High On Hope

04/30/2001 7:00 PM, LAUNCH
Jennifer Gerlock

Let's get one thing straight: Fame is not all it's cracked up to be. Just ask Lee Ann Womack. The multiplatinum country singer will tell you plainly that she had something else in mind entirely when she envisioned her rise to the top.

"When I was growing up and I thought, 'I want to be a star,' I thought it would be a life of luxury. I thought I would be waited on hand and foot. But it is grueling. It is very, very hard work! The satisfaction that I get from doing what I do is not what I thought. I thought it would be that I'd feel like a star, I'd feel important. But I don't."

So then what, exactly, is the point?

"The satisfaction comes because you work hard and it pays off. It is not as glamorous as I thought it would be, but, you know, I appreciate it more than I ever knew I would, and I love it more than I ever knew I would."

Good thing, because this Texan's career is not going to be slowing down any time soon. Womack debuted in 1997 and was quickly hailed as one of the year's most promising new artists, earning Billboard's top new artist accolade and the Academy Of Country Music's top new female vocalist award that same year, as well as the American Music Award for favorite new country artist in 1998. After nearly two years in the studio, Womack released her third album, I Hope You Dance (the title track of which was a multiple Grammy nominee), and she never looked back. She currently leads the pack of female nominees for the 2001 ACM Awards (being held May 9), with six nominations, including top female vocalist, album of the year for I Hope You Dance, as well as song of the year, single of the year, video of the year, and vocal event of the year for "I Hope You Dance" featuring MCA labelmates Sons Of The Desert.

"Having that amount of nominations makes me a little nervous, because you feel that the bar is really high, the expectations are really high, but it also feels great," says Lee Ann. "I have been on the other end, with no nominations. I think you learn a lot from both of those situations. Nominations come and go. It is not going to happen to you every year, and I am very well aware of that."

Womack admits that the amount of nominations is significant to her because it signals the approval of the music industry, an industry for which she has a deep respect. "It just makes me feel like I have done something right," she marvels. "I love support from the fans just as much, but it is kind of like two different worlds. When you industry tells you, 'Go get 'em--you are doing the right thing, and we love it,' that feels great!"

While the chart-topping and much-nominated hit "I Hope You Dance" propelling her career to new heights--including a stint on top of both the Billboard country and AC charts--Lee Ann maintains that she never sought out or anticipated such a high level of success. "I had no idea it was going to be as huge as it was. I think if anybody says that they knew, they really didn't. It takes so many people to make a success story like that. It starts with the song and the songwriters, then Mark Wright's producing, all of the players that played on it, me singing, the marketing department, the promotion department at the label...It takes a lot of people to make a hit like that. I can't predict that sort of thing. Everybody has to come to the table. I thought that if everybody did, that it could be a big hit. I don't think you can predict that level of commercial success. I did, however, think it was a very special song, because I knew what emotions it stirred in me."

Commercial success aside, fans should not expect Womack to seek out similar crossover material. "I want to reach as many people as I can," she concedes at first. "Who doesn't? I'm a businesswoman. I am a music lover. I like for people to like my music. When you listen to top 40 radio, you hear pop stuff. You hear rock stuff. You hear all these different influences. I could never hear myself making Britney Spears pop-ish records. But I could hear myself, obviously, doing like an 'I Hope You Dance' or something very, very, what to me I think is very quality-type music. Then as many people that like it, that's great. [But] I can't see me directing myself in that [pop] direction. I can't see me planning and plotting it out. I can see me continuing to make the best music I can, and let the chips fall where they may."

Womack has once again taken her brand of country music to the road as part of the 2001 George Strait Country Music Festival, whose lineup also includes Strait, Alan Jackson, Brad Paisley, Lonestar, Sara Evans, and Asleep At The Wheel. The tour plays 16 cities, ending in Dallas on June 10. Lee Ann has performed as part of the annual event three out its four years of existence, but, despite her familiarity with it, she maintains that it is always a humbling experience, "There are times in people's career where they are kind of where I am at right now, where they have those hot spells or whatever, and you think, 'I'm rockin'. I'm doing good.' And then you get around George Strait and you think, 'Man, I'm nothin'!'" she laughs. "He is just so huge, and people just go crazy when he walks into a room or onstage. There is nothing that will humble you quicker than being in his presence. Because it is like, 'Lee Ann who?'"

One of the reasons behind her desire to participate in the festival is her immense respect for Strait, his values, and his career. "We have never seen a career like George Strait's in this business, and I venture to say we never will again. He has handled things amazingly well. He has been able to stay at the top for so long, and there have been times in his career when he backed off a little and you didn't see that much of him, and here he comes again gangbusters, you know? The man has made a major motion picture. He doesn't go out there and look to get in front of the camera all of the time. He is a private person. A lot of times in this business, we are taking advantage of hot times in our career to do a lot of TV and a lot of radio and that sort of thing, and George is able to be so humble that he can get away with not doing those things. He stays in Texas. He takes care of his family. He spends all of his time with them, and that is a very admirable thing. I think the thing I love most about him professionally is the fact that he has been able to have his career for such a long time. He is a man that makes great music and doesn't have stars in his eyes, and I love that about him."

As for her own success, Womack attributes it to her individuality as an artist and the fact that she has never tried to be anything but true to her music. She cites the success of Strait, Faith Hill, and the Dixie Chicks as other Nashville entertainers who have refused to compromise their art. "These people do what is best for them, and they make the kind of music they make and they don't chase something," she explains. "They just do what they do. I think it is very important in this business to be an individual. I think you can have moderate success by copying something else, but if you really want to knock it out of the park, you have to do something different and take chances. And it is scary. It is risky. I think what you have to do to really hit the home run is take some chances and be different. I do think that that is what has helped me a lot. If you listen to my record, you definitely can not listen to the entire CD, and say, 'Oh well, she is just trying to copy so and so.' I am just trying to make country music, you know?"