Country music singer turned shoe salesman Neal McCoy interacts with Belk customers while GAC film crews capture every move.

McCoy tapes 'Day Jobs' episode in Cool Springs
By JODI RALL
For Brentwood Home Page
Country music singer Neal McCoy was selling ladies shoes at Belk CoolSprings on Tuesday. But the singer, whose hits include “No Doubt about It” and “Wink,”  wasn't selling Manilos and Sperrys because he needs the job. With cameras rolling, his "work" was recorded for an episode of Day Jobs, a new Great American Country cable television show that will premiere this fall.

The new show takes country artists and puts them in a “real” job for a day. Already the show has taped at segments of country stars working at the Loveless Café and other local businesses.

“I’m excited and nervous as things are so different now than when I used to sell shoes,” McCoy said. “The register and the stock room are overwhelming.”

Before he first charted on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs back in 1988 or had his first Top 40 hit, “Where Forever Begins” in 1992, McCoy was a shoe salesman back in Longview, Texas. On Tuesday, McCoy returned to his roots to see if he could still cut it when it comes to flats, heels and wedges.

Customers went along for the ride, as McCoy chatted them up and helped select shoes that reflected their personalities.

If that music thing that keeps him on the road 200 days a year doesn’t work out, at least he knows he can return to his roots -- a day job with legs. Literally. As everyone knows, as long as there are women, there will be shoe departments.

But don’t count on seeing him back on the sales floor at Belk anytime soon. McCoy is currently working on a new release scheduled for January 2012.