Terri Clark’s Country Is a Melting Pot

SANTA ANA — The fine line between country and rock is becoming even finer. From Garth Brooks’ loud, highly produced mega-concerts to the smooth, pop-laced fare of Mary-Chapin Carpenter, today’s mainstream country seems unrelated to the gritty, dusty, authentic style of Hank Williams, Merle Haggard and Kitty Wells.

This trend was particularly apparent on Monday and Tuesday nights at the Crazy Horse Steak House, where singer-songwriter Terri Clark and her seven-piece band raised a ruckus (rock-us?). Judging by the platinum- and gold-selling status of her two albums, Clark’s modern “country” sound has found a receptive audience. And an adoring local crowd reveled in the party-hearty atmosphere that prevailed during Clark’s early show Tuesday.

But how did someone who grew up listening to Patsy Cline, Ricky Skaggs and Randy Travis, and who performed in beer-soaked dives and honky-tonks for eight years before being discovered by Nashville, come to sound so much like Heart or the Jefferson Starship? And is it just a coincidence that Clark’s version of Warren Zevon’s “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” is the hit single from her latest release, “Just the Same?”

After 80 minutes of boot-scootin’ rock ‘n’ boogie and cowgirl aerobics, the concert’s most telling moment occurred during Clark’s final encore. Reeling off several distorted licks on her electric guitar, the lanky lady in the white Stetson suddenly stopped and quipped: “Well, I’ve just got to get it out of my system somehow.” She and her mates then launched into a soulless version of Rod Stewart and the Faces’ classic “Stay With Me,” proving without a doubt that some things are best left uncovered.

Clark’s originals didn’t fare much better. The up-tempo numbers--including “Flowers After the Fact,” “Something in the Water” and “Better Things to Do”--were virtually interchangeable. Each sounded big and generic in the worst kind of arena-rock way, with the pounding drumbeats of Darren Fair simply overpowering the rest of the instruments.

Previewing “the raw, bare-bones versions” of two new songs during a brief solo acoustic segment, Clark demonstrated a keen lyrical sense with the well-crafted “Easy on the Eyes, Hard on the Heart” and “Gettin’ Used to Not Gettin’ Over You.” But her one-dimensional vocals let her down.