Laura Bell Bundy is achin' to perform in Lexington

As it has in many previous years, Saturday's Red, White and Boom lineup has a little hometown flavor.

Previous editions have featured Central Kentucky artists including John Michael Montgomery and Halfway to Hazard. This year, the event welcomes Lexington native Laura Bell Bundy, who comes to the country stage via a Broadway career that included a Tony Award nomination for playing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde: The Musical. She released her major-label country debut, Achin' and Shakin', on Mercury Nashville in April.

Bundy will be back in the fall, doing a little country and a little Broadway in October for the Spotlight Lexington Festival during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. With her first big country show in Lexington coming up, we wanted to throw a few questions by her.

"I'm extremely excited!" she said via e-mail. "This is my first full band show in Lexington since the album's release. I am also excited to bring my 50- person family to my show, as well as my band to Kentucky. It will be a big party."

Question: You're playing a big country music concert in Lexington. What's the best country show you've seen in Kentucky, and what made it great?

Answer: Garth Brooks in Rupp Arena. It was 1998; I was 16 and loved his energy. Also, I knew he was dating Trisha Yearwood, so that made the show more interesting. They had unreal chemistry.

Q: We've seen you in some pretty big production numbers on the Academy of Country Music Awards, The Tonight Show and other programs. What can we expect from your show Saturday?

A: You can expect to be entertained with singing, dancing and a whole lot of booty-shaking.

Q: Speaking of the ACMs, what did that teach you about singing while you dance?

A: That it takes my breath away.

Q: What's the best event you've played since Achin' and Shakin' came out, and what did you like about it?

A: Definitely the ACMs, but next to that would be the B-93 birthday bash in Grand Rapids, Mich. It was my first 60,000-person festival, and I got to perform with my buddy Blake Shelton.

Q: What do you wish country music fans knew about you that they probably don't know yet?

A: I'm not just the girl who jumps around in chaps — I'm also the girl that sings in the bathtub!

This story was originally published July 1, 2010 at 9:37 AM with the headline "Laura Bell Bundy is achin' to perform in Lexington."