Critics and fans of country music may be quick to blame radio for the slow turn away from fiddle and steel guitar. But traditional country singer Brad Paisley [ tickets ] points his finger at the industry.

"I think that radio does play stuff if they think it’s good. I think it’s a matter of: they don’t want something that’s run-of-the-mill with no creativity," Paisley explained.

"... I think [Nashville] has kind of gotten into the mentality of trying to sell records, and they’ll do anything they can to sound like any other format that’s selling records at the time. It’s not necessarily the best thing for the art that we’re involved in."

Paisley has had luck straight out of the gate. His song "He Didn’t Have to Be" from his debut album, "Who Needs Pictures," shot to No. 1, making him the only 1999 chart-debuting artist to achieve the singles top spot in Billboard. The title track went Top 10.

"[My singles have] all done well, and every one of them is filled with fiddle and steel and a traditional topic. I don’t think that they’re not playing stuff like that, that’s for sure. Two of them have gone No. 1."

"He Didn’t Have to Be," co-written by Paisley and his friend Kelley Lovelace, is a striking tribute to a stepfather. Paisley, a Glen Dale, W.V., native, explained that he had a hunch that the song was going to be a hit.

"I felt like it was--especially right afterward, when it seemed like every single person I played it for in the first few weeks of its life just broke down and started crying. It was like, 'Well, OK. This is doing something.’ It goes to show you that a song that makes you cry is still viable."

Most of Paisley’s songs are collaborations. He said, "I prefer to start things on my own and then pick a co-writer out of my short list of people that I write with, [someone] that I can finish it with that’ll take it to the right place. There are a lot of things that I write by myself. Those end up being a little more for me and a little less for the public’s ears."

Although Paisley is proud to keep traditional country alive, he’s not exclusively a fan of that form of music.

"I’m a fan of anything that’s done well and with heart and with integrity and with honesty. I don’t do the stuff that leans toward the pop side. I’ll never cut a song that you couldn’t [take to] the stage at the Opry and proudly sing and know that Mr. [Roy] Acuff would approve of. ... There’s nothing worse than somebody that’s like, ‘Well this will make me money. I’m not a fan of it but I’ll sing it.’

"The marriage of business and art, they’re a couple that should have never been put together."

Paisley has already firmed up dozens of tour appearances for 2001, and he will also join the George Strait Country Music Festival tour in March.