Published: July 18, 2008 10:25 am      

Chuck Allen Floyd to perform at 1896 Saturday night

Chuck Allen Floyd seems like an easy-going guy when he leans back with a guitar in hand, but once he hits the strings, the intensity of his performance strikes like a lightning bolt across the Oklahoma sky.

Or a Texas sky. Or a Tennessee sky.

Floyd has spent a lot of time in all three states while pursuing his musical career.

Now, Floyd is hoping his performance in McAlester on Saturday night will help push his new single and album farther up the Texas music charts.

The single is called “Livin’ Like A Rock Star (in a honky-tonk band), while his album is named “Tonight An Angel Fell.”

Floyd said he’s playing at 1896, at 315 E. Choctaw Ave., on Saturday night. He said he’s bringing his full band with him, but will also do some acoustic songs. While the doors will be open sooner, he plans to start playing around 8:30 or 9.

A student of musical history and an innovator at heart, he’s coupling modern technology with the time-tested tradition of country music performers upon releasing a new album. He’s making his CD available over the Internet and he’s also hitting the road.

While in McAlester, Floyd also hopes to hold a reunion with a buddy from his college days who he used to hold jam sessions with, McAlester attorney Jeremy Beaver.

Floyd said he’s recently traveled over a lot of territory.

“We’ve logged about 4,000 miles on a radio tour,” Floyd said.

Floyd, who’s currently splitting his time between Oklahoma and Tennessee, is hoping to gain airplay for his new single “Living Like a Rock Star (in a honky-tonk band).

It’s already hit the Texas music charts, he said. Floyd’s hoping to lasso some higher numbers if a few more stations add the recording to their play lists.

When Floyd recently made a stop in McAlester and learned an advance copy of his new CD “Tonight An Angel Fell” hadn’t been sent ahead of him to showcase his sound, he didn’t treat that as a major problem.

He simply walked outside for a minute and returned with an acoustic guitar in hand.

After noting that there’s a full band on the recording, he hammered out a riff and ripped into “Living Like a Rock Star.”

Ironically, some of the competition for his new single may be coming from himself. Another track on his album, a western swing tune called “Mean Old Texas,” is also garnering airplay.

Sort of a bonus track, Floyd said he and some buddies cut “Mean Old Texas” live in the studio, with no overdubbing at all.

His album includes a rarity for most albums coming out of Nashville these days — guitar solos that actually add something to the songs, instead of the paint-by-numbers solos on too many new records.

While Floyd delivers some strong performances on his new album, another of its strengths is in the writing. Floyd didn’t use any filler on his album.

One of it cleverest cuts is a song called simply “Two Words.” Floyd said he wanted to write a song that uses only two words in every verse. To his surprise, he pulled it off and the song is also proving to be one of the album’s popular cuts.

Like some major artists are doing these days, Floyd is releasing his debut solo CD on a label which he partly owns.

“It’s as independent as you can get,” he said. “It’s me, my dad and Ken Stoner, a lawyer in Oklahoma City.”

Floyd said being a writer for Clint Black’s publishing company has opened a lot of doors for him.

“Because I’ve got a publishing deal in Nashville, I’ve got access to studio time,” he said.

What’s it like to work as a songwriter for a publishing company in Nashville?

“Your work doesn’t start on Music Row until 10:30,” he said.

“Sometimes you’re there for three hours and you’re not feeling it.”

“Sometimes, at my house, we’ll write for three days. I write about 120 songs a year. It’s hard to say what a normal day is.”

It’s clear Floyd feels a lot of affection for the Nashville songwriting community.

“It’s such a fun group of people. It’s a fun thing to do,” he said.

Floyd uses modern production techniques — but he was careful not to make the sound too slick. Think Red Dirt country meets Nashville — grungy lead guitar solos, added with some tasty pedal steel and a fiddle that flies in and out as needed.

Floyd plans to keep performing, while continuing to write songs when he’s not on-stage.

He believes people in this part of the country have an affinity for hearing an artist’s original songs.

“The crowds around here — in Texas and Oklahoma — they like to hear what you do.”

Contact James Beaty at jbeaty@mcalesternews.com.