by Roman Mitz

Deana Carter is looking mighty fine. She's wearing a Sean Lennon t-shirt, tied at the waist, and form fitting blue jeans, but it is the slightly tussled blonde hair and million dollar smile that really weaken the knees. Carter, in town to talk about her new album Everything's Gonna Be Alright, is checking out the hotel breakfast buffet spread that has been laid out before her. She is expressing her delight about the Lennon concert she attended the night before and the fact she met him and had her shirt autographed after the show. As she inspects several French pastries she frowns slightly and instead heads for a plate of pineapple chunks. "I've got to start watching what I eat," she says, pinching some non-existent fat in her exposed mid-riff. "Just look at that". The dutiful scribe obliges then quickly puts his head down to review his notes so as not to be perceived as ogling. Better stick to the music and ask about whether she worried about the sophomore jinx when planning the follow-up album to her multi-platinum CD, Did I Shave My Legs For This?

"I wasn't nervous so much as really excited," she says in her affecting rasp. "I was ready for new songs. It's pretty amazing to have your career riding on one album for two years. I was getting a little testy with the pressure being put upon me, listening to everyone else yabba-dabba-dooing about what they thought I should do. My dad said 'Dean, you're two years older and the people who bought your first record are two years older. Don't try and recreate what you've already done…just go into the studio and have fun with it'. When he let me off the hook that way it was kind of cool."

You can understand why dad's direction was critical to Carter. Although she's not connected to the famous Carter clan that includes June Carter and Johnny Cash, her father Fred was one of Nashville's most sought-after session guitarists during the late 50's through the late 70's. One of the artists he worked with, Willie Nelson, recognized Deana's musical talent well before she landed her contract and he asked her to perform on one of his Farm Aid shows. While the red-headed stranger is certainly an influence, Carter also has roots that are firmly buried in southern rock. The lead-off track of the new album, 'You Still Shake Me', is an absolute flame-thrower replete with ZZ Top riffs, while 'The Train Song' chugs along with help from members of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

"That was a real kick, having the guys from Skynyrd in to play," she recalls. "I think the theme of Nashville is to kind of homogenize everything and people sometimes don't want to go that extra mile. To me, going that extra mile is doing it the best you can without feeling you have to spit-shine everything. The stuff I listened to when I was growing up was the raw stuff, whether it was rhythm and blues or country or rock. We tried to do that with this record…the main focus was to give it a live feel. There are no overdubs except for one mandolin overdub and then the vocals. We want to be able to do it live for the fans and for the band, because we get crazed trying to recreate eight guitar parts. We won't ever have stuff on tape and Muppet the show. I'm a fan and a consumer and I know what it feels like to be out in the crowd. I mean, look at my shirt."

Again the writer does as he is told, wiping a bit of perspiration from his brow in the process. Aside from her physical attributes, Carter commands attention via the fact that she appears to be in perpetual motion. Both her body language and her speech mannerism have an almost rhythmic flow to them.

"It's funny," she begins, "My whole life is about rhythm from cheerleading to running around the house to playing music with my dad. There's always that rhythm. My dad always said I had that funky beat. I think you can really hear it on the song 'Never Comin' Down' which sounds like a 90's version of a Bobbie Gentry ('Ode to Billie Joe') tune. The flow of those cool rhythm and blues grooves is something that just comes out of me. I don't like to directionalize anything. I just like it to come out and be what it is."

While rhythm may be her forte, Carter can certainly tone it down a couple of notches in order to deliver a ballad from the heart. The first single from the new disc, 'Absence Of The Heart' (One of five songs she co-wrote), is a good example as she pours her soul into this number about a strained but strong love.

"'Absence Of The Heart' is my guts. It's what I go through with my husband, the harsh feelings and emotions that I go through. I believe that song when I sing it. It's real. There were a lot of different opinions as to what the first single should be. To me it had to come from the most honest place, a place where you didn't have to worry about tempo or anything as much as going 'Here it is, take a shot'."

On a lighter note Carter renders a sparkling rendition of the early 70's nugget 'Brand New Key', the original having been performed by folk singer Melanie. The song is the perfect vehicle for Carter as it combines a playful melody with suggestive lyrics. ('I've got a brand new pair of roller skates, you've got a brand new key') She updates the song somewhat, replacing Melanie's child-like delivery with a more sensuous take.

"I wish I could be in the room when Melanie hears it because even if she hated it, I would love to see her reaction. I think she would like it because it pays respect to what she did. All we did was modulate the last verse. We just put a funky little groove behind it and brought it into the 90's. I'm really proud of it. Now we have this generation of rollerbladers and they don't know that you adjusted skates with a key. Plus it reminds people of the facts of life explanation your parents kind of wanted to avoid when addressing the song. I think it's something that young people will like and their parents can feel their age again."

Carter has a special affinity for Canada as her father spent quite a lot of time here when he was young, especially in Toronto. For her, it's like a 'changing of the guard' as this territory is very personal to her. The immediate success of her first album kept her playing in the U.S. for most of its two year run, but this time out she's playing a little 'Canadian catch-up' and has performed several dates in this Country with Alan Jackson. If there is a show-stopping number as far as the guys are concerned, it has to be 'The Train Song'. When Carter wails 'I'm gonna love you like a f-f-f-freight train' she certainly stirs the hormonal pot. The song actually reflects Carter's home life but rather than indicate who wears the pants in her family, it reveals who's first to take them off.

"I get more heated than my husband about our relationship," she admits. "I'm on him all of the time going 'Come here' and that's just the way it is. I'm not going to dance around it…I'm always bugging him for loving and I thought a song about that would be pretty hilarious. If nothing else I thought it would make him laugh and go 'No kidding, leave me alone'. He's always running around the house and locking the doors behind him and stuff."

Back to the Homepage of Wal-Mart Profile Magazine