With the wealth of country acts to hit the Bryce Jordan Center this year, a tour bringing Brad Paisley, Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wanye will visit "the Nashville of the North."

Paisley is set to play as part of the American Saturday Night Tour at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Bernie Punt, director of sales and marketing for the BJC, said that contrary to popular belief, Central Pennsylvania has a very healthy country market.

"Honest to God, in Nashville, we are considered by some promoters as the Nashville of the North," Punt said. "Promoters feel very confident bringing country music to our area."

Punt said State College can expect more country music performers at the BJC in 2010.

While country acts have often graced the BJC stage, many students, like Jordan Pufka (senior-education), hope this tour will allow students to get a glimpse into country music that could encourage them to dig deeper into the older-style country artists.

Pufka said her brothers hate country music but they still enjoy a few of Paisley's songs, adding she thinks he appeals to nearly everyone.

She said Paisley has a lot of great songs in relation to what country music is about -- good values.

Chrissy Miller, lead singer for local country-rock group Fat Girl Slim, said that Paisley plays "both sides of the coin" when it comes to appealing to pop and country audiences.

She said it's a smart choice for him to make if he can grab listeners from both genres.

"He's playing country music, but it's got a rock edge, so it's bringing out the younger crowd," Miller said.

Jackie Messina (junior-education) said she enjoys Paisley's songs and believes he has music that people can go out and party to as well.

Jimmy Wayne, one of Paisley's openers, hopes to gain that kind of following with his music. He said touring with Paisley and seeing him perform has been a great experience.

"We all hope for that kind of success -- we would all like to get there," Wayne said.

"Brad's a good mentor ... he's a showman, his performance is absolutely amazing. I've learned a lot from being on his tour--it's definitely been like going back to school."

Paisley is not only a key player in country music -- he's an underrated musician as well, Miller said.

She added that she respects him not only as a country singer, but also as a guitar player.

Miller's husband, a highly sought-after guitar instructor in State College, looks up to Paisley with the same kind of respect he has for some of the greatest guitar players to date.

"He has been playing guitar for 25 years, and he is literally in awe when Brad Paisley plays," Miller said.

Paisley is more than a country singer, Miller said -- he's a rocker.

Many musicians of his type are country stars up front, backed by a rock band, she said.

Miller said her band, Fat Girl Slim, gave an honest effort to try and play more country music songs in local bars, but students were more interested in hearing classic rock sing-alongs.

"They like Gretchen Wilson and Miranda Lambert, country music gently tossed in," Miller said. "We had to cut back a lot of our country songs."

Jimmy Wayne and Dierks Bentley performing at the show as well makes for a very strong billing, Punt said. With a package as strong as this, tickets have been selling well.

Wayne said as openers, he and Bentley hope to bring forth a high-energy performance.

He's looking forward to a pumped crowd in the university setting.

"I expect it to be like someone has taken a brand-new soda and has shaken the thing until it's ready to pop," Wayne said. "And when we open that thing, the crowd goes crazy. Just call us 'Jimmy Wayne and the Can Openers.' "

Wayne got his start after writing a song for country music star Tracy Byrd called "Put Your Hand In Mine."

After receiving a record deal with Dreamworks Records, he then released four hit songs, "I Love You This Much," "You Are," "Stay Gone" and "Paper Angels."

But he was then dropped from the label, which he said made him feel like he was "put on the shelf" for about four years, a time that was very scary for him as an artist.

It's a business where when you're out of sight, you're out of mind, Wayne said.

Recently signed to Valory Music Co. alongside Reba McEntire and Jewel, he said his career has been resurrected and he's grateful to have a second chance in this industry.

"It's what I like to call a cinder-fella story, not a Cinderella story," Wayne said.

Growing up in group and foster homes, Wayne is known for his work with children and for writing songs that speak to the kind of hardships he faced growing up. He said he likes to get involved with facilities that help children that are in the same shape he was in.

"Since music is the universal language, why not speak through music?" Wayne said.

Wayne received the William Booth Award by The Salvation Army for his hit song "Paper Angels," written about the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program.

Growing up in a multicultural family, Wayne said that he was exposed to all different kinds of music.

His environment has shaped his music in a lot of ways, he said.

Throughout his life, there has been one song that Wayne has performed and auditioned with continuously: "Sara Smile," by Hall & Oates.

He said that he calls it his flagship song -- he loves the way it sounds, the way it feels when he sings it and the reaction he gets from people when they hear him perform it.

He recently had the chance to record the signature song with its original creators as a single to his upcoming record, Sara Smile, set to be released on Nov. 23.

Wayne lives his life without following trends and continuously strives to stay true to himself.

He said that his main goal in life is to have some kind of success in this business, to take all his money and build an orphanage.

Growing up, he heard a convict from a local prison tell his personal story. At one point, the prisoner sang songs to him and the others.

"He called himself a country music singer," Wayne said.

"And I knew that's exactly what I wanted to do."