| Rick Mitchell: | Here we are backstage at the Big Bang Concert at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. And I'm sitting here with LeAnn Rimes, Country superstar. What a year you've had! |
 | Yes, it's been a wonderful year and, you know, everything, it's kind of been shocking, now. I think all my dreams have kind of come true in about twelve months. It's been great. |
| Rick Mitchell: | What are the album sales now for "Blue" and for "The Early Years"? |
| "Blue" and "The Early Years," "The Early Years" has been number one on the Country charts for several weeks now, and "Blue" is number two on the Country charts, so they're going really well right now. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And they just keep on going! |
| They do, and I just never expected it, you know, to be like this and every week it's #1 and #2 and it's just amazing. |
| Rick Mitchell: | The last time we visited was, I think, in September or October, when I came up to Dallas. And at that time you were tired. And it doesn't seem like it's slowed down a whole lot since then. Have you had any time to kind of catch your breath and just stop and reflect on what's happened? |
| You know, really, the time I had to probably reflect on what's happened was coming back from Australia on the 14-hour plane flight. That's probably been the only time I've had to really think about anything. But it hadn't slowed down at all since then, but I'm trying right now just to kind of take some time off. We'll have about a month off pretty soon. So, I'm looking forward to that, you know, staying at home for a little while. But everything's kind of been pretty crazy. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Yeah, I'll bet. Let's talk a little bit about "The Early Years." Now these sessions were recorded in Texas when you were 11 years old? |
| Well, actually, most of that album was recorded in Clovis, New Mexico, at the Norman Petty Studios where, that was where Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison and a lot of the older stars recorded, which was really neat to record there. But that was, most of the album was recorded when I was 11. The only song I think that was after that was "Unchained Melody," which was recorded when I was 12.
|
| Rick Mitchell: | Whose idea was it to put this out as the follow-up to "Blue"? Was that part of the plan from the beginning, or was that something that y'all decided to do after "Blue" took off? |
| Well, it was kind of a freak accident that even the single got released. "Unchained Melody" was on the flip side of a Christmas song I recorded for Target last Christmas. It was on the flip side of that. And so many radio stations picked up on it and started playing it that they released it as a single and it became my, I think, my third top ten, and, which was really neat. And that was kind of a freak accident that got released, and then so many people wanting to buy it, that then they had to release the album. So, that's really how it all came out. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Have you started work at all on a follow-up to "Blue" with new songs, new material? |
| Yes, we've already started on the new album that should probably be out sometime the end of this year, September, October, somewhere around there. We just went back in the studio. We've laid the tracks down to six songs and I'm going back in to record the vocals pretty soon. So we're starting to work on it. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Having your father as your producer and recording in Texas as opposed to Nashville, part of the album, that's really not the way business is done in Nashville most of the time. |
| No, not at all. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Are you going to stick with that? |
| We are going to stick with that. He's producing the next album. We're recording in Tyler, Texas. And you know, truthfully, I wouldn't have it any other way. You know, we might do a couple songs in Nashville, but basically, I love to stay in Tyler 'cause it gives it a totally different sound. We use my band. We don't use, you know, studio musicians, which most of my band were studio musicians in Dallas and we used to use them in Tyler. And my dad producing it, you know, it's one of those things, a lot of producers might tell you how to sing this note and how to sing that note, and he's basically, here's the song, we listen to the song, I learn it, and it's like, go in there and sing it. You know? And that's about it. And whatever I do with it is what I do with it. And if comes out with a great vocal, a lot of the producers now, they comp a lot of the vocals, which they start, you can take an "s" off of one word and put in on the other, and to me, that's not a vocal. That's a computerized, you know, vocal. That's nothing. And right! I love going in the studio. "Blue," for instance, was a one-take thing. I did like one punch-in on it and fixed one thing and that was it. And that, to me, is a vocal. It's a true vocal. It's not someone just mixing everything together. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Right. |
| So, that's the one thing that I love about recording with him, is he doesn't tell me what to do and how to sing it, and this and that. It's just what I like. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Yeah, as a music critic I think I can say this. One of the criticisms of Country Music these days is that too much stuff sounds the same. And I think that the fact that you do record in your own studio with your own band helps give your music a fresh sound. |
| Right. It's totally different because we're not using the same musicians as everybody else. We're not using the same studio, the same producer. My father's producing it. We're using my band in a totally different studio, totally different state, you know, which is so neat for me. And I really love recording in Tyler. It just gets away from everything and it's a lot of fun. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Well, as a music critic, and I think I speak for other critics, I applaud that. |
| Well, thank you very much. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And I think your fans appreciate it, too. |
| Yeah. I mean, I've actually had a lot of people, all the fans come up and say, "You sound totally different. Your music does and everything. And we like it 'cause it's fresh, it's new, it's different from other things that we're hearing," which is a big compliment. And, you know, as long as the fans are happy and as long as they like it, I don't see any reason to change it. |
| Rick Mitchell: | When I came up to Dallas last Fall you were performing at sort of a discotheque, Country Disco-type place in Dallas, and there was such a wide range of people there. There were older folks who, I think, you know, appreciated the similarity to the Patsy Cline sound. But there were also people in the twenties who maybe normally hang out in the new places like that, and then there were kids there.
