ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 15, 1996 TAG: 9611150012
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NASHVILLE
SOURCE: JIM PATTERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mindy McCready is the cool older sister or cousin younger girls come to for advice.
The Florida native has the tall, curvy and slim figure that girls are brainwashed into coveting by magazines, music videos and models. And she may be the first country hitmaker to flaunt a pierced navel, although exact records are not kept on this.
McCready's first two singles, light odes to dating the wrong guy (``Ten Thousand Angels'') and to role reversal (``Guys Do It All the Time'') were No. 1 country hits.
She rushed into her record label, BNA, late for an interview and sporting jeans, the barest makeup and a good excuse.
``My washing machine exploded!'' she said. ``There was water all over the floor!''
McCready, 21 as of Nov. 30, lives in Nashville with her 17-year-old brother T.J. An aunt plans to join them to help manage the household and fan club business.
``I wanted to make an album that I could play to my daughter and tell her how she should act when she starts dating,'' said McCready, who is single and childless.
``It's kind of a guide to females on how not to fail in a relationship or if you do what to do when you do fail.''
``Guys Do It All the Time'' is typical - McCready turning the tables on her boyfriend by drinking beer and playing poker all night long. Her current hit is the self-explanatory ``Maybe He'll Notice Her Now.''
It isn't deep, but enough country music fans related to make the CD single a best seller and keep both the single and the ``Ten Thousand Angels'' CD on the upper reaches of the charts for months.
BNA officials say the CD has already sold over 500,000, and they expect it will easily reach 1 million by January.
McCready says she's received fan mail from men and women of all ages, but concedes most of the letters are from ``young girls a ton of them.''
Some traditionalist country fans scratch their heads when faced with pop- and youth-oriented stars like McCready. Her musical roots go all the way back to Amy Grant. The oldest country music influences she mentions are the 1980s group Alabama and ``Elvira'' by The Oak Ridge Boys.
``My grandpa sang in the choir and my mom sang in the choir, so we went to church,'' McCready said of her upbringing in Ft. Myers, Fla. ``Amy Grant was my idol.
``I wanted to be Amy Grant - watching her video on TV when they first had the country or Christian videos. I would watch and just wanted to be her.''
A voice teacher suggested gospel singer Sandi Patty as a good singer to study, so McCready learned that repertoire. Taking night and summer courses allowed her to graduate from high school at age 16.
Two years later, she moved to Nashville, armed with karaoke tapes to which she had added her vocals to Bonnie Raitt and Trisha Yearwood records.
The first person she got to listen to the karaoke tapes was producer Norro Wilson. He played them for producer David Malloy.
Malloy and McCready went to work in the studio for a year to hone her chops, and BNA signed her up. Malloy and Wilson produced ``Ten Thousand Angels.''
Long before the album came out, McCready began visiting country radio stations across the country, establishing personal friendships with the programmers who can make or break a new artist.
``I spent a complete year devoting my entire life to radio,'' McCready said. ``I mean from doing live radio shows to promotional work for radio stations to thank you concerts to anything they've wanted me to do. I've been there to do it, and I think it's very important.''
The next step is a concert tour, something McCready hasn't attempted yet. Her management is hoping to send her out this spring as an opening act.
``I feel kind of funny about that,'' McCready said. ``I'm not ready to go out and blast everybody with my two hits . I want to go out and do something - at least a 30-minute show.
``I can talk for 30 minutes.''
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Not far from turning 21: Mindy McCready's musicalby CNBroots go all the way back to Amy Grant. The oldest country music
influences she mentions are the 1980s group Alabama and ``Elvira''
by The Oak Ridge Boys. color.