Four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Martina McBride will release her second album of covers, Everlasting, on April 8. While 2005's Timeless was a collection of country standards, on her latest, the 14-time Grammy nominee adds her own flair to iconic soul and R&B cuts. Elvis Presley's 'Suspicious Minds,” Van Morrison's 'Wild Night,” and The Supremes' 'Come See About Me” are among the 12 songs that were originally recorded in the '50s, '60s, and '70s.
Nashville Lifestyles (NL): What made you decide to craft another album of covers versus recording all new material?
Martina McBride (MM): I have a lot of records in my head I want to make at some point. I love singing all kinds of music, and I've been wanting to make a record that covers these kinds of songs for a long time and just felt like this was the right time to do it. You have to follow your instinct and your creative voice, and my creative voice was saying, 'This is what you need to do at this time.” So I did it.
NL: What was it like working with producer Don Was (Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt)?
MM: It was amazing! He had a calming presence in the studio. He's a lot of fun. He has a vast knowledge of all kinds of music and is a musician himself. He had a passion for the project, and I just felt like I was in really good hands with him at the wheel.
NL: How did you decide which songs to record?
MM: It was a long process. I [spent] about six or seven months looking for songs, and I worked with a really fabulous A&R person out of New York who helped me sift through thousands and thousands of songs. It was a scavenger hunt, really. We had a list of about 25 songs, got together with Don and a piano player, and tried them on for size… We ended up doing songs that fit my voice and that sounded authentic.
NL: Is there another genre of music that you'd like to cover in the future?
Martina: I want to make a gospel album. I want to make another Christmas record, and I would love to make a big band record, a swing record. I'd love to do a record of ‘torch songs' from the ‘40s. I will definitely make an album of original music again. It's not like I'm going to veer off and do cover albums forever… After a certain amount of time, when you've established who you are as an artist and you've recorded hundreds of songs, it's kind of like, I just want to be a vocalist. There's so many great songs that I just want to sing for the pure love of singing and the music.
For more info, visit martinamcbride.com.