COLLIN RAYE BACK IN THE SUN.

Byline: Paul Andersen Correspondent

Collin Raye has had an impressive career so far in country music. In the last 12 years, he has had 24 top-10 hits, with 14 of them reaching the top spot on the country charts. Platinum and gold have become his standard colors. And he has done this by singing songs that often carry potent messages, tackling subjects such as child abuse, alcoholism, racial prejudice and other social issues that aren't usually covered in popular music, much less country and western.

He has also brought unabashed romance and pathos to the forefront. ``In This Life'' has become a favorite at weddings, while the lyrics of ``Love, Me'' have graced tombstones. Obviously, Collin Raye strikes a chord with his fans.

But about a year ago, the singer decided it was time to make a change. So he got Sony Nashville to release him from his recording contract and stepped away from the studio.

``There is a downside to success early in your career,'' said the singer, who is performing at the Canyon in Agoura Hills on Saturday, over the phone from his Nashville home. ``Sometimes, it stifles creativity and you start to lose sight of what you originally came to town for. You end up on this treadmill, kind of like a laboratory mouse, just chasing your tail. It starts getting hard to make fresh music with 27 producers telling you what to do. So I told Sony I loved them and then begged out of my contract.

``I've never lost my passion to play live, and I never will, but the recording side of the business is a completely different world. There is no audience to feed off of, just four gray walls where you hope you get it right. And that last album was a real fight. So it was time to clean the exhaust pipes.''

Doing 'something different'

Now, Raye is hungry to create music again. ``I'm excited again, and I feel I can bring something special to the party,'' he said. ``Country and western music is kind of formulaic right now, and it seems poised for something different.''

Raye returns to the studio in three weeks to start work on a new album for a label that he can't name yet. ``They want to do some big press release, and I'll never understand why,'' he said, laughing. ``It's like this industry secret. But I am really thrilled with this other project I just completed, something that I've wanted to do for a long time.''

Eastern Europe and Russia represent a giant, largely untapped market for American music, including country. Anyone who doesn't believe that has never heard Bering Strait, the young Russian bluegrass/country band whose story has become a favorite in the media. Now, Raye is ready to cross the Bering Strait himself.

``I realized soon after touring over there that there are tens of millions of people hungry to hear American music, and I found a producer who felt I was versatile enough to enter that market,'' the singer explained. ``So I've recorded an album geared predominantly to them - it's got a late-'80s/early-'90s pop feel, kind of like something by Bryan Adams or Richard Marx. It wasn't by design - we didn't set out in advance that way, it is just how it worked out. This one is really no different from any of my other records - the songs always dictate how it sounds.''

The odds are good that the album - which for now is only being released overseas - should do well. Producer Stan Cornelius, who helmed Raye's first album (a pre-solo effort under the banner of the Wrays, a group Raye co-led with his brother, Scott) was executive producer of the recent debut by Bering Strait. He also lived for a while in Russia.

``The first thing I asked him was, 'Would I have to learn Russian?' '' Raye said. ``Luckily, most of the rest of the world is pretty competent in English, but we did work lyrically to make it understandable to a wider audience. Over here, if you say 'Chevy' or 'bar and grill,' people know what you are talking about. We stayed with songs that would translate easily. And this one was especially fun, because there were no rules; we just did what felt good.''

Even while he was recharging his batteries, Raye never stopped touring. ``I think it must be part of my gypsy blood,'' he said, laughing. ``I've never really felt truly attached to one place. I was born in Arkansas and grew up in Texas, lived out West for a while, and now I live in Nashville, but really, wherever my kids are, that's home to me.

``I sometimes think that if music hadn't worked out, maybe I would have become a foreign correspondent or something. I always like to be in the thick of it.''

With the state of the world being what it is, Raye, like many of us, has been thinking a lot about what it means to be an American. ``I've been patriotic all my life, and I've always had that as part of my show. But since 9-11, it has been more so. I found something (patriotic) that works in the show - the key is being subtle and from the heart - and it has really become the highlight in the last few shows.''

The entertainer

Raye considers it his duty to provide an escape to his fans, if just for a few hours. ``I always believed my job as a live entertainer was the same as a movie theater, where you might touch on a number of emotions as you ride that roller coaster. And especially these days, with the world so unsure and divided in so many ways, we have to be like a Band-Aid in this business. You have to remind people that it's OK, we've been through this before, and we'll be OK again.''

He cites the Andrews Sisters and Abbott and Costello as examples of what he is trying to purvey. ``That Yankee Doodle spirit, through world wars, Vietnam, even the Depression, it was boots on, move on, look forward. That is what makes this nation great, that we're always moving forward. And music is a great soul healer in a time of crisis.

``Besides,'' the singer said, chuckling, ``I live a rather sheltered life, but when I go on stage, suddenly I have a lot of friends. They lift me up, and I owe it to them to lift them up, too.''

COLLIN RAYE

Where: The Canyon, 28912 Roadside Drive, Agoura Hills.

When: 9 p.m. Saturday.

Tickets: $34.50. Call [phone]; www.canyonclub.net.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

After asking for - and receiving - a release from his Sony Nashville recording contract about a year ago, country star Collin Raye is ready to start work on a new album.

Box:

COLLIN RAYE (see text)