Gwinnett Daily Post

Special Photo. Country singer Tracy Lawrence will perform tonight at Wild Bill's in Duluth.

"Sticks and Stones," "Alibis," "If the World had a Front Porch," "Time Marches On," "Find Out Who Your Friends Are."

Those are some of the songs fans will hear live when country singer Tracy Lawrence takes the stage at Wild Bill's in Duluth tonight.

"We play a lot of the hits," the 41-year-old said. "I like to have a good, up-tempo show. I play a lot of dance tunes when we play honky tonks."

And while the long hair of his younger years is gone, Lawrence will still channel the persona that made him a hit in the early '90s.

"People still remember me with long hair and tight jeans," he said. "I put the cowboy hat on and I get onstage and I think in people's minds I'm still 25 years old."

Lawrence's attraction to country music began at a much younger age.

"I remember being obsessed with (Country Music Hall of Famer) Glen Campbell when I was 3, 4 years old," he said. "I would wear my hair like Glen, I had a little, plastic guitar. I was dreaming about it way back when."

And while country music has taken a turn from the roots of the music genre, with younger musicians' sounds leaning toward a pop label, Lawrence is still doing what he started out doing.

"I think there will always be a place for traditional artists," he said. "I don't want to be making Rascal Flatts records. To me, the honky tonk aspect, the Merle Haggard and the Waylon Jennings, that was the epitome of county music to me. There's a lot of stuff that's being made that I really dig, but it's not country."