Unapologetic country musician Gary Allan excited for Lima show

Mar. 18—LIMA — If he's nothing else, Gary Allan is blunt. He doesn't avoid questions — about his personal life, the response of country radio to his latest music, the song he wrote about his late wife that "I've never been able to sing live."

But Allan's fans expect nothing less of the La Mirada, Calif., native who burst onto the country scene in 1996 with a debut album — "Used Heart for Sale" — that included the Top 10 single "Her Man." Once word got out about the throwback artist who sang about the hurt, pain and joy of real life with his rich baritone, the accolades and record sales grew exponentially.

Persistence and an unflinching belief in the music paid off and he's back on stage where he gets to do what he loves most and will share with Lima at Veteran's Memorial Civic Center on Friday night. Some tickets are still available via limaciviccenter.com/garyallan for #49, $59, $89 and $125. The opening act is George Birge, best known for his original song "Beer Beer, Truck Truck."

Allen appreciates the opportunity to perform in front of people now more than ever after having the rush of being on stage taken from him for more than a year due to the pandemic.

Allan lists fellow Californians Merle Haggard and Buck Owens as influences and says he listens to "everything Merle ever wrote." He enjoys the music of Waylon Jennings. He said fickle country radio executives who have been all over him for the past decade were enthralled too much with the "bro country" sound to pay him a lot of attention.

Allan tells The Lima News everything he recorded during the early sessions for what became his latest release, Ruthless, got rejected by the label.

"They didn't hear a single," he recalled. "What I was doing, which I thought was some of my best stuff, just didn't fit in with the bro-country thing."