Tracy Byrd at the Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center -- August 19.
Saturday, August 19, 8 p.m.
Rhythm City Casio Resort Event Center, 7077 Elmore Avenue, Davenport IA
An Academy of Country Music Award winner with more than a dozen top-10 Billboard hits to his credit, singer/songwriter Tracy Bryd headlines an August 19 concert at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center, the multi-platinum-selling artist's smash singles including the chart-topping “Holdin' Heaven,” “I'm from the Country,” and “Ten Rounds with Jose Cuervo.”
A native of Vidor, Texas, the 56-year-old Tracy Lynn Byrd first attended Lamar University in Beaumont, and then began studying business at Texas State University. While pursuing his academics, Byrd also sang with the Beaumont-based band band Rimfire, and after he was heard singing a cover of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart" at a local mall's recording studio, the studio's was so impressed with his version that he entered Byrd into a local talent competition. Byrd consequently signed with MCA Records in 1992, and that same year, he released his first single, "That's the Thing About a Memory." in 1992. The young artist officially broke through with the number-one hit "Holdin' Heaven'," the third release from Byrd's self-titled debut album released in April of 1993.
Debuting in 1994, No Ordinary Man was Byrd's second album, and also his highest-selling one, earning a double-platinum certification for U.S. sales of two million copies. All four singles from the album reached Billboard's top five on the County chart: "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous," "Watermelon Crawl" (which was also Byrd's first entry on the Billboard Hot 100), "The First Step," and "The Keeper of the Stars." This later song, a love ballad, became a popular choice for fans to use at their weddings, and Byrd's number also won Song of the Year at the Academy of Country Music in 1995. MCA had not originally planned to issue this song as a single, until Byrd commented that it had been receiving favorable reactions whenever he sang it in concert.
Since then, Byrd has released eight additional studio albums, among them the top-10 Billboard sensations Love Lessons, I'm from the Country, and The Truth About Men. Songs that have made the top 10 of Billboard's Country Singles chart, meanwhile, include “Love Lessons,” “Big Love,” “Don't Take Her She's All I Got,” “I Wanna Feel That Way Again,” “Just Let Me Be in Love,” and “Drinkin' Bone.” And in addition to authoring 2003's Eat Like a Byrd: The Tracy Byrd Cookbook - a work published in tandem with Byrd's launch of a line of spices, rubs, and marinades to go along with it - the country star has amassed considerable professional accolades, earning nominations from the American Music Awards, the Country Music Association Awards, the Academy of Country Music Awards, and the TNN?Music City News Awards.
Tracy Byrd plays his Event Center engagement on August 19, admission to the 8 p.m. concert event is $30-60, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)328-8000 and visiting RhythmCityCasino.com.
