REBA’S NEW ALBUM IS ‘ A MESSAGE FROMGOD’
Country star’s new release is more spiritual
“It was a little, bitty oneroom church, right up the hill from Highway 69,” remembers RebaMcEntire, 61. “Then there was the cattle guard. You go past that, up the hill and there was our house.”
The country music superstar is remembering the Chockie Church, just steps away from where she grew up in Chockie, Okla. By her estimation, it held only 30 or so congregants, yet its effect on her lingers. Even after selling more than 56 million albums worldwide, winning multiple industry awards and being welcomed into the Country MusicHall of Fame, she revisits that modest place often in her memory and her music.
“Grandma and Grandpa Smith hit that church every
Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night,” she continues. “When I stayed with them, that’s where we wound up. My favorite times to go there were when everybody would bring a dish and then after the service we’d all go out to the tables. They were full of food … and us McEntire kids, we loved to eat!”
Reba’s calendar is always full, too. These days, she’s gearing up for her first headline performances at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium Feb. 15. And she’s starting work on a one- hour ABC drama.
Still, why did she she wait until now to record Sing It Now: Songs of Faith &
Hope, some 40 years after releasing her debut album? Not surprisingly, her reasons are rooted in family. “My sister Susie is a gospel singer,” she explains. “I was the country singer.”
The first CD, “Faith,” opens with a solo Jesus Loves Me. The song has special significance to her. “Susie and I used to go fishing with Grandpa,” she remembers. “Then Grandma would tell us Bible stories and we’d sing Jesus Loves Me.”
There’s another reason: It was also the first tune she got paid to sing in public. “I got a nickel for it,” she recalls with a grin.
In contrast, contemporary songs fill the second disc, “Hope,” buttressed by orchestral instruments, choruses and other hallmarks of modern country arrangements.
With appearances by Reba’s daughterinlaw, Kelly Clarkson, and friend Trisha Yearwood, Sing It Now takes on an even more personal meaning. At the same time, her hopes for how it might move listeners are greater than those she has had for other projects.
“I think it was more heartfelt on these songs,” she says. “That’s not to say a country song is not heartfelt, but this is more more spiritual, more about my relationship with God.”
“This isn’t just entertainment,” she emphasizes. “It’s not a country album. It’s deeper than that. It’s about changing lives. It’s a message from God. That’s why I’m here, not to be rich and famous and popular but to help people. I’m the conduit or, as I call it, the water hose. That’s what God wanted me to be when He gave me this voice: I’m supposed to stand up and give his message. If I can touch just one person, that’s worth the whole project.”