Jesse Dayton has recorded with the Dixie Chicks and Jim Lauderdale and played for former President Clinton and alongside Lucinda Williams. On none of these occasions did a presence make him nervous. Last July, however, it was a Houston facility and a song that almost got the better of him.

Dayton was scheduled to play the debut postgame performance in the Enron Field Live concert series following the midseason face-off between the Astros and the St. Louis Cardinals. Armed with both honky-tonk and rockabilly selections that wouldn't be a problem.

But performing "The Star Spangled Banner" before the game was another story for the Beaumont native.

"Man, I'm already sweating," Dayton, 35, said as he paced in a luxury box above home plate as game time approached.

Perhaps it was the thought of such baseball stars as Cardinal Mark McGwire or Astro Jeff Bagwell standing in the dugout, saluting the flag as he sang. Maybe it was the prospect of his voice bouncing off the roof of the closed stadium as it reached an audience of at least 30,000.

Thirty minutes after he finished the national anthem Dayton explained his butterflies.

"Have you ever tried to sing that song?" he asked. "Those high notes are tough."

Dayton made it through "the land of the free and the home of the brave" and, after the game, gave lingering Astros fans a sneak preview of the album Hey Nashvegas!

It appears they were listening and told some friends. Since its release in late September, Hey Nashvegas! has been gaining buzz for its combination of friendly two-step tunes and an A-list party of Nashville participants. On the Nov. 12 edition of the Texas Music Charts, a list compiled from country radio station playlists across the state, the album made its debut in the Top 30.

On Saturday Dayton should have no reason for nerves as he comes home to friends, fans and family for a performance at Ovations.

Unofficially titled "the Second Annual Jesse Dayton Thanksgiving Concert," the performance will provide a rare opportunity for Dayton to experiment in front of a crowd that loves just about everything he does. Last year Dayton began the set with an acoustic guitar before plugging in and letting an uptempo combination of country and blues fly.

"During the holidays Jesse likes to get closer to Beaumont and home, so having him here is a no-brainer," says Kevin Kegg, Ovations managing partner. "If we could make it an annual event, we would."

That's a prospect that should start getting harder as Hey Nashvegas! continues to forge a national presence for Dayton. With the company he was keeping in-state, an audience outside Texas was only a matter of time.

"People always ask me, 'How did you get the Dixie Chicks to play on your album?'" Dayton said. "Well, I didn't really phone and ask them. I've known those ladies for a while and it just sort of came about."

That's the way it's been for much of Dayton's recording career. As a kid in Beaumont, he was weaned on a musical diet of such local favorites as George Jones and Lightnin' Hopkins, as well as the blues-rock of Stevie Ray Vaughan and ZZ Top. He was a guitar-slinger on the Texas club circuit in two rockabilly bands, the Road Kings and the Alamo Jets, before recording his first solo album of original songs, Raisin' Cain, in 1995.

Benefiting from his early tours through the state, Dayton was able to get such Lone Star music statesmen as the late Doug Sahm, and Bob Wills and Texas Tornado accordion player Flaco Jiminez to play on Raisin' Cain. The attention led to an invitation to play Clinton's second inaugural ball in 1996, as well as dates on the George Strait music festival bill in 1997.

Dayton followed Raisin' Cain with Tall Texas Tales in 1999, and now there's Hey Nashvegas!

Recorded in Nashville, the latest album seems to move a bit away from the younger rocking Dayton to explore his knowledge of country styles. "Never Been Too Good At Goodbyes" is the musical equivalent of a Stetson worn with an Armani suit, while the slide down the strings on "Mama's Guilty Fool" is pure field-labor dungarees.

Dayton lets past demons flourish a little on "I Dream Too," and new country fans will love the boogie woogie incarnation of the Dixie Chicks on "Panhandle Jane."

"It's great to record with people I call friends," Dayton said. "When I went to work on this album these are the people I wanted to include. It couldn't have worked out better."

Not to mention everything on Hey Nashvegas! has an easier range than "The Star Spangled Banner."