After a false start eight years ago, 27-year-old country singer Joe Nichols has finally made a name for himself in Nashville. He's not living on Easy Street, and he doesn't expect to achieve headliner status any time soon.

But he seems to be on his way, and you can check him out Tuesday night when he christens the main stage at the 2004 Lane County Fair, 796 W. 13th Ave.

Nichols' first album, "Man With a Memory," has gone gold. The Academy of Country Music named him top new male vocalist of 2003.

He's also won awards from Country Music Television, Radio & Records, Billboard and Music Row magazine. He was nominated for several Grammy Awards.

	Joe Nichols will take to the Lane County Fair's Bi-Mart Mainstage at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

In roughly 18 months, Nichols went from singing at a Nashville ribs and beer joint to opening for Alan Jackson at the Gaylord Entertainment Center, making his Grand Ole Opry debut at the Ryman Auditorium and performing at the Fan Fair in Nashville Coliseum.

"I'm thankful to be livin' in this childhood dream come true," Nichols sings in a song from "Revelation," his second album. "But sometimes, the attention just leaves me con- fused."

Mission starts on "Impossible"

Nichols is not confused, however, about the hard work required to build a career in country music, particularly when you're a traditional singer based in a music capital where "everybody's looking for the next big crossover act."

In a two-page biography put out by his record company, Universal South, Nichols remarks that "If we can keep the momentum of the past year going without get burnt out by the pressure and falling to the hype, everything will be fine."

In a recent telephone interview, Nichols said that a year of touring as an opening act for Alan Jackson and six months doing the same for Brooks & Dunn has given him a pretty good idea of what it takes to be a headliner.

"What you need is a show full of hits," he says.

Billboard reported that "Impossible," a single from Nichols' debut album, was the 10th most-played song of 2002. Country Music Television rated his "Brokenheartsville" as the breakthrough video of 2003.

But Nichols says his singles seem to climb the charts slowly, and he's anticipating - having learned from an independent-label deal that fell through when he was 19 - a long haul to the top.

"Maybe in a couple years," he says.

As he works toward that goal, Nichols says he has around him "great people who help keep my head out of the clouds. True friends."

Nichols grew up in Rogers, Ark. His grandfather, father and uncles all were country musicians who played at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall and other local venues.

"I grew up watching my dad, and I wanted to be just like him," he says.

Nichols' father died of pulmonary fibrosis about two years ago, just as Nichols' Nashville star was rising. His new album concludes with "No Time to Cry," an Iris DeMent song about a busy musician who "hung around just long enough" to bury her father and then "caught a plane to do a show up north in Detroit town."

Like Randy Travis and Merle Haggard, Nichols has a low lonesome voice made in heaven for traditional country music. The mix of songs on "Revelation" is like Travis, but his vocal phrasing suggests Haggard.

This is no accident.

"That's from years and years of listening to his (Haggard's) music," he says.

It was difficult to find the right mix of good traditional songs for his debut album, or even his second, Nichols says, but now that he's shown what he's all about and what he can do, songwriters are bringing him their best traditional stuff.

"Revelation" includes two kickin' good ol' boys songs with a down-home sense of humor ("Don't Ruin It for the Rest of Us" and "What's a Guy Gotta Do?"), two religious songs ("If Nobody Believed in You" and the title track), two sigh-in-your-beer songs ("If I Ever Get Back" and "Farewell Party") and four tracks that Democratic and Republican politicians might call "values" songs - wistful, nostalgic and sensitive: "The Shade," "I Wish That Wasn't All," "Things Like That (These Days)" and "Singer in a Band."

It is the straight stuff, nothing fancy. But the lyrics are smart, Nichols has a great voice, and the album has tracks for line dancers, two-steppers and bourbon-sippers alike.

Some sample lines:

• "So you're gettin' married, good for you/ It's the first inning and the Braves are down by two/ Grab a seat and keep your big mouth shut."

• "I could stay right here and hold you close for 10 forevers in a row."

• "I never had a dollar that would buy me what I'm feeling."

• "We take His name out of the schools/ The lawyers say it breaks the rules/ The Pledge of Allegiance cannot be read/ And `under God' should not be said."Related:

Event Preview: Lane County Fair marks 120 years of August fun

Three-ringed music circus