Casino Scene: Gary Allan stays out of limelight, high on the charts

In this celebrity-obsessed age, entertainers, always desperate to stay in the public eye and finding a microphone never far away, often feel the need to over share, to open up to the world their every thought on all matter of topics that have little to do with their craft.

In this context, the stubborn silence of country star Gary Allan, who performs at 9 p.m. Saturday at Horseshoe Casino's Bluesville, is refreshing. Allan is the biggest country star you've never heard of. Though he tours constantly and continues to place albums and singles in the upper reaches of the charts, since the suicide of his third wife in 2004, he has mostly stayed out of the media limelight. He rarely gives interviews and largely avoids country music's ubiquitous award shows and social events.

A quiet nature has kept country artist Gary Allan largely out of sight but hardly out of earshot, with a commendable collection of hit singles and albums to his credit.

Such reclusiveness would doom most music careers, most of all in the country field, where performers and fans have always enjoyed an unusually close, even intimate relationship. But Allan's has scarcely missed a beat.

Originally from La Mirada, Calif., just outside of Los Angeles, Allan was something of a honky tonk prodigy, early on emulating the hard country style of the nearby Bakersfield Sound. He started playing bars with his father when he was 13 and by 15 had been offered his first record deal. Allan waited, however, until he had become a more seasoned performer before taking the Nashville leap. His debut album, Used Heart For Sale (the title is an allusion to Allan's former career as a used car salesman), came out in 1996 when the singer was 30.

In all, Allan has released seven studio albums, including 2001's Alright Guy, whose title track was penned by former Memphian Todd Snider, and 2005's Tough All Over, a deeply personal outing that, along with an Oprah Winfrey interview, comprise some of Allan's only public comments on the death of his wife. All of Allan's album, as well as his 2007 greatest hits package, have gone at least gold. He has charted 17 top 40 country singles and four number ones, including "Man to Man," "Tough Little Boys" and "Nothing On But the Radio."

Allan's most recent album is 2007's Living Hard, which features the hit singles "Watching Airplanes," "Learning How To Bend," and the ode to his home state "She's So California."

Tickets are $50 and are available at the Horseshoe box office and through all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information, visit horseshoetunica.com.

No Show Jones Show

Like Allan, country legend George Jones, who has a two-night engagement this weekend at Sam's Town Casino's River Palace Entertainment Center, doesn't do many interviews these days, though for a different reason: At age 77, he simply doesn't have to.

It's not like the Possum -- to use one of the many nicknames Jones has acquired over the years, others being "No Show Jones," for his drug-fueled habit in the '70s and '80s of blowing off gigs, and, of course, the one that counts the most, "The Greatest Living Country Singer" -- doesn't have anything to talk about. After more than 50 years in the business, Jones still records and tours constantly. Twice a year he runs his country music college, a three-day clinic for music biz aspirants called George Jones University.

This week he turns his teaching skills on a crop of noncountry celebrities, including Monkee Micky Dolenz and George Clinton, on CMT's reality show "Gone Country." And this fall he capped off his already lengthy list of awards by receiving the Kennedy Center Honors.

Show time is 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $50 in advance, $60 day of show. Tickets are available at the Sam's Town box office and through all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information, visit samstowntunica.com.

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