Black first big act at South Coast

Friday, Feb. 24, 2006 | 7:24 a.m.

There wouldn't seem to be a more incongruous pair, but it's true.

"We met when I was doing my 'D'lectrified' CD and I recorded one of his songs," said Black, who will be performing Saturday night at the South Coast.

The 1999 CD included duets with various entertainers from Idle ("Galaxy Song") to Waylon Jennings. He and Idle became buddies after that.

"Since then he sang with me once here in Vegas - at Caesars Palace," Black said. "One night he and (comedian/actor) Kevin Nealon got up onstage with me - Kevin played the banjo.

"It was hilarious. We all just improvised a lot."

Black, who has been coming to Las Vegas for years to perform and to take in the entertainment, can't wait to attend a performance of Idle's Monty Python's "Spamalot" when it debuts at the Wynn Las Vegas next year.

"I will be coming back to town for that," he said.

Black, one of the most recognizable names in country music, will be the first performer to headline at the new South Coast.

"One of the great things about Las Vegas is that it has a lot of showrooms built for performing," he said. "I like that. Around the country, I play a lot of venues that were meant for baseball games and ice hockey. It's nice to play venues built for us."

Black noted that he performed at Caesars every year for about 10 years.

"Now, I go through periods when I don't get in here much, then I may come in two or three times in a three-month period," he said.

He doesn't always come to work.

"I like to play blackjack. I really enjoy it," Black said. "And I come here at times just for the entertainment, to see some of my friends perform."

He has some pretty well-known friends in the business.

When he first made it big in 1989 with a string of No. 1 hits ("A Better Man"; "Killin' Time"; "Nobody's Home") among his contemporaries were Randy Travis, George Strait and newcomer Alan Jackson.

"Alan opened for me down in Jacksonville, Fla.," Black said. "I told him he was too tall for country music, but he didn't listen."

Although he and superstar George Strait are friends, they have never worked together, but for being part of the group of singers performing with Jimmy Buffet on a recording of Hank Williams' classic "Hey Good Lookin'." They performed the song at a County Music Association Awards ceremony.

"I'm a big fan of George," Black said. "He's one of those people who has never changed, and I mean that in the good sense. He is who you think he is. I feel the same way about Buffett."

Asked to comment on the seeming resurgence in the popularity of country music, which is taking over radio stations around the nation, Black said he didn't know if he would call it a resurgence.

"I would have to be an industry analyst to say that, and I'm not," he said.

Black compared the widespread popularity of country in the 1980s and '90s to the "dot-com" industries.

"The dot-com thing got so big and then the bubble popped," he said. "The same with the music. Everyone at the big record companies were used to 600 percent profits, and when they started making only 400 percent profit, they were unhappy.

"They're probably always going to be looking for those days to come again - but really, that was a freak thing."

The good thing about the country music in the '80s and '90s, he said, was that it established itself in the mainstream.

"It enjoyed some of the fan base from rock when rock disappeared for awhile," Black said.

Black (a native of Long Branch - New Jersey, not Texas, although he grew up in Texas) became disgruntled with the business tactics and ethics of major record labels and helped launch Equity Music Group.

"Watching some of these artists selling millions of records and not getting paid for them, that's just wrong," he said.

Black describes Equity as "an artist-friendly business model."

The artists who join the label own their own records, are paid for their first CD and when they reach a certain level of income from the sales have a chance to buy shares in the company.

Besides Black, the hottest name on the label is Little Big Town, whose recent release "Boondocks" is near the top of the charts.

"It's only been a few months and they just got their first royalty check," Black said. "Some artists with major labels have to wait years to get a check."

After Black finishes a couple of dates in and around Las Vegas, he will begin producing his own work - his latest album, "Drinkin' Songs & Other Logic."

"It's doing OK, but we're really just getting started promoting it," he said. "We're doing a radio tour to promote it that will take me to 95 stations around the country - two or three cities a day till mid-April."

When the promoting tour ends, the singing tour begins in May.

"This is pretty ambitious for a little label like Equity," Black said.

In addition to touring and promoting, Black and his longtime guitarist, friend and co-songwriter recently completed a screenplay.

"It's a true story about a 'Forrest Gump' of musicians," Black said.

And he's half-way through a book.

"It's based on all the stupid things I've done - a bunch of short stories," Black said.

Even with all the touring and other activities, he manages to find time for his wife of 14 years, actress/singer Lisa Hartman and their 5-year-old daughter, Lily Pearl, who seems to be taking after her parents.

"She's already a singer, but not just a singer, she's a performer," he said. "She's got the drama; she'll break into song and become a character.

"We'll be sitting in a restaurant and she'll break into 'Drinking Songs & Other Logic,' complete with choreography."

Jerry Fink can be reached at 259-4058 or at jerry@lasvegassun.com.