DARYLE SINGLETARY: SMALL TOWN, BIG DREAM

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Life couldn't get much more exciting for Daryle Singletary. He just got married, his achy single "I Let Her Lie" rose to number two on the country charts this week, and when he takes the Show Me Center stage Friday night he'll be fronting his very own band for the first time.

Friday's performance will signal the beginning of Singletary's first tour, a string of dates he is sharing with headliner Lorrie Morgan. Show time is at 7:30 p.m.

This is heady stuff for a self-confessed "mama's boy" from Whigham, Ga., population 1,000 and one red light.

Singletary moved to Nashville on Oct. 14, 1990, at the urging of his father and mother. He, a postal worker, and she, a hairdresser, said their son ought to give the big time a real shot.

"For a month I cried every night wanting to come home," he said. "I was glad I was never told to."

Singletary didn't work any traditional jobs -- "I didn't come to Nashville to work a 40-hour week," he said -- but threw himself into a traditional job for those striving for Nashville stardom -- making demos. Evenings, wherever an "open mike night" was held, Singletary was there.

His break came when he got a job selling concessions at Randy Travis concerts. The road crew gave one of Singletary's demos to Travis' wife and manager, Lib. She eventually signed him to a management contract and her husband helped Singletary pick the songs for his first album.

With a voice some have compared to country legend Keith Whitley, Singletary recorded a self-titled album and released his first single -- "I'm Living Up to her Low Expectations" -- last March.

Besides songs from his album, Singletary's live show also offers a George Jones medley and covers of songs by Merle Haggard and others.

Singletary's wife, Kerry, is also a country singer. "She's trying to get it all working like I did a few years ago," he said.

Sharing the stage with beauteous country diva Lorrie Morgan is another kick for Singletary. "I love Lorrie Morgan's singing. She's a great country lady singer," he said.

Morgan, whose new single "Back in Your Arms Again" is at number nine on the country charts, is best-known for the singles "Watch Me," "Something in Red" and "What Part of No (Don't You Understand)."

The story of her life sounds like a movie nobody would believe.

The daughter of Grand Ole Opry star George Morgan, she appeared on that hallowed stage for the first time at age 13. Her father died when she was 16. At 20 she married George Jones' steel guitarist and a year later was a divorced mother.

Morgan then married Keith Whitley, the same man Singletary sounds so much like. Whitley died of alcohol poisoning.

She also married and divorced Clint Black's bus driver, then had a very public romance with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman.

The country star now is romantically involved with U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

Morgan comes to the Show Me Center in support of her sixth album, titled "Greatest Hits."