A Debut Taylor-Made for Success : * Music: Country performer Calman Hart brings his classical background and personal influences together in ‘Red-Eyed & Blue.’

SAN DIEGO — He didn’t get any credit for it, but James Taylor played a major role in softening the pop market for country music, and vice versa. On early songs such as “Country Road,” “Sweet Baby James” and “Hey, Mister That’s Me Up on the Juke Box,” Taylor achieved a seamless integration of the genres that removed longstanding barriers. In the process, he set new standards for minstrelsy by merging his folksy singing style with frequently sophisticated chordal progressions.

Taylor’s lessons were not lost on Calman Hart, a San Diego- based country performer who brings that influence, a background in classical music and some modern production notions to this blue-collar idiom and makes it all work beautifully. Recently, Hart released his debut CD, “Red-Eyed & Blue,” a collection of original tunes.

In an interview conducted earlier this week, the 33-year-old systems analyst for a local law firm talked in an unhurried, thoughtful manner about his new album and how much is riding on it. One thing became clear: If Hart gets as much out of “Red- Eyed & Blue” as he has invested in it--financially and emotionally--his success in the contemporary country field is assured.

“I got divorced last year, and that was sort of the incentive to break away and do this project,” Hart said. The breakup “was the regular ol’ ‘time’s up’ situation, pretty amiable, but it made me realize that I’d been away from music for a long time. Suddenly, I found myself with no strings attached, so I went back to my original calling.”

Hart was born on Christmas Eve, 1958, in Salt Lake City and raised in Woods Cross, Utah. He took his first guitar lesson at age 8, got hooked, and didn’t look back for many years. Hart met his wife in the late ‘70s, when he was studying for a degree in music--with an emphasis on classical guitar--at Utah State University. At the time, he was working his way through school playing “every James Taylor song ever written” on the circuit of cowboy beer bars in northern Utah, southern Idaho and Wyoming.

“I was totally planning a career in music,” Hart said, “but, you know, they say love makes you do strange things. I met a girl, graduated in 1981, got married, moved to Southern California and started living the suburban dream. Got the job with the law firm, started paying bills and let music fall by the wayside. But I kept writing songs, and when I found myself single again, I realized I had this huge backlog of material.”

Much of that material made it onto “Red-Eyed & Blue,” including one song, “Slow Down (the Horses Are Dying),” whose moody, Chris Isaak-like arrangement encases a potent depiction of the breakup.

“That’s probably my favorite song on the album,” Hart said. “But about half the songs on it are about my ex-wife. You know, as a songwriter you draw from personal experience. My songs tend to be introspective, a la James Taylor. You could probably track my life through my songs.”

“I think the one thing that sets my songs apart from a lot of other country stuff is my tendency to throw in unusual harmonic (chord) changes,” Hart said. “Sometimes, that makes it hard for the bands in the bars to follow along. A lot of country songs have the same basic chord patterns, but I’ll throw in sympathetic chords and stuff like that. I think it’s the classical training coming through.”

Hart had so much faith in his songs that he sold his house in Rancho Bernardo to finance “Red-Eyed & Blue.” The album was recorded in a college buddy’s loft-studio in what used to be a candy factory on K Street downtown. Several top-notch San Diego musicians--some well-regarded country- music aspirants themselves--contributed to the album’s rich but understated production. These include Linda Rae (vocals), Mike Sherman (electric guitar) and Kevin Ryan (steel guitar) from the band Breakheart Pass; Tom Cunningham (fiddle, electric guitar) and Mike Silver (bass) from the Durango Band, and Robin Henkel (dobro) and Paco Shipp (harmonica) from Blues ’90.

Hart believes in “Red-Eyed & Blue,” but he’s enough of a realist to keep his day job until things take a radical change for the better.

“I’m still heavily involved with the law firm because I’m still trying to pay for the album,” he said with a soft chuckle. “But the goal is to switch over to making a living in the music biz. It’s all in the luck of the draw. We’re going to Nashville next month, where I’ll be trying to get in to see the record people, playing some songwriter showcases and passing the CD around. Ideally, I’d like to have a major label distribute this or even re-record it. But I know it’s gonna be a struggle.”

“Meanwhile, I’m trying to put a band together to get the music heard. Right now, I’m working with a duo, but we’re putting something bigger together, and I think we’ll be able to start rehearsing within the month. Whenever I get the chance, I play solo gigs or sit in with other bands at local bars. My brother is helping me a lot with the management aspects of this, but we both have day jobs, so it’s a slow process. But I’m patient. I don’t have any choice.”

* “Red-Eyed & Blue” is available at all San Diego-area Tower Records stores and at Welch’s House of Music in Bonita.