Trisha Yearwood talks Cher, Lizzo and other moments of 'Girl' power
Arts & Entertainment // Music
Joey Guerra Oct. 30, 2019 Updated: Oct. 30, 2019 11:34 a.m.
Trisha Yearwood talks Cher, Lizzo and other moments of...
1of7Country singer Trisha YearwoodPhoto: Russ Harrington / Russ Harrington
7of7Garth Brooks, left, and Trisha Yearwood arrive at the 52nd annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)Photo: Evan Agostini, INVL / Associated Press
Trisha Yearwood's new album, "Every Girl," is her first original material in more than a decade. But she hasn't exactly been taking it easy.
The country star, who powered through the '90s with hits ranging from "She's in Love With the Boy" to "Perfect Love," has hosted her own cooking show, "Trisha Yearwood's Southern Kitchen," since 2012 on the Food Network. Earlier this year, she released an album of Frank Sinatra covers. And she's regularly toured stadiums with husband Garth Brooks, including stops at RodeoHouston.
"I didn't mean to have this much time pass without making a new album," Yearwood says. "Honestly, if you strip it all away, the one thing that I feel like I was suppose to do in this life is to sing."
"Every Girl" boast the kind of big-voiced anthems that have defined Yearwood's career. And fans are still eager to hear them. First single "Every Girl in This Town" debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart, the highest of her career. She performs Sunday at Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land.
In honor of the album's title, Yearwood talked about some of the "girls" who have helped shape her career.
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, 18111 Lexington
Tickets: $39.50-$79.75; smartfinancialcentre.net
"Man, her voice. I've always been such a fan. She's the real deal. She's got a gear that the rest of us don't have, and she can just pop up into it. She's a unicorn. She sang on a song called 'Prizefighter' that I recorded several years ago. I asked if she'd come in again. She's singing on two songs ('Tell Me Something I Don't Know,' 'Workin' on Whiskey') on the new album, mainly because she got done in one pass, five minutes on the first song. She brings such power, especially on those high harmonies."
Patty Loveless
"I've always loved harmonies that bring different textures to the record. 'Bible and a .44,' I just kept hearing Patty's voice. Patty doesn't live in Nashville anymore, she lives in Georgia. She doesn't do a ton, but she was one of the first artists that I met when I signed to MCA, and she was so nice to me. I kinda stalked her a little bit and said, 'Can I send you a song?' She's a female artist that I grew up listening to, so to hear her voice singing with me was just such a treat."
"She was the singer that really set me on this path, when I said, 'This is who I wanna be.' When I heard Ronstadt on the radio, it sounded country to me because there were fiddles and steel guitars on the record. But there was something else. Just her powerful voice, her delivery, her phrasing, her emotion. It kinda had a Patsy Cline vibe to me in that way that was so big. She introduced me to Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt's music. It became the school of Linda for me."
"When I was 5 or 6, 'The Sonny and Cher Show' was on television. I would impersonate Cher. I wanted to have the long, flowing hair. I would put on a long-sleeve T-shirt and pull it over my head and let the arms dangle down. You can throw the hair back on the side. I was just mesmerized by her. It's been so cool because, full-circle-moment, Garth took me to see her this past year in Vegas, and I got to meet her for the first time. I was dying. I'm not even sure what I said. I was just such a goofball. What was so great is she knew how important it was to me, and she just was so kind. She hugged me and invited me to sit down and chat with her for a minute. It was just the best thing ever. She doesn't give herself enough credit for being a good enough singer. She's so uniquely her. She's a great example, I think, for women of what you can accomplish."
"I grew up in really small town (Monticello, Ga.), like 2,500 people. Nobody did anything remotely close to what I wanted to do. If you were musically inclined, you either taught music or you led the church choir. A family friend of ours had grown up with Shirley Jones. They were best friends, and even in 'The Partridge Family' heyday years, Shirley's getaway and her escape from the crazy was to come to Monticello. When I was about 15 or 16, my friend Betty Maxwell, she called and said, 'Shirley's here. I want you to come over and bring your guitar.' I just remember walking in and seeing her. She looked like a movie star. She had an immaculate manicure and pedicure. She's in this flowing caftan. I'm sure my face turned red. She was very kind. She just said, 'You have a good voice. There's a lot of other things involved.' She didn't make me feel like it was gonna be easy, but she did encourage me."
"I'm, at the moment, obsessed with Lizzo. She's got an amazing voice. I love her because she is just owning this whole movement of loving yourself, which is something that men and women need to hear. We all are so hard on ourselves, especially girls. This summer, I'd just tell Alexa to play Lizzo, and after about an hour by the pool, Garth would be like, 'I like this, but can we change it up a little bit?'"
Joey Guerra
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Joey Guerra is the music critic for the Houston Chronicle. He also covers various aspects of pop culture. He has reviewed hundreds of concerts and interviewed hundreds of celebrities, from Justin Bieber to Dolly Parton to Beyonce. He's appeared as a regular correspondent on Fox26 and was head judge and director of the Pride Superstar singing competition for a decade. He has been named journalist of the year multiple times by both OutSmart Magazine and the FACE Awards. He also covers various aspects of pop culture, including the local drag scene and "RuPaul's Drag Race."
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