`SUCCESS HASN'T CHANGED ME'; TAMMS, ILL. NATIVE SAYS PLAYING IN LEE GREENWOOD'S BAND IS `JUST WHAT I DO TO MAKE A LIVING'

Talent and a lot of determination can take you places, according to Steve Hornbeak, and one could say his career is a prime example of that theory.

A member of Lee Greenwood's band for a year and a half, the 27-year-old Hornbeak, a native of Tamms, Ill., and graduate of Egyptian High School, plays keyboard and sings back-up vocals for the country music star.

But that doesn't mean he's forgotten his roots.

"I remember cruising Broadway as a teenager, and hanging out at West Park Mall, and every time I get back to town I still have to go to BG's and eat some cheese balls," Hornbeak said in a telephone interview last weekend from Joliet, Ill. where the band was preparing to play that night. "I have a lot of fond memories of Cape and Tamms."

Hornbeak said he always figured he would end up working as an insurance salesman like his father. But after high school, a local band called "The Runaways" hired him to play saxophone. It was then that he learned to play the keyboard.

After staying with the band for three years, Hornbeak moved to Florida and played with the "Southland Band" and a group from Tampa called "Mosaic." It was while on the road with that band that Hornbeak came in contact with Greenwood.

"It's kind of strange," Hornbeak said. "He was staying in the same hotel where my band was performing, so I went to his room and stuck a tape under the door.

"I really wanted to meet him because he had been such a big influence on my career. He ended up coming down and playing with the band that night."

Hornbeak said he thought he had "made it" during that brief time when he shared the stage with Greenwood. But the real excitement came months later when Greenwood found himself in need of a keyboard player. Hornbeak got the call.

"When he called my house, I though it was a joke," he said. "But I went to Nashville to do an audition and he hired me."

Hornbeak speaks highly of Greenwood, and of his song "God Bless the USA" which, since the start of the Persian Gulf War, has become the patriotic song of choice among thousands of Americans.

"He's a very patriotic person, that song's not just for show," Hornbeak said. The band has performed another song, "The Great Defenders," for military troops now in the Gulf.

World travel and performing in front of such people as the president of the United States is part of his job. This summer, the band was featured for a week at Disney World in Florida.

Hornbeak said meeting celebrities and traveling to different parts of the country is the best part of the job. But he insists that life in show business hasn't changed him. "It's just what I do for a living, I don't go around bragging about it," he said.

"When people ask me for my autograph, I feel fortunate to be in a well-known band, but I also feel a little weird."

And Hornbeak said life in the band isn't as glamorous as it many seem. Constant traveling can take it's toll, especially on family life.

The band tours year-round, and some months are busier than others. One of the busiest months was August, when the band performed 28 nights.

He often goes for days or weeks without seeing his wife, Alida, who he married in 1986, and three-year-old daughter, Jaclyn. The family now is in the process of moving from their home in Florida to Nashville.

It's a move that Hornbeak said fits into his dream of someday getting his own recording contract.

"It's a definite plan of mine to go out on my own," he said. "I hope to get a cut on someone's album, just to get known as a writer."

Hornbeak has co-written a song with Greenwood and has written songs with other band members. Though he normally sings back-up, he said Greenwood has let him take center stage to perform a song he has written.

"He's real supportive, and wants us to go on after him, Hornbeak said. "All of the guys in the band are young, within two years of my age, so we're real energetic."

Hornbeak, who doesn't read music but plays "by ear," said his style of music is similar to Greenwood's. But he said he doesn't want to be a "Greenwood clone.

"I like to sing love songs, and our on-stage styles are similar," he said. "But give me a few years, and I'll have developed my own style."

Hornbeak said he often relies on personal experiences as inspiration for his song-writing. The women in his life often are the subject of his songs, he said.

The loss of his mother five years ago, was the inspiration for a song titled "Real Love."

"I wrote that in memory of her, and it deserves a Grammy in my opinion," he said. "But I also write about my wife, and I think my little girl will be a strong influence on my writing."

Hornbeak said he'll concentrate on his own career during the coming months and years, but he'll keep enjoying his time with Greenwood. As for making it on his own, he said he'll keep trying until he makes it.

"I always felt that I would make it," he said, "because I'm lucky enough to have a lot of determination."