The "twang" was back in country music in Denver, at least on this snowy Friday, evening. You see, you just can't get it out of the voice. If you like your country music served up well-done and a little bit hard around the edges then the Grizzly Rose was the place to be.

John Anderson appeared on stage and proved yet again that his vocal talent is unmatched by anyone among the current crop of country performers. He is one of the few artists ever, with the ability to match the vocal power and swings of George Jones, the phrasing of Lefty Frizzell and the gritty sincerity of Merle Haggard.

Anderson has proclaimed his allegiance to country music, in both interviews and in song with such numbers as the 1986 release, "Countrified," and in the first single release of the 1994 CD of the same name, "Country 'Til I Die." He was, in fact, one of the first "New Traditionalists" on the scene (long before Randy Travis and others). Yet he is no purist and plays, what he calls, different types of country music, from hard-driving, up-tempo rockabilly to R & B as well as traditional hard-core honky- tonk.

Indeed, on his recordings, he can belt out a good rock 'n' roll song (with covers of songs by the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan & the Georgia Satellites among others) or rhythm and blues songs ("Twelve Bar Blues," "A Little Rock & Roll [and some Country Blues]" from an early album, and "It ain't Pneumonia, It's the Blues" found on the new CD release, to name a few).

He seldom performs these types of songs live, thus, his rousing cover of Willie Dixon's "I Just Want to Make Love to You" during which he played a supercharged harmonica, was a special treat for those at the Grizzly Rose last night.

John Anderson can wrap his voice around a country song and make you believe you're living it. His renditions of "I Wish I Could Have Been There," "1959," "I Just Came Home to Count the Memories" and "Let Go of the Stone" make the listener ache over days gone by, opportunities lost and time misspent.

The show opened with a 1994 hit about the simple pleasures of life, "I've Got it Made" after which Anderson moved easily through other cuts from his recent Solid Ground (1994) and Seminole Wind (1992) CDs. Songs performed included, "I Fell in the Water," the crowd-pleasing, light-hearted "Money in the Bank," "When it Comes to You" (written by Marc Knopfler) and "Straight Tequila Night," a song that laid around Nashville for several years during the time it had become politically incorrect to record "drinking" songs. This song became a #1 hit and was the recording that put Anderson back into heavy rotation on the nation's country music radio stations.

Some older material is still in the act. "Swingin," his giant 1983 hit repackaged in the current CD release, is always a huge crowd favorite and together with "Black Sheep," "I'm Just an Old Chunk of Coal (but I'm Gonna be a Diamond Someday)" and "Wild and Blue" is representative of the type of strong material Anderson was recording as far back as 1981.

Two of the best songs of the evening were Anderson's current singles release "Bend it Until it Breaks" co-written with Lionel Delmore (with whom he has written some of his best material over the years) and his mega-hit of 1992, "Seminole Wind." The lonesome, haunting fiddle playing of Joe Spivey was superb, and the driving relentless swamp beat of the songs (helped along by Tommy Rivelli's pulsing drums) seemed to push Anderson's vocals to their strongest and best. When he sings like that, he has no equal.

Anderson next played two more releases from his newest CD, "Where the Children Have Gone" and "Mississippi Moon." The latter will be the next video and single release. Anderson has had two productions, the Solid Gold CD and Greatest Hits I CD achieve gold status this year, and with more than 19 albums and CDs (including a Christmas CD and a couple of hits compilations) he certainly has plenty of recordings from which to choose concert material.

In previous recent tours, Anderson has continued to play many of his older hits of the early 1980s, introducing the songs to the many music fans who have only recently started listening to country radio. He never appeared to tire of singing these songs and, certainly, no one seemed to tire of hearing them. Now, there is so much new material with which to work, some of the old favorites are starting to drop off the concert playlist. One only wishes there was time enough to keep them all in the performance.

In interviews and on television, John Anderson appears to have a warm, engaging personality. On stage, however, he is somewhat reserved. His look and manner haven't changed much over the years. He moves fairly quickly from one song to the next and has only limited interaction with the audience. Last night he poured all of his energy into the songs, letting the music speak for itself.

The Journal of Country Music, in a poll conducted this past year, asked 40 top country music executives to list the most underrated and overrated artists. John Anderson is considered one of the most underrated artists on the country music scene. I guess if one is partial to the sound-alike, formula-driven songs that come out of Nashville these days, then John Anderson can be a tough sell. There are those who think his voice is "too country." The fact that he was allowed to disappear from the country charts for several years, though still producing fine music, says something troubling about the Nashville music-making machine.

There is seemingly endless discussion these days about what country music is, how to define it. But maybe "what it is" can't be verbalized. Maybe it's something that's intuitively internalized by listening. Maybe, just maybe, it's a lot like what you heard last night. For those who start to tire of the smooth and the bland, do yourself a favor - give Anderson a listen, or two or three, you just might like it.

John Anderson Photo Album

Mountain West Music 2002