Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 17, 1993 TAG: 9311180035
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JIM PATTERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
The 29-year-old singer's career already is soaring upon the release of her third album, "The Song Remembers When." Her first two each have sold over a million since her debut single, "She's in Love With the Boy," shot to No. 1 in 1991.
She even has her own brand of Revlon perfume.
But all of the attention has not made her a recluse. She allowed a senior editor of Forbes magazine to practically live with her for a year and document it, warts-and-all, in the book "Get Hot or Go Home - Trisha Yearwood: The Making of a Nashville Star."
"I think it will definitely be a major dose of realism to a lot of people who might romanticize this business, and it'll show people there's a whole lot more to it than they thought," Yearwood said.
Not since "Career Making Machinery" and "Billion Dollar Babies" detailed periods in the careers of Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen and Alice Cooper, respectively, have fans been allowed such access.
It's a must read for anyone thinking of seeking his or her fortune in Nashville.
The book gives an insider's view to such events as Yearwood's nervy decision to fire the managers under whom she scored a record deal. It also makes public the politics among her record label, management and producer over her second album, "Hearts in Armour."
The book details the 1992 awards show, when Suzy Bogguss was a surprise winner over the bigger-selling Yearwood for the Country Music Association's Horizon Award (for career progress).
There's not an ounce of fan-massaging fluff in Lisa Rebecca Guber's book. It sometimes portrays Yearwood as tired, cranky and less than the perky package of wholesomeness generally demanded of country singers.
"This book is a very accurate and a very unaffected version of the truth," said Yearwood, clad from head to toe in black as she was interviewed at her publicist's office.
"I think what is good about this book is that it doesn't try to hide the hard parts. I think the result is a very honest and human look at the things that go on in artists career's that people have no idea about."
Yearwood credits her audience with enough intelligence not to be shocked.
"Today I did 24 radio interviews - this morning from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. It was like tag-team radio," she said.
"You pretty much get to a point where you're on autopilot and your body can't function. It just has to rest. That's just human.
"That's why I think I can support the things in the book. Hopefully, we'll be respected for being human and not hiding it."
The difference between the Yearwood in the book and Yearwood today is one of seasoning and confidence. While she is portrayed in the book as a little stunned by not winning the Horizon award, this year's loss (to Mark Chesnutt) isn't as emotional.
"Performing on the CMA's [award show] did me as much good or more good than winning an award would have," Yearwood said.
"If the people who are on the committees who choose these awards decide that they're not going to choose me for awards or nominations, I'll just have to go another way to get to the public."
Yearwood is slowly expanding her musical reach. The new album emphasizes\ mature ballads, a long way from the country-bubblegum of "She's in Love With\ the Boy," which set up Yearwood as big sister to adolescent girls everywhere.
by CNB