POTOSI, Wis. -- Laurie Dressler asked for permission to include some of Royal Wade Kimes' song lyrics and a photo of him on the side of her new semi-truck's cab.

Kimes, the performer currently topping the country gospel charts with "Desperate Men" and the writer of such songs as Diamond Rio's "Calling All Hearts (Come Back Home)" and Garth Brooks' "We Bury The Hatchet," gave Dressler that and more Saturday night.

The Will Rogers Award-winning artist

performed an intimate show -- for about 88 people -- at Dressler's Potosi home.

"I'll never forget this in six lifetimes," Dressler said.

Dressler and her husband, Ron, drive trucks from Potosi to Wyoming, down to Florida, up to Canada and down to Mexico. The pair listen to country music on satellite radio, and that's where she first heard Kimes, about three years ago.

"I saw him in concert a year ago this August," Dressler said. "The man stands for everything we believe in."

Kimes plays the type of traditional country Dressler

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prefers, shorn of the slick, modern production of today.

"There's a simplicity as well as a complexity to his music," she said. "He's true to his roots."

Kimes took a look at Dressler's handiwork Saturday.

"This is something else," he said.

In a cavernous shed near her home, Dressler and her friends had set up long tables decorated with American flags. A yellow rope held a chandelier over the tables.

Kimes took to the makeshift stage without his full band, but with his main guitarist, Larry Crowley.

"This is the first time I've ever done anything like this," Kimes said.

A protege of the late Country Music Hall of Famer Eddy Arnold, Kimes has toured with Rascal Flatts, Mark Chesnutt and Deana Carter.

"I've played every size group you can think of," Kimes said.

Playing a house party gives Kimes a unique opportunity to connect with his fans.

"It gives me a chance to meet the people," he said. "It's not only about them knowing me. It's about me knowing them."