COUNTRY SINGER `DIDN'T EXPECT SUCCESS'

Travis Tritt's second album, "It's All About to Change," released eight weeks ago, sounds like a declaration. But the country music artist says things actually began to change two years ago when his first album hit the charts.

"Things really took off in August of 1989, but I didn't expect it," says the 28-year-old Georgia native. "If somebody would have told me five years ago that I'd be here now, I'd have said they were crazy."

"Here" for Tritt is being the originator of four number one singles, and two successful albums.

His latest single, "Here's a Quarter, (Call Someone Who Cares)" reached number one on the country charts this week.

In a phone interview from his tour bus en route to a show in Beatrice, Neb., Tritt said each number one single he can "put under his belt" increases his chances of becoming a country music great.

"It increases your audience and increases album sales, and my goal is to reach as many people as I can," he said.

Tritt will be performing Wednesday, opening night at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo. His performance kicks off the four-day event, one of the largest rodeos in the country.

"Here's a Quarter" is the first single from Tritt's second album to hit the charts. His first album, titled "Country Club," produced three successful singles, "Help Me Hold On," "I'm Gonna Be Somebody" and "Put Some Drive in Your Country."

And Tritt, who has been singing professionally since 1983, says he expects the second album to produce at least five chart hits.

"I've been playing music all my life," he said. "Now, I'm just polishing it up."

Tritt broke into the music business as a writer, and still writes most of his own material.

"For the first album, I wrote five out of the ten songs, and for the second album, I wrote seven of the ten," said Tritt, who often composes songs while riding his motorcycle.

"It helps to get away from it all for a while," he said. "Sometimes songs just fall out of the sky. Other times I really have to work at it."

Tritt grew up in Marietta, Ga., where he still lives when he's not on the road.

"When I was growing up, it was a small, rural community," he said. "With the growth of Atlanta, now it's booming."

But while he was young, family members discouraged his interest in music, encouraging him to pursue a safer profession.

"My parents didn't want me to get into the music industry, because they thought it was a volatile business," he said. "So I started looking for people who would give me positive re-enforcement."

But his success has spawned the parental approval, he said.

Professionally, established country artists like Merle Haggard and George Jones influenced his musical style, along with James Taylor, John Denver, Charlie Daniels and the Marshall Tucker Band.

But he says, while he now performs alongside some of his country idols, Tritt tries to keep a perspective on success.

He says it's important for him to come back to Marietta because he never wants to forget where he came from. "It lets me see how far I've come in the past few years."

After the release of his first album, Tritt was named Top New Male Artist (Country) for 1990 by Billboard magazine. And more recently, he's been nominated for awards in seven categories by the Country Music Association.

Tritt says he'd like to be more than just a singer someday. He's considered acting, but will most likely stick with some type of music.

"To use an expression of my father's, `It's important to dance with the one that brought you.' I'd like to continue to do country and do it well," he said.

Tritt says he hopes for more number one singles because "number one on any chart is better than number two or three.

"I'm a very competitive person, and I like being number one."

He says he's looking forward to the band's upcoming tour, which will include about 270 stops. He said that when the tour is finished, he'll start work on a third album.

In the meantime, he hopes for lots of "rowdy" audiences.

"I want people to get into my show," he said. "Most people don't realize that they get out of a show what they put into it. When the audience is singing along and really getting into the show, there's a great energy. I hate it when an audience is afraid to appear out of control."