Blond ambition

Q: Live from London documents your 2008 performances at Londons O2 Arena. What was so special about these shows?

A: First of all, we dont get to go to London that often. Its been a long time since we actually got to do full-blown shows and tours in that area. So we taped the show, just to document it for ourselves, and the crowds were just so absolutely wonderful that we taped the two days and thought, man, this stuff looks great! We really need to put it out. So we came back home and edited it down. We just thought it was real special and we thought the fans would like it. As you know, weve got the DVD and the CD, which makes it a real nice little thing its especially a good little gift. Its easy to wrap it up real pretty!

Q: That connection with the audience made for some powerful performances. The version of Little Sparrow, for instance, is haunting.

A: I do find new ways of tapping into my emotions. When I did Little Sparrow originally that was also the name of one of my acoustic albums we did it more up-tempo. But in my own mind, when I wrote that song, it was like those old songs of yore. [Giggles.] Id sing it a lot of times around the house to myself, and Id always do it real slow and a cappella, and I thought, I need to record it like that someday. So I worked it up and did it in my show a few times, early on before we did the London concerts, and people just loved it, so I left the slow version in there. People seem to really respond to that one.

Q: The stark, still version seems to illuminate the aching at the core of the song.

A: Well, thats the way of those old songs that mama used to sing: they get to me. I love those kinds of songs and I think my voice is more suited to those than most things.

Q: It reminds me a bit of a slow-burning version of Little Sparrow by soul singer Bettye Lavette. Have you heard any covers of your songs that made you see your work in a new light?

A: Im always touched and Im always amazed by all the ways that people interpret the songs that I write. I think probably Whitney Houstons version of I Will Always Love You is about the prime example of takin a song of mine that was so very simple and very heartfelt, and doin it in a beautiful, grand, pop way. I just thought that was incredible. Im always honoured when anybody records my songs. A lot of people say, "Oh, are you ever disappointed when people do your songs and they just slay em?" Not really, because theyre still my songs, and Im just flattered that they want to record them.

Q: Youve also done some interesting things with other peoples songs, like your Grammy-winning bluegrass version of Collective Souls Shine. How do you stumble across these tunes?

A: Well, I think its true that music is the voice of the soul and certain songs just kinda call out to you. If a song is good, I can always picture it done in so many ways, so when I have taken those songs, it starts with me thinking, "Hey, this could be great I can Dolly-ize these songs," and then I make em my own. I do worry, though, when I record those songs by different people like, when I did Stairway to Heaven, and had to get permission, because I threw in a few extra words and itsy little things. You have to get permission if you change it in any way, and I was scared to death that they would hate what Id done to the arrangement and wouldnt give me permission [to record it]. But they did!

Q: Theres a legendary story about how you refused to let Elvis Presley cover I Will Always Love You because he and Col. Tom Parker demanded that you fork over half of the publishing rights. How did you cultivate your business acumen?

A: Well, in a case like I Will Always Love You, Elvis didnt stick it to me dont ever let that be said. It was totally Col. Tom Parker, who was a hard ass businessman. Thats how he did it. Elvis loved the song, and Im sure he was or I hope he was as disappointed as me. But I just knew with that one, a lot of emotion and love was involved in that decision, because those songs are the things Im leaving for my family. And I thought, well, I cant just give half of that away to strangers! This is something Ive written and it was already a hit. That type of decision making, I just base things on my gut and on my heart.

My dad was a simple man. Didnt get much of an education, but Daddy was smart when it came to business. So I think I get some of that kind of stuff from my dad. And I get the creativity from my mamas side of the family, so hopefully Im a good mix between the two of them. [Giggles.]

Q: Very early in your career, you were positioned as a bubblegum pop singer. You had that one hit, Happy, Happy Birthday Baby.

A: Boy! Youve done your homework, girl! Well yeah, I certainly sounded different then! So youre asking me how in the world I came from the Smoky Mountains and wound up singin Happy, Happy Birthday Baby? [Laughs.] Well, when I first came to town, there was this guy named Fred Foster, who owned Monument Records. Everyone was kinda talkin about how there was a new girl in town. I was young at the time, I was 18, and he decides that rather than me singin country, that he could build and shape me as a little pop star, a little rock star. [Chuckles.]

I did a little series of songs. Happy, Happy Birthday Baby was a single, and I sang that on the Dick Clark show, American Bandstand, when I was 18, 19. It didnt do that much for me, because that was not my world at the time. I was very uncomfortable in it, too goin to the cities and singin because I needed to grow into myself. I did a couple others there was Ping-Pong, which was another bubblegum-pop-type thing. It was just a start, and it was someone elses idea. [Foster] got me a stylist, and they did my makeup and they did my hair, and I hated it, cause I wanted to look like me!

Nothin really happened, and after a little while, I guess he got wise. I sang harmony on a record that my name was not on except as a writer of this song that I had written and it was the No. 1 country song that year: Put It Off Until Tomorrow. So everybody was callin around, asking, "Whos the girl on that record? Whos the girl singin?" They tracked it all down and it got a buzz goin, and thats how I got to go ahead and sing the country music I was born to sing.

Q: You were a mentor on an episode of American Idol. How do you think youd fare on the show if you were just starting out now?

A: I would not have been a great contender on American Idol. I think I had to grow into my own self and grow into my own sound. I wouldve probably been real uncomfortable, just like I was singing that bubblegum stuff. Just bein on TV and being thrown out there, I probably would not have made it. But if you think I could have, I probably wouldve tried! [Giggles.] Well never know! Its a new day and age in the music business now.

Q: What inspired a project like your Imagination Library, which brings books to young children in rural areas?

A: I think when you arrive at a place where youre lucky enough to be successful in your work, you should give back, and then you choose your charities. Even though I do a lot of work with many other charities, the Imagination Library is very close to my heart, because so many of my relatives couldnt read and write, and I know how crippling that was for them. So early on, I decided that I was gonna work with education, and with children, because if you teach them when theyre most impressionable and young, its always best. So I started that in my hometown, and its really grown. Its real important for me, especially to feel like Im giving back and not just taking the money and running. [Laughs.]

Q: You just got a star on the Music City Walk of Fame. What has been your proudest moment in your career so far?

A: Ive had many proud moments. Thats really a hard question to ask an artist whos been at it as long as I have. Ive been grateful for every single thing. Even just getting my name on the walkway of stars down here, you never take those things for granted. I have never had that happen here, and I think its gonna be a wonderful thing. Ive had some wonderful moments: coming to Nashville was a big deal, startin with The Porter Wagoner Show was a big deal, having my first No. 1 record, being acknowledged at the Kennedy Centre awards God, I have so many things to be grateful for, and so many things that are so meaningful. Every time I get something, its like Ive never won anything before. Like, "Oh, wow! Thats a nice thing!" I never take anything for granted.