Security In Obscurity Indecent Exposure And Drug Charges May Do Little Damage To Country Singer’s Rising Career

Ty Herndon’s lucky break may be that he’s so new to country audiences that they have yet to put his face with his music.

In May, the 33-year-old singer topped the charts with “What Mattered Most.” A month later, he was arrested for indecent exposure and drug possession.

The impact of those charges on his career is hard to measure. His latest single, “I Want My Goodbye Back,” is still climbing the charts, albeit slowly.

“The general public doesn’t really know who this guy is,” said Johnny Gray, program director at WKHX-WYAY in Atlanta.

“If it had been Garth Brooks, it would have been over for him because he’s much more well-known. One of the reasons the format is doing so well these days is that it’s music driven. There’s more interest in songs than artists.”

Ten years ago Herndon’s career would almost certainly have ended when word got out that a male undercover police officer alleged the singer sat on a log and masturbated in front of him. The singer had amphetamines in his billfold, the officer said.

Herndon faces an initial appearance Aug. 7 on the indecent exposure charge. He has yet to be indicted by the grand jury on the drug possession. But if he goes to trial and is convicted, his promising career might turn out to be no more than a memory.

The indecent exposure charge is a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum 180 days in jail and-or a $2,000 fine. But the drug possession charge carries a maximum sentence of two to 10 years and a fine of up to $10,000.

Herndon checked into a drug clinic, and has commented only in messages on his phone answering machine and a video. Epic Records and Image Management Group have offered vague statements of support, and not much else.

In the video, Herndon claimed that “things get blown out of proportion sometimes.”

It may not matter, said Charlie Cook of McVay Media in Hollywood, Calif. Cook consults with about 23 country music stations on their playlists.

“I think the story’s over, as far as country music listeners are concerned,” Cook said. “Hugh Grant gets the front page of the living section; Ty Herndon gets the inside page in USA Today.”

Record company promoters have played up Herndon’s good looks in marketing him as a romantic figure to women, who buy the majority of country music CDs.

Gray and Paul Johnson, program director at WSOC in Charlotte, N.C., both said they were playing Herndon’s single, “I Want My Goodbye Back,” which is No. 36 in the July 8 edition of Billboard magazine. It still has a bullet, meaning enough stations are playing it to keep upward momentum.

Music City News, a country music fan magazine, was preparing its first major article on Herndon when he was arrested. That’s been shelved.

“The one thing that has stood out to me is I really haven’t had much mail about this pro or con,” said Lydia Dixon Hardin, MCN managing editor. “We’ve had, I think, one letter of support.”

The situation at the 300 line dancing clubs across the country is similar, said Danny Murphy of Country Club Enterprizes, which promotes country records to clubs.

“In clubs, a lot of people like a song or don’t and really don’t know who the artist is,” Murphy said.

Interviewed before his arrest, the week that “What Mattered Most” went No. 1, Herndon was tired, but ebullient at how his career was taking off.

“I’ll do everything I can while this is going on ‘cause there’s a certain amount of respect that it deserves when it gets to this level,” he said.

He spoke of the bad times when he left Nashville, and why he kept going.

“It never stopped me from believing in the music and wanting to do it and the driving force in me, that burning thing right in your gut.