Loretta Lynn. All photos by KEVIN KINDER, NWA Media.

How does one overcome advancing age, a recent knee surgery and a self-diagnosed case of tonsillitis?

If you’re Loretta Lynn, you do so with laughter, honesty and a touch of Southern charm.

During a sometimes heartwarming, sometimes spotty show at the Walton Arts Center on Thursday (2/16) night, the 76-year-old vocalist and songwriter gave herself another role: that of storyteller and yarn spinner.

Here’s an illustration of how the night went: Lynn would offer one of her hits, such as “Fist City,” which includes lyrics about lifting a romantic rival off the ground by her hair. Then, after the song concluded, Lynn shared a story about actually removing a chunk of hair from another woman in a fight that served as inspiration for the track.

Because of the start-and-stop nature of the show, the evening offered simmered with energy, but it never quite boiled over.

Age and a recent knee surgery — one that postponed a previously scheduled Fayetteville appearance by the country icon — have slowed down Lynn in recent years, and she performed many of the night’s 26 songs while seated in a chair at the front of the stage.

Something else slowed her on this night — a case of tonsillitis, she told the sold-out crowd. It caused her to struggle with her voice from time to time, she acknowledged, but she said she had no desire to cancel a second time.

She compensated by allowing band members — such as Nashville songwriter and Arkansas native Shawn Camp — to sing at intervals throughout the evening. If Lynn’s voice failed her midway through a song, one of her daughters, Peggy, sang backup at each of those moments.

Loretta Lynn and her band

Lynn also combated against her ailments with a water bottle, by stopping along the way to tell stories and by tempering expectations with honesty. She credited the band for changing keys when she did. She told one fan who screamed out a request from Lynn’s 2004 album “Van Lear Rose” that she couldn’t remember the words.

“We write ’em, sing ’em, and forget ’em,” Lynn said.

The crowd was forgiving, in large part because Lynn asked them to be, at one point saying she was “ashamed” at her performance. She shouldn’t have been. Interspersed between the apologies and band showcases, Lynn charmed and, at times, reminded the crowd of that big voice and big attitude.

That was particularly evident during one of her early songs of the night, “You’re Looking at Country.”

And in many ways, we all were looking at country as it stood in front of us in a sequined blue dress. They don’t make them like Lynn anymore.

Loretta Lynn set list: 1) -did not catch the name of this track- [Bart Hansen on vocals]; 2) He Had A Long Chain On [Shawn Camp sings]; 3) -didn’t catch the name of this track- [Peggy Lynn on vocals]; 4) Tulsa Time [Don Williams cover with Peggy Lynn on vocals] 5) They Don’t Make ‘Em Like My Daddy [Loretta Lynn joins]; 6) You’re Looking at Country; 7) When the Tingle Becomes a Chill; 8) I Wanna Be Free; 9) Here I Am Again; 10) You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man); 11) I’m A Honky Tonk Girl; 12) Fist City; 13) She’s Got You; 14) Nobody But Me [Blake Shelton song, written and performed by Shawn Camp]; 15) Lead Me On [originally a duet with Conway Twitty, performed here with Shawn Camp]; 16) One’s on the Way; 17) Blue Kentucky Girl; 18) Your Squaw is on the Warpath; 19) Dear Uncle Sam; 20) Don’t Come Home A-Drinkin’; 21) Hole in the World [The Eagles cover]; 22) Man of Constant Sorrow [traditional tune]; 23) God Bless America Again; 24) Everybody Wants to go to Heaven; 25) Where No One Stands Alone; 26) Coal Miner’s Daughter