrote many of the songs that took Lonestar to the top of the charts and earned them armfuls of awards. The Lonestar hit “My Front Porch Looking In” was written about his own children, and so was the touching song “I’m Already There.” In addition to writing for himself, McDonald has written songs for several other artists, such as John Michael Montgomery, Billy Dean, Clay Walker and Sara Evans.

The men all seemed much more mellow than they appeared to be in the early years of their careers. Who isn’t? All of them are married with children and appear to be quite content with their lives. They were very funny and the accents are very entertaining to listen to while they bantered back and forth.

Lawrence was the one who appeared to have changed the most. Most of that is probably due to the fact that for much of his career he wore his blond hair quite long, and now he is bald. Apparently this past Christmas gave him the urge to shave his head. It is not that noticeable with his cowboy hat on, but I still missed the long hair.

Lawrence’s awesome singing voice is one thing that did not change. He sang, “If the World Had a Front Porch,” “Better Man, Better Off,” and “If the Good Die Young.” I was only disappointed that there were more songs from him that I wanted to hear.

After the performance, the audience members could be heard “oohing” and “ahhing” about the show. Chad Adams from La Quinta, Calif., said he was pleasantly surprised with the show.

“I have to admit that my wife drug me here kicking and screaming, but I found myself tapping my feet and singing along with the lyrics,” He said Adams told me that he has an aversion to “that country stuff,” yet he found that the songs did not make him “want to plug my ears.” “Now that I know how hip and terrific country music artists and their music are,” he quipped, I will definitely be more open to attending another country act.”

I also spoke to a group of gentlemen from Riverside, Calif. They were all wearing cowboy hats and were very enthusiastically raving about Smith. I heard quite a few comments about how “hot she is,” but they were also impressed with her voice and presence on the stage.

“She has a great voice and you can tell that she is going to be a big star one day soon” said Dan Jenkins who was speaking for the Riverside posse.

For more information about the artists, check out their individual myspace pages. Each of them also have a fan club site that will give you ticket and performance information.

All in all it was a great evening and for a huge country fan such as myself, it was a thrill to not only hear the songs of these greats, but also to get an inside peek at their personalities and their individual stories. If you will excuse me now, I am in the mood for something country.

Thanks to Spotlight 29 for presenting these wonderful artists.

For more pictures of The Country Rat Pack and Karista Smith’s performance, click here

For more Yvonne Scott photos of the concert, click here.

For more information about Karista Smith, click here.

For more information about Tracy Byrd, click here.

For more information about Tracy Lawrence, click here.

For more information about Richie McDonald, click here.

For more information about upcoming events at Spotlight 29 Casino, click here.