Country crooner Clay Walker will be wearing his trademark black hat when he performs at the Spokane Arena on Saturday along with Diamond Rio and Daryle Singletary.

The last time Walker came to town, in the summer of ‘95, he played at Playfair Race Course. Now he’s moving up to bigger gigs, thanks to eight No. 1 singles and sales of 6 million albums.

The 26-year-old Texan, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years ago, didn’t wait long to return to the concert trail. “This hasn’t affected my physically, and I have reason to believe it won’t,” he says.

Walker’s current single - a Caribbean-flavored ditty called “Then What?” - is No. 7 on Billboard’s country chart this week. He hit the country scene with a bang when his first single, “What’s It To You,” zoomed to the top of the chart in 1993.

On his latest album, “Rumor Has It,” Walker returned to the roots he planted with his first one. “I wanted this album to be even more country. I felt the sounds on the records were beginning to get a little stock and sounded, to me anyway, predictable. I felt it needed to get back to a much more rural sound, like we had on my first album.”

He’s working on a greatest hits package.

Saturday’s concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $22.50, available at G&B Select-a-Seat outlets, 325-SEAT or (800) 325-SEAT.

, DataTimes