Trisha Yearwood Says Re-recording Hits for ‘PrizeFighter’ Was ‘a Science Experiment’

Trisha Yearwood's new album, 'PrizeFighter: Hit After Hit,' includes 10 of her previous hits, including 'Wrong Side of Memphis,' 'Walkaway Joe' and 'How Do I Live,' along with six new songs. But whether the tune is old or new, each was re-recorded specifically for the album.

"The thing about re-records for me is, it's a dirty word," she tells USA Today. "I don't like re-records. I don't want to hear something redone. I want to hear the original. And so we made it into a science experiment, where we basically said, 'We're going to do this, but you have to come in, and you have to sing it exactly the way you sang it. You have to phrase it the way you phrased it. Musicians, you have to play the notes you played.'

"And at first, they're like, 'What?'" Yearwood adds. "And then it became a challenge.

Still, the 50-year-old says that some of the songs do sound different due to changes in her voice.

"I definitely had to channel the 26-year-old Trisha for 'She's in Love With the Boy,'" she concedes. "I think my voice is just, it sounds more mature to me. It sounds like it's a little fuller, a little deeper, and I like it. I like it now, better. I don't know when it starts to go the other way, you know, but right now I really like where it is."

Yearwood is currently climbing up the charts at radio with the title track of the album, which she sings with Kelly Clarkson.

“I love how ‘PrizeFighter’ makes me feel … like even when the odds are against me, I can do anything,” Yearwood says. “It’s a message we all need to hear.”

'PrizeFighter: Hit After Hit' is available here.