FLORENCE — The line of autograph seekers snaked about 100 yards and didn't seem to shrink for the hour that the PovertyNeck Hillbillies were on the Country Thunder stage Saturday afternoon.
For every 10 folks who disappeared in the Zia Records tent to meet newcomer Sarah Buxton, another 12 took their place. Finally, a security guard at the end of the line cut them off and turned away dozens of folks anxious to shake hands with a singer whose debut album hasn't even hit stores.
Buxton coaxed them there after an hourlong set that covered almost every tune on her anticipated Lyric Street debut album, due out this summer.
The audience of several thousand was familiar with one, maybe two songs: her first single, "Innocence," which peaked in the 30s on the Billboard charts last fall, and her new single, "That Kind of Day," which has been on the radio for a few weeks. But no one sang along to the rollicking "Where Are the Cowboys" or her lovely ballad "Full-Grown Woman" that she wrote for her mother, which was pretty much what Buxton anticipated.
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The fact she is unknown is not lost on Buxton, who has been waiting for her record to get to stores since last April.
"Here's my new single, which you probably haven't heard," she said, then belted out the can-my-day-get-any-worse ditty. (Well, yes it can, we learn when she sang the line about the older woman who flipped her the bird. Yeah, that kind of day.)
When she was halfway into the tune, the crowd, which had been gracious and warmed to her with every song, started singing along, and women turned to one another with a knowing smile like they had had that kind of day.
Buxton, dressed in a long flowing shirt that hung to her thighs and a pair of boots, kicked about the stage like a veteran diva. She skipped, twisted and swirled and her loose-fitting blouse caught the breeze, billowing to reveal the cut-off jean shorts she wore beneath it.
Her voice, a rough-hewn, lived-in alto, was a bit strained, likely a result of the dry climate that is foreign to the Lawrence, Kan., native. She had trouble getting on the softer register when she sang her self-penned ballad "Stupid Boy," which Keith Urban has turned into a hit single. But she didn't let it stop her from reaching deep until every ounce of her vocal power was spent.
Buxton, 26, told the audience that she is not used to the dry climate. She's also not used to playing before such a large audience. Although the crowd was not at its fullest — that would come later when headliners Gretchen Wilson and Big & Rich took the stage late Saturday — it was the biggest she had stood before as a singer, Buxton told them.
It was probably one of the PovertyNeck Hillbillies' largest audiences, as well.
The unsigned sextet from Pittsburgh took advantage of the opportunity to show off with its high-energy brand of country that borrows from Southern rock and traditional.
Chris Higbee, the muscular fiddle player, must have downed a few dozen energy drinks before taking the stage. He couldn't stand still, bouncing in place as he lit into the fiddle and sang backup to lead singer Chris Abbondanza, whose baritone was as infectious as his swagger, a cool strut that had a bit of Tim McGraw to it.
This is a band that you hope captures the attention of Nashville and lands a national record deal. They were so much fun to watch, belting out songs about getting the gal, drinking beer and getting the most out of life.
If you go
What: Country Thunder USA.
Where: Canyon Moon Ranch, 20585 E. Price Road, off Arizona 79, Florence..
Schedule
The festival concludes today. Noon, Chasin' Mason; 1 p.m., Gary Nichols; 2:15, Williams & Ree; 3:45, Trick Pony; 5, Neal McCoy; 6:30, Phil Vassar; 8, Montgomery Gentry.
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