DEANA CARTER PERFORMS WITH PLEASING SIMPLICITY (REVIEW)

First, I'm not a country music fan. The only way I'd know Shania Twain from Mark Twain is the mustache -- his of course.

Up to this week I'd never heard Deana Carter's top country single "Strawberry Wine," and I didn't know what to expect from her "Did I Shave My Legs For This?" concert at Peppy's Tuesday night.

I must have been the only person in town who didn't know what to expect as Peppy's sold nearly 500 tickets for the show.

And even though this concert didn't make me want to change my religion or buy a pair of snakeskin boots -- or even shave my legs -- I honestly enjoyed it.

The best part of Carter's performance was its simplicity.

She sings about things she's encountered in her life and prefaces each song by telling the audience where it came from. She then delivered the lyrics in a wispy, sweet voice tinged with a fair amount of twang.

She paused after each song, sipped from a water bottle or a bottle of beer, then talked to her audience in a simple friendly way. She also smiled and flirted with the audience during nearly the entire performance -- even inviting one man up to dance during "And We Danced Anyway," her newest release.

The man nearly got thrown out by Peppy's bouncers before it could be explained that he was invited to the dance and not a gate crasher.

"I think I broke the rules," Carter said as she watched in amazement as the bouncers gently but firmly led the man to the door.

It's hard not to have a good time when it seems so obvious that the performer is enjoying herself so much.

Carter did have a couple crying-in-your-beer country ballads that were beautifully accompanied by Loretta Brank on the violin -- excuse me, fiddle. Her best songs though were not so easily classified.

The title track off "Did I Shave My Legs For This?" was too funny to be considered a ballad. It's essentially about a woman's thoughts after a bad date. When Ed Berghoff, Carter's guitarist/mandolin player, added his deep voice to the chorus -- asking himself "Did I Shave My Legs For This?" -- it was enough to make me order a Dixie beer.

"And We Danced Anyway" was energetic and flowing while "Strawberry Wine" surprisingly changed from a sweet, sentimental song at the beginning to a near-rock instrumental by the end.

Carter's uncomplicated and engaging singing made it easy for her to borrow from different musical styles and incorporate them into her show. I was surprised by many things about the concert, not the least of which was how much I enjoyed it.