BEEVILLE – Someone should have informed Michael Salgado that there is a burn ban in Bee County before he took the stage this past Saturday night at the Texas Grand in Beeville... because he was on fire.

With the dance floor packed, Michael played some of his classics along with his current singles off of ‘No Vengo A Ver Si Puedo... Si Por Que Puedo Vengo’, “Mi San Antonio” and “Honky Tonks and Cantinas,” his first country song on his new, independent label Zurdo Records.

Michael’s latest country song, though absent from the night’s set, was “Far Cry from Gone,” and is described as a more modern/pop ballad country track along the lines of Lady Antebellum and Keith Urban material. The song, while awaiting some more mixing, should be available on iTunes in the coming weeks.

When asked why he chose to do country songs, he responded, “I grew up in West Texas; my dad was a farmer. My dad moved a lot in the farming business; sometimes it’s slow, so you’re moving here or there. And in some of these little towns, all you could hear was country, so I grew up with Merle Haggard, George Jones, Ronnie Milsap, Conway Twitty, in that era. We played at this place that was like a train depot restaurant. Sometimes, white people would come in and would be like, ‘Hey, do you know a country song?’ And I was, like, probably 14, and I’d be doing Merle Haggard or something. When I decided to go independent under my own label, I said, ‘Well, I’m going to try and do some different things.’”

With Michael Salgado now free to experiment and travel down different paths, he mentioned doing a country album, hopefully releasing it later this year. “Actually, this year, one of my goals is to record a country album. The great thing is that people have responded well and positive. (The album) is done 100 percent country, everything was produced by Rick Orozco in Nashville, and they used some of the guitar musicians from Lady Antebellum’s band, and they used a lot of great talent.”

Salgado is working his way through Texas at the moment, preparing for the 54th Grammy’s on Feb. 12, in which he is nominated for ‘Best Banda Or Norteño Album’ for his latest effort ‘No Vengo A Ver Si Puedo... Si Por Que Puedo Vengo’. “There’s a lot of great talent in the category. I’m just very happy to be nominated under my own label and everything. It was really great to receive that news.”

April 3, only two days before Salgado’s birthday, will see the release of his new album, which is a tribute album to Ramon Ayala and Cornelio Reyna and features some of their greatest hits. “I’m very excited about it. It’s coming along great, we’re putting some great songs together.”

The crowd last night got a taste of some of those songs as they spun around the dance floor. “I’ve selected more of the 80s music that was recorded with him (Ramon Ayala) and Eliseo, that era.” Salgado’s planning multiple volumes, with a volume two coming very soon despite the first half of 2012 looking very full.

“I’ve been wanting to do (this tribute album) for a couple of years now, and I talked to Ramon (Ayala), and I told him I’m doing this, and if you got any ideas let me know. He was very pleased with it. We talked years ago about doing a (tribute album), and he said, ‘You know, I’d like a tribute album while I’m alive still not when I’m already gone.’ I think the fans will enjoy the record. They’re always relating me to Ramon Ayala, so I’m going to give them a lot of those songs in there.”

When asked how the Beeville fans treated him, Salgado responded, “I’m very pleased with the crowd. The crowd responded pretty good in Beeville with the country and all the latest material off the new album.”

Michael Salgado will continue to tour throughout the year, and fans can keep tabs on the his shows through www.Michaelsalgado.com, and www.facebook.com/elzurdo05.