In contrast to the honky-tonk swagger of uptempo tunes that include "Love or Something Like It" and "Playing with the Big Boys," this one tells the story of a woman who had her first child at 17, was married by 19 and is left to peer down the road that runs past her suburban home, wondering "is there still time for her to chase her dream, the one she left behind?"
That's exactly what Lynn was asking herself back in Clayton, N.J., where life seemed to offer nothing more than a job waiting tables. All that changed when she reordered her priorities and made her way to Nashville.
Producer Ted Hewitt captured Rodney Atkins' rugged but sensitive essence on If You're Going Through Hell; he repeats the feat with Lynn on It's a Woman Thing, in which a tender current adds depth to the assertive, sometimes playful quality in her phrasing. There's wisdom in her music, insightful and childlike on "Scarecrow Dance," wry and toughened by experience on "Wrong Train." Above all, there's the kind of strength that comes from survival - and a promise that Lynn intends to stay around for a while.
IN HER OWN WORDS
Who is your musical hero?
"When I was a young girl, I grew up wanting to be just like Loretta Lynn. She still hugs a part of everything I love about Country Music, but as I grew into adulthood Reba McEntire became a chart topper for me. She is such an amazing person inside and out, not to mention that incredible voice of hers."
Which song would you like to cover?
"'Just Like Jesse James' by Cher."
What word or phrase do you find yourself saying over and over again?
"It's all good."
When they look back on your life in 50 years, what do you hope people say about you?
"I hope people would say what a caring and giving person I was and how I somehow impacted their life in a good way - that somehow I was some sort of inspiration to them."
If you wrote an autobiography, what would the title be?
"It would probably have the same title as a song I wrote for the album called 'Is There Still Time.'"
On the Web: www.sherrylynnmusic.com
® 2008 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc
If Sherry Lynn had never been born, someone would have brought her to life in a Country lyric. In fact, that song has already been created - by Sherry Lynn herself.
On her Steal Heart Music debut album, It's a Woman Thing, this buoyant singer co-wrote two tracks but penned her most personal song, "Is There Still Time," on her own.
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