Hearts of Gold

IN RECENT times women have really begun to show their hand in the male-dominated bastion that is country music. Variously, women like Rosanne Cash, Patti Smyth, Kathy Mattea, Carlene Carter, Pam Dillis and Patti Smyth have brought a fresh new perspective to the love 'em and leave 'em, tear-in-my-beer genre, which in a perverse sort of way has now become as much a fashion item as a Rolex watch or Gucci loafers.

Country music is hip, but it is also increasingly articulate, and currently one of its hottest stars is Trisha Yearwood, who represents the new breed in more ways than one.

"I was a student in Belmont College in Nashville, I took a degree in Music Business," she explains. "I'd always wanted to be a singer but I wanted to finish my education, so it seemed like a good way to do things. I got an internship with MTM Records, doing things like answering phones and ordering materials and stuff."

That, it seems, was enough to draw her into the Nashville web and there followed an apprenticeship of singing on demos, then graduating to backing vocals on masters, through a support tour with Garth Brooks, who's a good friend - and in the midst of it all, an album deal with MCA, who in Tony Brown and ex-Amazing Rhythm Ace Russell Smith, have two of the best pair of ears in Music City.

What of Nashville itself? Despite the outward expression of bonhomie, I'd formed the impression on a visit there in '91 that it was every bit as cut-throat as LA or New York. Not so, says Trisha.

"What I found so nice about Nashville was that it wasn't difficult to get an opportunity to prove yourself. When I came to town first, I didn't want to tell everyone I was a singer because 100,000 others have the same dream. There is a very romantic view of what the business is about, and I learned a lot by listening to others."

Given that traditionally, men were the linchpins of the Nashville scene, both from the point of view of administrations and performance, how does she view the position of women in country music these days.

"It's getting better all the time, but it's still an uphill battle, and I'd still say that the odds are against us. Women are now proving that we are a viable option, though there's still this thing about the token female here and there. At MCA, three women are among the label's top sellers. More women are getting there. What's particularly good is that now women are singing to women about taking more control of their own lives, about being strong and independent."

For all that, Nashville is still a traditional town. Does she, I asked her, find the emotional range of country music any way limiting? "I haven't found it so. I've been lucky. There's a variety of music on my records, and I tend to do songs that stretch me as a performer."

Though Trisha has written some songs which have been recorded by others, she has not yet herself recorded anything she's written. Why?

"Well, when I've written a song that I feel really happy about recording, then I'll do it. It hasn't happened yet. I do consider myself a singer first, and my strongest influences are interpreters, people like Patsy Cline, who didn't write songs. With the session work I was doing I got close to a lot of writers; I trust and respect their craft, and when I do a song, it starts to feel like my song."

Nowhere is this more obvious than on the title track of her latest album Hearts In Armor. She agrees immediately.

"Even now, when I listen to that song it still gives me a chill. You get drawn into a song - it's a magical thing that happens, and the first time I heard it, I knew I had to do it."

It's a beautifully simple and effective piece, with just piano and viola for its musical backdrop, but with the added bonus of a spine-tingling harmony vocal from ex-Eagle Don Henley. Acknowledging that things could, in different circumstances have gone the other way with that song, she says "Songs like that could easily be launched into major productions and lose whatever it is they've got."

Her success, when you think about it, is nothing short of astonishing - seven new artist awards, including the Academy of Country Music and the American Music Awards, a number one hit with her first single 'She's In Love With The Boy'; the eponymous debut album went to No.2, selling a million copies plus in the process, and Hearts In Armor, her follow-up, has, after a slow start Stateside, done the business also.

Much of her success on record she is happy to attribute to her producer Garth Fundis, a man who has worked with the likes of Don Williams, New Grass Revival, and the late Keith Whitley.

"When I was trying to choose a producer the thing that impressed me (about Garth) was the simpleness. He allowed the music to come through. He's really a great song man - he loves songs. We sit down and pick the songs together. From the beginning I've had a strong opinion of the kind of music I wanted to make and we've maintained that integrity from the start.

"I think nowadays record companies want you to know what kind of music you want to make . . ."