Daryle Singletary brings flair to TV show during rodeo run

For those who have enjoyed Flint Rasmussen’s “Outside the Barrel” TV show, which goes live daily at Cowboy Christmas during the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, you’re about to get a second helping of that enjoyment.

Country music artist Daryle Singletary, long a fan of rodeo and the WNFR, and who in fact has done some team roping in his time, brings his flair to the same TV stage at the Las Vegas Convention Center’s South Hall. “Keepin’ It Country” debuted on Thursday and will continue each day of the WNFR, with the show starting at 1:15 p.m., right after Rasmussen’s show.

Singletary, who will perform the national anthem at the WNFR’s Sunday night go-round, talked about what fans can expect from his show, along with the unexpected possibilities and more.

Q: How did “Keepin’ It Country” come about?

A: I made friends with Steve Decker of Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (which runs the Hunter &Outdoor Expo as part of Cowboy Christmas). He had mentioned a few times about doing a show, so it’s been in the works a couple of years now. I met with Bo Gardner (of Las Vegas Events), we kind of built a friendship, and we agreed on a concept of how to do it and got a game plan together.

Q: Will Rasmussen have a role in your show?

A: Flint will play the mentoring role for me, since he’s the veteran of these kinds of shows. I met him at the rodeo in Lewiston, Idaho, about 15 years ago. We spoke there and built a friendship. Flint has always been good to me and been kind. He’s just a great guy.

Q: How will your show be structured?

A: I don’t want it to be like a regular Q&A show. My main goal in agreeing to do it is I didn’t want it to be too structured. Kind of more or less have a conversation. If something comes up, maybe I pick up my guitar and play a song. There are so many things we can do to keep it from being a sit-down and asking questions that everybody already knows the answers too.

Q: You mentioned playing a song. How do you expect your full-time job to work its way into the show?

A: Most of the guests will be fellow country artists. Mark Wills, Chuck Wicks, Josh Thompson, guests I have a little in common with and who have lived the country lifestyle. So you never know, it may just break out into a jam session. That’s what I want. That’s gonna be the coolest part of the show.

Q: It sounds like you’re looking for some good audience interaction too. How might that play out?

A: Maybe I go into the crowd and let them ask questions. Just kind of open this all up for an hour, and just roll with it. I just want it to be fun, exciting, and a little music never hurts the soul. And I want folks walking away knowing something they didn’t know before they came to the show. The stories behind the stories. I want them to leave saying, “Wow, I didn’t know that.”

Q: With that in mind, how about letting fans know something about you right now that they may not have known?

A: When I put my clothes on, I have a button-up starched shirt, starched jeans, belt with a buckle. My shirt buttons need to line up with my belt buckle. Everything has to be straight, or it just wears me out. I’m a little OCD, I guess. And I always tuck in my shirt. I was in a little untucked phase on stage for a while, and my grandmother, who has since passed away, went to one of my shows and said, “I wish you’d tuck your shirt in.” So I try to be neat in memory of my grandmother. Everything’s gotta be just right.