You will hear the comments soon after Easton Corbin opens his mouth to sing on Saturday.
The inevitable comparison to George Strait: a similar silky baritone with a shimmering twang. The ability to wrap himself up in a lyric and live in it.
"It don't bother me," Corbin says with an aw-shucks tone. "It's just an honor and very flattering that folks think I sound like him because he's a legend. Like I always say, there'll never be another George Strait; he's one of a kind."
It is not that Corbin is attempting to sound like Strait. His sound draws from what he heard growing up - Strait, Merle Haggard, Keith Whitley and George Jones.
"My grandparents and my dad, they all loved that stuff and I grew up around it," said Corbin, 29, who was raised on his grandparents' cattle farm in rural Gilchrist County, Fla.
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Corbin, who earned a bachelor's degree in agriculture business in Florida before setting out for Nashville four years ago, introduced himself in late 2009 with the rural life checklist "A Little More Country Than That."
And the comparisons to Strait began.
Radio stations were flooded with callers requesting "that new George Strait song" or the song by "that guy who sounds just like Strait." The song topped Billboard's country charts in spring 2010 - making Corbin the first male artist in seven years to see his debut single go to No. 1.
The follow-up single "Roll With It" from his eponymous debut album topped the charts last October. Last week, his third single, the haunting ballad "I Can't Love You Back," broke the Top 20.
"Country radio's been real good to me," Corbin said. "I've been really blessed."
Corbin is something of a rarity among Nashville's new class of artists. He's a neo-traditionalist trading on country's twangy past, but he wisely gives passing nods to contemporary sensibilities. His music sounds every bit as relevant and radio-friendly as the hits churned out by crossover superstars like Lady Antebellum and Taylor Swift.
"There's room for all kinds of different music in Nashville," said Corbin, whose first tour outing was last summer's Brad Paisley H20 Tour. "The more variety we have in country music, the more people that it brings to the format. It's good."
Saturday's Pima County Fair show is part of a string of solo headlining dates that will take Corbin through early summer. In July, he joins Rascal Flatts for its Flatts Fest tour through August.
"The fans have fun out here and they seem to like what we do," he said.
If you go
• What: Easton Corbin in concert.
• Presented by: Pima County Fair.
• When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
• Where: Pima County Fairgrounds' Budweiser Main Stage, 11300 S. Houghton Road.
• Cost: Included in fair admission: $8 for adults, $2 for kids 6 to 10, free for children 5 and younger.
Other shows
• 8 p.m. Friday - Michael Salgado.
• 7:30 p.m. Sunday - Los Tigres del Norte.
