Reba's music makes connection with audience

Even as a part-time musician, Reba McEntire remains the gold standard for female country vocalists.

She performed a crowd-pleasing concert for an audience of about 9,000 Sunday night at the Indiana State Fair. On Tuesday, she'll be back in Los Angeles to begin taping the fourth season of her WB sitcom, "Reba."

In terms of being fit and in fashion, Hollywood seems to agree with the Oklahoma native. McEntire wore a shiny black tank top and a leather cuff on her left wrist throughout the show. She's 49, but she could perhaps pass for a dozen years younger.

The sun had yet to set when McEntire and her nine-member band arrived onstage. After two up-tempo numbers alternated with a pair of ballads, the show hit its stride on the fifth song -- her popular cover of Vicki Lawrence's "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia."

Despite the song being a somewhat hokey tale of botched backwoods justice, cheers went up when McEntire revealed herself as the little sister with the can't-miss shot.

Clearly, the owner of 22 No. 1 singles is a gifted storyteller. When McEntire can use a song's lyrics to make an emotional connection, she moves an audience in a way few performers can.

Since 1986, she's captivated listeners with "Whoever's in New England" -- her pledge of loyalty in the face of a partner's infidelity. At the fair, McEntire sang the classic ballad with complete sincerity.

Later came "The Greatest Man I Never Knew," a tribute to an emotionally detached father. McEntire didn't write this 1992 hit, but she convincingly framed it within her own experiences.

The live rendition of "Forever Love," a song recorded in 1998, became a solid and solemn tribute to American soldiers.

But the night's top reason to grab a Kleenex or two probably was "He Gets That from Me," a track from current album "Room to Breathe" that McEntire claimed to have never previously sung with her touring band.

The song initially lists ways a son resembles his mother (freckles, a tendency to sleep in each morning). When the narration turns achingly to his father, who's died, McEntire's 23rd No. 1 may be all locked up.

Among non-ballads performed, McEntire pulled out the stops for "Love Revival," also from "Room to Breathe."

Although the song's spiritual fervor aimed for house-rocking Bruce Springsteen but landed closer to the vanilla Mandrell Sisters, McEntire kept the song rolling until its charms were difficult to resist.

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