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Lee Ann Womack coming to Kuss Auditorium

Singer is proud to be  a country traditionalist

Country star Lee Ann Womack will play Kuss Auditorium on Oct. 15.

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By Andrew McGinn, Staff Writer 9:14 AM Friday, October 7, 2011

SPRINGFIELD — The allmusic.com site suggests Shania Twain and Faith Hill as similar artists to Lee Ann Womack.

Here are the similarities:

• All three started releasing music in the ’90s.

• All three were born with uteruses.

And that’s about it.

Womack, who will come to town on Oct. 15 to perform at Kuss Auditorium, did indeed cross over to the pop charts 11 years ago with what’s been her biggest hit by far, the inspirational “I Hope You Dance.”

That was her singing the song on “Oprah” back then at the behest of Maya Angelou.

It won a Grammy, too.

But Womack wasn’t — and still isn’t — a pop singer trying to sneak onto the radio through Nashville’s back door.

Hate to say it, but “I Hope You Dance” was a fluke.

“They even brought someone in to try to make me sound less country,” Womack explained this week.

Womack’s generous use of pedal-steel on her last couple of albums suggests she actually has more in common with Tammy Wynette.

Songs like “If These Walls Could Talk” or “Last Call” — the latter being the biggest hit on her last album, 2008’s “Call Me Crazy” — make poor Shania sound more and more like Cyndi Lauper.

“There are a lot of people here in this town who wanted to be in other genres of music,” Womack said, “but because Nashville is a good place to raise a family, they came here.”

Womack, who miraculously hasn’t been pressured to come up with 10 more songs just like “I Hope You Dance,” has been allowed to pursue her love of traditional country the past decade.

She grew up in East Texas with a dad who was a country radio DJ in a bygone era — meaning he was allowed to play whatever he wanted, and he played lots of George Jones, Buck Owens and Merle Haggard.

Ya’ll heard of those guys?

Just checking, because it’s hard to say what country music is anymore.

“It’s always been about real life and real people who work real hard,” Womack said. “It’s hard to describe the instrumentation, but I like fiddles and steel guitars and a lot of harmony.”

It’s tragic, but it’s no coincidence that the more traditional Womack gets, the smaller the hits become.

She had her last real big hit seven years ago with “I May Hate Myself in the Morning,” which at least also won the 2005 CMA Award for single of the year.

On the last record, “Last Call” unjustly petered out at No. 14.

“You have people who aren’t going to touch it if it’s too, quote-unquote, country,” Womack said. “The most important thing is to make the best music you can make and make it from the heart.”

Halfway done with her next album, Womack is thankfully sticking to her guns amid all the bad imitations of Southern-rock around her.

“I’m so, so, so tired of it,” she laughed. “I’m not trying to be anything. I’m cutting a great song with hopefully great players.

“I’m not trying to convince you that, yes, you are having a good time while you listen to this.”

Contact this reporter at amcginn@coxohio.com.

How to go

Who: Lee Ann Womack

When: 8 p.m. Oct. 15

Where: Kuss Auditorium

Tickets: $20 to $54; visit pac.clarkstate.edu or call (937) 328-3874 to order.

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