Singer making country contemporary

It all began with a '78 Chevy Silverado with an orange interior and an eight-track tape deck.

It was his first truck -- his dad bought it for him when he was a teenager -- and it came with a few eight tracks left over from the previous owner: the "Urban Cowboy" soundtrack, a little Charlie Rich, some Kris Kristofferson.

"That was a big influence on me," Chris Heers recalls, tucked away at a table in the back of The Egg and I diner on a recent Tuesday morning. "That kind of kicked it off, I guess."

Heers grins at the recollection, having reason to smile these days.

The Las Vegas native, a throwback country singer with shaggy blond hair who mixes the earthy Americana of Steve Earle with a contemporary Nashville sheen and a touch of bluegrass and folk rock, has begun to have some chart success in some not-so-likely places with his full-length debut, "Western Stars."

Heers' recent single "Cow or Cowboy" hit No. 1 on the European Hot Disc Chart. He has been able to earn steady airplay by getting his songs on compilation albums serviced to various radio stations overseas, where he lived for a time during his college years.

"Maybe that's what got me to start working that market a little bit," he recalls of living abroad. "I didn't really think I'd have any success over there, but you do hear about songwriters who are having success over there who aren't as big here.

"It's an even playing field," Heers says of the European airwaves. "I'm on the chart right now with some pretty heavy duty Nashville guys, but they don't know who they are over there. They just like the songs."

Heers is beginning to gain some momentum stateside as well, as his buoyant two-stepper "Dirt Rich" recently hit the Top 75 of Nashville's MusicRow Breakout Chart, ahead of tunes by the likes of Brad Paisley and Gary Allan.

All of this has been hard-earned for a DIY artist such as Heers, who doesn't have a manager and financed the recording of "Stars" himself, which was tracked in Nashville with a cast of ace session players assembled by band leader Pat McGrath, who has worked with everyone from Alison Krauss to the Grateful Dead. It's a contemporary sounding record with a vintage feel.

Seeing that he's being interviewed, a waitress asks Heers what type of music he plays.

"Country," he answers, "old stuff."

Maybe so, but Heers is making it sound new, in his own way.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.