Redneck finale

Two weeks after suffering a heart attack, Grammy and CMA award winner John Anderson sauntered on stage Saturday night at the SEMO District Fair for his second performance since being released from the hospital.

Headlining the fair's Operation Redneck show, which also included David Ball and Shenandoah, Anderson took the stage last and briefly greeted the crowd and then performed two songs before he shouted, "My name is John Anderson, and we're just proud to be here, I guarantee it."

Instead of taking it easy after emergency angioplasty, he paced around the stage, frequently waved at fans and belted out his hits in his trademark twang. He didn't mention the heart attack until the end of the performance, when he thanked fans for their letters.

The fans repaid him with wild applause and shouting. Even before the performance, Dorothy Sides of Oak Ridge joined other fans in snapping up Anderson merchandise. Sides bought two T-shirts and an unsigned color photo.

"I can't wait. I'm fired up," she said.

Anderson, 48, who last performed in Cape Girardeau at the Show Me Center in March 2001, was set to perform for an audience at Charleston, Va., on Aug. 30 but was rushed to the Charleston Area Medical Hospital that afternoon with a blocked coronary artery.

"He was trying to get out of the hospital bed to go play the show that night," said Anderson's road manager, Woody Wood.

Instead, Anderson followed doctors' orders after his Sept. 2 hospital release to rest for two weeks at his home in Smithville, Tenn., before resuming his tour at the White County Fair in Searcy, Ark., Friday night in front of an audience of about 3,000 people, Wood said.

The show in Virginia was only the second Anderson has missed in his near 30-year career, Wood said. The first was a decade ago, when the artist suffered from kidney stones.

Born Dec. 12, 1955, in Apopka, Fla., Anderson had his first No. 1 single in 1982 with "Wild And Blue." His 1983 hit "Swingin'" -- the largest-selling country single in label Warner Bros. history -- crossed over to pop radio and was named single of the year by the Country Music Association.

His awards include a Grammy in 1996 for "Amazing Grace: A Country Salute To Gospel" and the 1994 CMA Album of the Year for "Common Threads: The Songs of the Eagles."

Another Operation Redneck act, country singer David Ball, opened the fair's final show. As he was playing "Riding with Private Malone," Angie Snider of Cape Girardeau sang along, swaying to the music.

"Just listening to the words about the soldier pulling him out of the car, it just gives me chills," she said.

But where Ball touched hearts, Shenandoah got the audience clapping and dancing. Jeff Hofner and Brenda Scott, both of Cape Girardeau, got up in front of the stage and danced to "Next to You, Next to Me" in the spotlight, receiving enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.

"I love to dance. We like to boot and scoot," a red-faced Hofner said after his impromptu performance.

Shenandoah also satisfied fans with their hits "Church on Cumberland Road" and "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

mwells@semissourian.com

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