How's this for a country song: Girl gets job. Girl is offered tickets to see favorite star, but knows she can't quit on that job. So star himself comes to the checkout line to visit her instead.

If such a tune ever becomes a hit for "American Idol" singer Josh Gracin, he can thank Michelle Williams of Albany for the inspiration.

Gracin, in town Saturday to perform at the Linn County Fair, told his crew that afternoon he would whip up his father-in-law's special chicken paprikash for them for dinner.

He found the necessary ingredients at the Albany Safeway, then went next door to the Joe's sporting goods store to find a camp stove and some pots and pans.

Williams, 20, was manning checkstand 3. Her boyfriend, Nic D'Agostini, had purchased tickets for the two of them to see Gracin's show that night, but she had taken the Joe's job just three weeks ago and didn't think she should ask for a night off.

Enter Gracin.

"There was a long line, so I wasn't even looking up yet," Williams said. "It's really busy, he bought some stuff, and he had a hat on, so I didn't even recognize him."

Gracin brought out a credit card but hadn't signed the back of it, so Williams asked to see his license. Then she looked up - and burst into tears.

Gracin, working on the dumplings later for his paprikash in a trailer behind the main stage, recalled the incident with a grin. "I said, I have a lot of fans, but they don't usually cry."

He asked her why she was crying, and she told him how much she admired his music.

"Are you coming to my show tonight?" he asked, and she told him the story: the purchased tickets, the work schedule, the tickets given away.

"He said, 'Can I talk to your manager?'" Williams said. "I was like, what? Oh my gosh!"

A few minutes later, manager Charles Wines called Williams to his office and asked her why she hadn't told him she had concert tickets.

"I said, well, I have to work," she said, "and he said, 'Well, you're going. Josh said it made his day.'"

Gracin said he offered Wines tickets for himself if he would let Williams go. "He said, 'No need to do that, I'm sure we can work something out.'"

Gracin and Linn fair officials arranged for front-row center seats for Williams and D'Agostini, along with a pre-concert meet-and-greet with the singer.

Williams said she still can't believe the whole thing happened.

"Insane! I've been crying for two hours," she said. "It definitely made my year."