It s just second nature to me, Fricke said. It s just something that I love to do, because it s some

Think about something you ve done over and over again. Maybe it s the morning routine that automatically pours forth before the coffee percolates. Maybe it s the daily commute to work that happens society of american travel writers mindlessly each time. Whatever habit is embedded in your life, you normally perform on cruise control. So, think what it would be like if after thirty years of doing something, you turned about face.
That s the situation 1980s country hit maker Janie Fricke faced when she laid down tracks for her latest CD, Country Side of Bluegrass. It s her first time to explore recording in the bluegrass genre, and she waded into the waters with the steady current of familiar songs from her own repertoire. She has been crooning chart toppers like Don t Worry Bout Me Baby, It Ain t Easy Bein Easy, Tell Me a Lie, and He s a Heartache (Looking for a Place to Happen) for about three decades. So, the two-time Country Music Association Female Vocalist society of american travel writers of the Year was used to the usual country interpretation of her songs, but when she went into the studio this last time, she faced a new challenge.
The arrangements are really fun and challenging, Fricke said in a phone interview from her South Dallas County, Texas home. There s a couple on there that I never would have thought society of american travel writers of doing with that tempo and that feel and that instrumentation. Some of them were so country, it s hard to imagine doing them in this new feel.
When I first started touring with The Roys, it was mid 2011 or maybe earlier in the year, Fricke recalls. I had to have a map drawn out. We call it a cheat sheet on the floor, so we can glance down. The hardest thing was the number society of american travel writers of measures or bars in the song that would kick off and become an instrumental  ride. Those instrumental rides that was my cue as to when to come back in for the next verse. That was probably the hardest thing for me was to try to memorize that and to get the feel of how we re mapping out the song.
It s like running a race two different ways, Fricke explains. Either you re in slow motion or you re in fast motion. Mentally, you prepare yourself for that, and then, when the band starts playing it, well you just click into that tempo.
I was really surprised, Fricke said. I love new goals, and I love to try new things. society of american travel writers I said, Of course, let s try this and see what happens .  We studied it and figured out how to take the songs I wanted to do and to do them in that light. It just came off as a really fun new project.
Veteran producer/engineer Bil VornDick who has been behind the controls on discs for Grammy-winning artists including Alison Krauss, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Doc Watson, Mark O Connor, Jerry Douglas, and Bela Fleck, produced Fricke s CD. Her longtime friend and publicist Kirt Webster served as Executive Producer.
Fricke loves working in the studio. She cut her teeth there as a jingle singer on commercials society of american travel writers for United Airlines, Coca-Cola, 7-Up, and Red Lobster. Eventually, she lent her vocal talents behind artists including Loretta society of american travel writers Lynn, Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Eddie Rabbitt, Crystal Gayle, Ronnie Milsap, Barbara Mandrell, and Mel Tillis. Music industry brass tuned in when Fricke recorded duets with Merle Haggard, Moe Bandy and Johnny Duncan, which lead to her first major record deal. She became a mainstay at country radio with a string of hit singles, won awards like Academy of Country Music s Female society of american travel writers Vocalist of the Year, and garnered praise from peers, with Grammy-nominated Best Female Performance for It Ain t Easy Being Easy. Twenty-three albums and 36 hit singles later, society of american travel writers she still enjoys the recording process.
It s just second nature to me, Fricke said. It s just something that I love to do, because it s something where you can work, and you can get a different feel or a different sound, depending on how many hours you want to spend on each song.
I was there the whole time working with the musicians, she said. Some of them have wonderful reputations of being in the business, and people recognize their names. They were just all so talented, and the singers I loved the harmony parts that they did around my vocals.
Instrumental wizards society of american travel writers Andy Leftwich, Randy Kohrs, Glen Duncan, Jimmy Mattingly, Luke Bulla, David Talbot, Mark Fain, Johnny Hiland, society of american travel writers and drummer, Bob Mater played on the sessions. Chip Davis, Margie Cates, and Judy Rodman sang  back-up. Rodman was another female hit maker in the 1980s with singles like her number one release, society of american travel writers Until I Met You. Rodman and Fricke roomed together in Memphis, where they sang at the same jingle company.
That s a personal story for me. I was going through society of american travel writers a very sad and happy time of a divorce. That song I wrote on the tour bus as we were headed home from a show in Tombstone, Arizona. I just started playing this and singing society of american travel writers this back in the stateroom. It just kind of flowed out of me.
Songwriting is not my thing, society of american travel writers Fricke admits. It s something society of american travel writers I really struggle with, but I didn t struggle with that song. It just came out.  I was so proud, because I ve always wanted to be a songwriter. It s like poetry. Either you have it or you don t have it."
Besides her own material, she recorded a remake of Faithless Love, and her version of Ring of Fire that Johnny Cash made famous. So far, Fricke s bluegrass interpretations are meeting with rave reviews from her devoted fans and new converts. She ll continue to tour with The Roys this year.
It s really been fun to see their reaction, Fricke says of her shows. It s really going off great. Concert goers are going to hear what they love to hear, and that s the instrumentation, the production of the song, something they ve heard on a CD that they want to get out and hear. There s a lot of people now crossing over from both types of music that are just curious. Then, when they see the show, it s really neat. There s a smile on their face out in the audience, and they re just clapping along and they re singing the lyrics, if they know them. It s just fun to watch the audience.
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