Count this as one of last year's most pleasant surprises: hearing Martina McBride's “Timeless,” in which the queen of country-pop addressed classic country songs closely associated with Hank Williams (“You Win Again”), Buck Owens (“Love's Gonna Live Here”) and Ray Price (“Heartaches by the Number”).
Plus standards by the likes of Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jeanne Pruett and Sammi Smith, folks McBride's fans were not likely to know.
And give thanks for the conscious decision on McBride's part not to modernize the material but to painstakingly mirror the styles, arrangements, phrasing and nuances of the original, and to record them old school - analog.
“I really made it just for the love of making the album,” says McBride, the Kansas girl who became a Nashville star beginning with 1993's “Independence Day.” The Country Music Association's female vocalist of the year in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004 (tying her with Reba McEntire for most wins), McBride has racked up more than 20 Top 10 singles, none sounding like anything on “Timeless.”
“I didn't really think about how it would be received,” McBride says. “I hoped people would like it, as I do, obviously, with every album. If I'd have sold two copies or a million, I'd still have made the record I wanted to make.”
“Timeless” may have seemed a risk for McBride, but it turned out to be all reward: It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's country album chart and at No. 3 on the pop chart. And it went from two copies to a million in just eight weeks.
Funny thing is, after McBride first moved to Nashville in 1990 and struggled for two years to get a record deal, RCA's head of A&R asked her what kind of country artist she wanted to be.
McBride seems to have a sixth sense about finding good songs and socially responsible material, many of which address such issues as domestic abuse, suicide, poverty.
“I don't know that I've gone out of my way to find it,” she said “I was just lucky enough to hear ‘Independence Day' and ‘Broken Wing' and ‘Concrete Angel.' When I hear a song like that, as an artist or as a human being, it resonates with me, and it's something I can't walk away from.
“Even the up-tempo songs I've recorded, like ‘This One's for the Girls' or ‘My Baby Loves Me,' feel like they have some substance and something to say, but I don't know where that comes from. When I listen to a thousand (demo) songs, those are the ones that stand out for me, and I go, ‘Yeah, that's what I want to sing.'”
If you go
What: Martina McBride
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Turning Stone Resort and Casino, Verona
Cost: $40-65
For tickets: (877) 833-SHOW
And give thanks for the conscious decision on McBride's part not to modernize the material but to painstakingly mirror the styles, arrangements, phrasing and nuances of the original, and to record them old school - analog.
“I really made it just for the love of making the album,” says McBride, the Kansas girl who became a Nashville star beginning with 1993's “Independence Day.” The Country Music Association's female vocalist of the year in 1999, 2002, 2003 and 2004 (tying her with Reba McEntire for most wins), McBride has racked up more than 20 Top 10 singles, none sounding like anything on “Timeless.”
“I didn't really think about how it would be received,” McBride says. “I hoped people would like it, as I do, obviously, with every album. If I'd have sold two copies or a million, I'd still have made the record I wanted to make.”
“Timeless” may have seemed a risk for McBride, but it turned out to be all reward: It debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's country album chart and at No. 3 on the pop chart. And it went from two copies to a million in just eight weeks.
Funny thing is, after McBride first moved to Nashville in 1990 and struggled for two years to get a record deal, RCA's head of A&R asked her what kind of country artist she wanted to be.
McBride seems to have a sixth sense about finding good songs and socially responsible material, many of which address such issues as domestic abuse, suicide, poverty.
“I don't know that I've gone out of my way to find it,” she said “I was just lucky enough to hear ‘Independence Day' and ‘Broken Wing' and ‘Concrete Angel.' When I hear a song like that, as an artist or as a human being, it resonates with me, and it's something I can't walk away from.
“Even the up-tempo songs I've recorded, like ‘This One's for the Girls' or ‘My Baby Loves Me,' feel like they have some substance and something to say, but I don't know where that comes from. When I listen to a thousand (demo) songs, those are the ones that stand out for me, and I go, ‘Yeah, that's what I want to sing.'”
If you go
What: Martina McBride
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Turning Stone Resort and Casino, Verona
Cost: $40-65
For tickets: (877) 833-SHOW
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