Country sensation Martina McBride has never wanted for mainstream success. During a 15-year career, McBride has been content to be at or near the top of the country music scene and never been tempted by everything that the pop music scene has to offer.
McBride is getting more exposure now than ever, but the Sharon, Kan., native’s down-home country roots are just as intact as ever. McBride, who rocked the Everett Events Center last July, returns Saturday night in support of “Waking Up Laughing,” which she produced herself and which, for the first time, features songs she co-wrote. Little Big Town will open the show.
Since before the album’s debut in April, McBride has been all over TV, with guest spots on “American Idol,” “The Today Show,” “The View” and many other shows, as well as a two-hour ABC “Primetime” special that aired last week and promised a record deal to one of six aspiring singers who could get closest to McBride using the fabled “six degrees of separation” theory.
Beyond her loyal country fan base, some of McBride’s tunes, including “Independence Day” and “Broken Wing,” are known to “American Idol” fans who’ve heard winners Carrie Underwood and Jordin Sparks sing them.
“I never think about producing a song or choosing a song because I think it would cross over (to mainstream success). Ever,” McBride told Billboard in March. “But if a song does cross over, I wouldn’t be truthful if I said I wasn’t excited about more people hearing my music. (When) you make music, you want as many people as possible to hear it.”
The publicity has paid off. Her album debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, and No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200, and it’s heading straight for gold certification and before long will likely become McBride’s seventh consecutive platinum album.
Getting her own name out there is still something new to McBride, who spent most of her career opening for bigger acts rather than headlining her own tour. The 41-year-old star topped the marquee for the first time last year, and her “Timeless” tour was the No. 10 grossing country tour of 2006, according to Billboard. Her current hit single, “Anyway,” is one of the three songs she co-wrote on the new album in a stroke of inspiration while touring with The Warren Brothers last year.
It’s all part of a career resurgence that was needed after McBride admittedly “hit a wall, creatively” when she finished her 2003 album, “Martina,” which went double platinum. She followed with what she called a labor of love in “Timeless,” which was completely comprised of covers of her favorite country classics.
“Recording ‘Timeless’ allowed me to pause and be inspired musically by looking back, without pressure, to move forward creatively,” McBride said in press materials. “Even though I’m known as a contemporary country artist, I think it has always been obvious that I have a great reverence for our country music heritage. After make ‘Timeless,’ I came into this album renewed, refreshed and re-energized.”
Reporter Victor Balta: victor.a.balta@gmail.com.
Andrew Southam photo
Martina McBride performs Saturday at Everett Events Center.
Martina McBride
With Little Big Town: 7 p.m. Saturday, Everett Events Center, 2000 Hewitt Ave., Everett; $34.75 to $59.75 at the box office or call 866-332-8499.
Another block party
The Everett Events Center is closing down Hewitt Avenue from Broadway to Lombard streets for the second annual Martina McBride Block Party. The event will feature food and drinks, games, a mechanical bull, and performances by local bands. It starts at 3 p.m., it’s free and no concert ticket is required.
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