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Most of the people who write columns for North American Hunter travel to wild places where they hunt deer, turkeys, elk and bear. The “Media Watch” beat covers some different territory. Recently, I traveled half way across the US to go bird watching – whoops, misspelling, I was “Byrd” watching. In April, Country music star Tracy Byrd was playing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, and TNN invited me to come watch the show and interview Tracy in person. How can a pilgrim pass up a chance to visit Mecca? If you aren’t familiar with Tracy, then you must not listen to country and western radio stations. Since his 1992 debut CD, “Tracy Byrd,” this tall Texan has sold over five million albums with hits including “I’m From The Country,” “Keeper of the Stars,” and the rollicing “Watermelon Crawl,” all of which are included in his 6^th album “Keepers,” which includes 11 of his greatest hits. Even if you aren’t a country music fan, if you tune in to TNN Outdoors to watch those “other” outdoor shows, you’ll see Tracy doing the “wrap-arounds” between programs, as well as appearing on the Mossy Oak “Hunting The Country” show. Mossy Oak, incidentally, was the sponsor of Tracy’s 1998 “Hunting the Country” national concert tour; the same camo pattern that appears on the guitar of Tracy’s bass player, Bubba Moore. I believe that only Tracy Byrd and Ted Nugent have camouflage t-shirts, jackets and caps for their tours. Tracy Byrd is a man with boundless energy who loves what he is doing. The night before we met, he and his band had played for nearly four hours at a concert in Raleigh, North Carolina. Then they climbed on a red eye flight and flew to Nashville. I caught up with him on his tour bus around noon, about an hour before a benefit concert for 1500 that he played for the Special Olympics. A lot of times, when you interview a celebrity, you are surrounded by an entourage of agents, managers and publicists. They hover around like a flock of crows trying make sure that all the “right” things are said. While Tracy’s gracious publicist, Jackie Marushka, had set up the meeting, when it came time to set foot in the bus, it was just Tracy and I and Tony Dolle, Manager of Communications from TNN. And Tracy served up the Coca-Colas himself. My first question to Tracy, was “Why do you do the work for TNN?” He does not need the money. His answer, was two-part and speaks to Tracy, the man. “I love hunting and fishing. The TNN work gives me another avenue to express what I feel and love to do, and tell people that’s important to all of us,” was his first response. Now in his mid-thirties, Tracy has been hooked on the outdoors since his Grandmother started him fishing when he was five and hunting when he was six. “God has given me a gift,” he continues. “People look up to me and I believe that I have a responsibility to give something back to them. I want to support hunting, fishing and the out-of-doors. I believe that nature enhances my creativity. And, it probably kept me out of trouble when I was growing up,” he adds with a sheepish grin. (I am told that on his tour bus Tracy keeps a complete set of bass fishing tackle, waders, float tube, etc. that he uses whenever he can). This idea of giving something back is very important to Tracy. He sets a tone that should be a model for anyone who achieves stardom. As Tracy says, “You should use that power to help make the world a better place.” Tracy walks his talk. Five minutes after our interview ends, he’s on stage for a Special Olympics concert, one of several he has done for the Nashville Police Athletic League. In his home town, Beaumont, Texas, Tracy has organized an annual Homecoming event to benefit the Buckner’s Children and Family Services that serves families in 13 cities across his home state. Each October the event includes celebrity golf and bass fishing tournaments. Since its inception in 1994, Tracy’s Homecoming has raised over $350,000. Kenny Rogers has gotten assaulted with pies and protests for opening a string of fried chicken restaurants. A lot of Hollywood actors tell me that they are reluctant to go too public about hunting because they fear they will lose work. I asked Tracy about this. He smiled and said that he has only ever received one letter from a fan upset his hunting. This came about in response to an interview show when he talked about shooting his first animal, a squirrel, at age eight, with a .410. Only one. Otherwise, Tracy says, he has had a number of people tell him that they buy his music because he stands up for hunting. Tracy Byrd is a fountain of ideas. Aside from being a spokesman for TNN Outdoors, Tracy talks about several other projects he has in mind. A special one is that he and Toxey Haas at Mossy Oak are exploring a way to set up programs to take city kids on trips to natural areas. Tracy says, “The greatest thing that people can do is to take their children outdoors, hunting and fishing.” Again, a man of his word, Tracy is passing this heritage along to his son Logan, 17 months, who already spots deer while riding on his dad’s shoulders. And just last year, he paid back his grandma NaNa (now in her seventies) by taking her on her first turkey hunt. The first day out Tracy called in a big tom and Grandma got it on the first shot. Tracy Byrd does a lot for hunting. I asked him his advice on what the average person can do. “Set an example,” Tracy says quickly. “Everyone is an ambassador who helps make or break our image. We have to get away from a redneck mentality that you should kill as much as you can. Take only what you need, and do it with respect.” “Let ‘em know you hunt,” he continues. “And do community service; support charities. It doesn’t have to be about hunting or fishing. Let people know that hunters are caring people. Take kids into the out-of-doors. Help the needy. Things like that.” Tracy’s first albums are on the MCA label, but the ink was hardly dry on a new contract with RCA when we met. “MCA and I had done about as much for each other as we could,” he says. When that contract ended a number of other labels were hot in pursuit. “One reason why I signed with RCA,” he says, “Is that they liked my love for the outdoors.” Watch for his new RCA album, due out in October. Another album in the planning stage is a collection of songs by country stars that can raise money for wildlife conservation: a “’We Are the World’ album for the outdoors,” as Tracy puts it. It was an honor and a pleasure to be with Tracy and his crew for a day, which concluded with two appearances at the Grand Ole Opry. At that point, we two birds split, he headed for a plane to Orlando for his next concert, and me back for the city by the Bay to enjoy some fond memories. If you would like to do some Byrd watching, Tracy’s 1999 tour, “Outdoor Obsession,” is in progress all across the US. A quick way to get details on the migrations of Tracy Byrd is to log on to his website, http://tracybyrd.musiccitynetworks.com. If you do, you won’t be alone. In an average week 250,000 people visit Tracy’s web site. Byrd watching information is also available on the TNN website: www.country.com

SIDE BAR BRIEFS:

Kevin Costner Coming Out as a Hunter USA Week-end March 26-28, 1999, carried a short article about Kevin Costner and his forthcoming baseball movie, “For the Love of the Game.” The article concludes that Kevin’s favorite sports in real life “are hunting, fishing and mediocre golf.” A decade ago Costner gave us the Academy Award-Winning “Dances With Wolves,” that features an Indian buffalo hunt. When actors “come out” as hunters, let’s let them know we appreciate it.