Country Music Star Rises to the Top
By Johanne Jean-Jacques, 11.19.04

The Country Music Association’s Male Vocalist of the Year Keith Urban is definitely a wonder from down under, especially to his female fans. The slim, blond-haired, jean-clad singer/guitarist from Australia recently electrified a mainly female audience in Fairfax, Va.

The Country Music Television-sponsored “Be Here” tour is Urban’s first crack at being a headliner.

“He makes me feel young again” said 47-year-old fan Pauline Southall, who came to see Urban for the first time in concert.

Southall said Urban’s music set was never boring.

Urban’s brand of country and rock music has gained him an ever-growing fan base since he hit the Nashville music scene in 1992.

He has opened for major acts, such as Brooks and Dunn, Martina Mcbride and Kenny Chesney. Urban is known for his guitar skills and is a well sought out studio musician.

His latest album “Be Here,” released in September, just spawned his fifth number one single, “Days Go By.” The album debuted at number one and has remained on Billboard’s top ten country albums for six weeks.

It’s not too late to catch this Aussie import as he treks across America on the first leg of a 21-city music tour.

Not a stranger to experimentation, Urban opened up his set alone at the Patriot Center. With house lights dimmed, he sat up high on a platform and played a slow, acoustic version of “Days Go By.”

As the song slowed down in tempo, the stage lights were dimmed completely. Suddenly the spotlights flooded the stage and Urban ran out to the main stage – trailed by a new back up band - playing a rock version of “Days Go By.”

It’s Urban’s penchant for the unexpected that kept the crowd on the edge of their seats and on their feet, singing and clapping through the singer’s catalog of music.

Urban’s rock guitar skills were prominently showcased in songs such as “Raining on Sunday” and “You look Good in my Shirt.” His spellbinding guitar riffs kept the crowd charged.

But in other moments, he calmed the crowd by simply playing his acoustic guitar on songs such as “You’ll Think of Me” and “These Are the Days.”

Urban played with the crowd, by occasionally waving, smiling to fans and encouraging singalongs.

Some of Urban's life experiences have been reflected through his music. Southall said she could tell that Urban had gone through some difficult times in his life. “You could hear it in his music,” she said.

Perhaps that’s because Urban has co-written most of his music and admits to writing about his many life experiences.

In a surprise moment, Urban laid down his guitar and played the keyboard on his song “Tonight I Wanna Cry.” It’s about a man who admits that he is drunk enough to cry, after experiencing a broken romance.

Urban gave up drinking sometime ago, but said the song captured a past moment in his life.

But the singer also plays songs of other artists as well. He treated fans to an improvised version of Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin.”

And fans loved it.