Martina McBride Moves Out of Her Comfort Zone for New Album
Martina McBride has made several changes in terms of her career over the last few months, including changes in management, record label, and even in the studio where she's recording. These decisions, she has said, were a long-time coming and they've infused her with "a burst of creativity and positive energy." They also came at a time when she really needed them and have given her career a whole new life.
"The people who are around me now on management level and the record company are so positive and passionate and have such great energy for my music and my career, and really encouraged me," Martina tells The Boot. "That kind of belief and confidence in me just really came at a really important time for me. You start doing this and you're in your 18th, 19th year, and you start to wonder, 'Hmmm, what's in the future for me, because it's not going to last forever?' So when you have people really believing in you, you start to go, 'Oh, yeah! I really do have a lot to say, and I want to do it in a way that my fans are going to love, and I'm going to love,' and 'Wow! I have people around me who love it, too. How amazing!'"
The country songstress left RCA Records, after being with them since 1991, having sold more than 15 million albums and scoring 34 Top 40 singles. She's now signed to Republic Nashville, part of the Big Machine Label Group.
Even though Martina and her husband, John, own the popular Blackbird Studios in Nashville, where she has made most of her last several records, she decided to get out of her familiar environment to record her upcoming as-yet-untitled album, due in August.
"The decision to go to Atlanta really came out of a conversation that I had with Scott Borchetta, the head of the label, who said, 'Maybe you should get out of your comfort zone. This is your home. Blackbird, especially, having your own studio, it's so comfortable here,'" Martina notes. "I wear a lot of hats when I'm here, not only to my children, my husband, my record company, I'm always getting pulled in all different directions, and the music really kind of comes second, honestly. I sort of have about three or four hours a day to really focus."
"So, it planted a seed of an idea. I thought, 'I've always said I really wanted to immerse myself totally in being able to make a record,'" the Kansas native continues. "And it's really a luxury for me having three kids, but I sat down and talked with them and I said, 'I'm thinking about doing this. I'll be close enough to get back if there's an emergency and it'll be just for four days [laughs]. It's not going to be for three or four weeks.' They were so supportive. They said, 'Mom, you should go and do it. You should do it. You should really focus on making this record.' So that was a really sweet thing to do, and it really gave me this freedom to go. I got up every day and all I could think about, all I had to think about, is 'what do I want to do today, musically? What do I want to create? What picture do I want to paint today?' It was awesome!"
Martina, who is racing up the country charts with 'Teenage Daughters,' joins Carrie Underwood, Reba McEntire, Miranda Lambert, The Judds and Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles in being honored by the Academy of Country Music for the 'Girls Night Out: Superstar Women of Country - The Concert of the Year' airing Friday (April 22) at 9:00 PM ET/PT on CBS. She follows the television special with a performance at the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday (April 23).
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