|
| Right. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And I remember in particular this girl who was maybe a year or two younger than you, and she was dancing by herself in the center of the dance floor and singing along with your songs. Do you have young people come up to you and tell you that they look up to you and admire you? |
| Oh yeah. I mean, all the crowds that we get at our concerts are from 4 to 84. I mean, it's all ages. And what's so funny is, talking about the, you know, kids admiring me, for instance, in "One Way Ticket," I've had kids come up with blue plastic pants on and purple plastic pants, and they dress just like me. This mother came up and said, "You cost me thousands of dollars, you know, for my child. I had to get her all these clothes made." And it was just, "Oh, my gosh!" I never knew I was this influential on so many people, and especially so many kids. And I really, it's amazing how many kids really look up to me. And I think that's, it's really, really neat, you know, to have kids look up to you and say that, you know, "You're my idol." And I've had so many of them come up and say that, which is really cool to me. You know, "I want to be just like you." So, that's just, it's such a neat feeling to have everybody look up to you that way. |
| Rick Mitchell: | In the video for "One Way Ticket" you're modelling a whole range of clothing. |
| Mm-hm. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Were those your choices? |
| Those, actually, I have a stylist. Her name is Trish Townsend. She's from Nashville. And she does most of all of my stuff. She did the stuff for "One Way Ticket." She's doing the Disney special. She does just about everything that I do. But those, basically, I mean, she goes and shops and comes back with stuff and I choose what I like, basically. But I have her helping me with it. And usually, yes, I do go pick out my own clothes with the help of my mom, and just about everybody around me. 'Cause usually I don't have time to shop. It's like two hours here and there and I can't find anything, so I send the other people out for me. |
| Rick Mitchell: | I know that you like contemporary Country Music, and your song, "One Way Ticket" obviously has that contemporary Country/Rock feel to it, and some of the other songs on your album. But "Blue," on the other hand, had a real vintage sound to it. |
| Mm-hm. |
| Rick Mitchell: | In fact, it was a little controversial with some stations. They felt it was a little too retro for their mix. |
| Right. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Do you think that it's part of your mission as an artist to remind young listeners of how cool traditional Country Music can really be? |
| Well, first of all, I think that young kids, you know, people maybe under twenty, haven't even heard the traditional Country 'cause contemporary Country has kind of taken over for such a long time. And with "Blue" I think it was very traditional, very retro. But though, you hear, you hear contemporary in it a little bit. I mean, I think it's a mixture to me of both. That's what makes it so different, I think. But I really do think that, I love both kinds of music and I think that people need to remember the traditional Country 'cause that's where Country Music started at and they don't need to forget it. |
| Rick Mitchell: | For your new album, what kinds of songs are you looking at? Are you looking at both traditional and contemporary? |
| There's going to be both types of songs on there. And I think on the new album it's kind of really going to be like "Blue." It's a little bit of music for everybody. I mean, you have "Cattle Call." You have "Blue." You know, you have "One Way Ticket," which is for the younger crowd. You have music for everybody on there. And I think maybe that might be what is appealing to some people, you know, about my music and that's kind of, if I was an outsider looking in on my music, that's what would appeal to me, is that I have music on there for everybody and all types. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Mm-hm. How did you learn how to yodel? That's kind of a lost art among younger Country singers. |
| Right! Well, when I was six years old, I started singing in, well when I was five, I started singing in all the local Opries around the Texas area. And the Mesquite Opry, a lady named Janet McBride who owned that, she, we were sitting under a tree one day waiting for a parade to start, and I had learned the song, "Cowboy Sweetheart," which was the old Patsy Montana song. And she actually taught me how to yodel in, like, ten minutes. And I started singing it around the parade. I don't remember, I don't know how I learned or how it happened, but it just kind of came to me. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Not everyone can do that. |
| Mm-hm. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And you learned it in ten minutes. |
| Yeah, you know, really, I think it's just the natural break in my voice that I have, that kind of helps it along. But it's kind of a lost art, 'cause I think a lot of people have forgotten about it. I'm probably one of the only Country singers who still does it. But, you know, really, when I do it on stage, so many people, it's just like, it's so neat, they just, they love it, which is a lot of fun for me. |
| Rick Mitchell: | How does it make you feel when people tell you that you have a special gift, that you were born to sing? I mean, it's obviously intended as high praise, but you know, it could also take away from all the hard work you've put in from the time you were six or seven years old, in terms of being on stage and learning how to sing and learning how to perform. I mean, do you feel that you were born with this gift? |
| I definitely, I feel like I was born with a gift. You know, what you do with that is a totally different thing. I mean, you can, like you said, I had a lot of practice in performing and had to learn that, and learn how to deal with people on stage. And once I think you have the gift and the talent, you, the more you work with it, the more it's going to come. So, but like I said, I feel like I was born with something that I had to have something there to have a base with. You know? And I definitely feel like it's a God-given talent, you know, that He's given me. So, and a lot of people have told me that. And you know, I think that's a neat thing, but I also have worked hard at what I do. But like I said, I think I had to have a base there to build on. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Now, your dad, Wilbur Rimes, who is your producer and manager, from what I've heard, he can also sing, although he doesn't do it in public. |
| Yes. My dad can sing, and his dad can sing, and my mom can sing, too. I think most of them, you know, can at least carry a tune somehow. But my dad really can. He can sing. And he's so shy, he won't get up in front of anybody and do it. But you can hear him in the front of the bus sometimes, singing along with something. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Now, the story that I've heard is that, when you were six years old--you went to your dad and told him that you wanted to be a singer. And, because of that, he transferred from his job in Mississippi to Texas where we have Opries, where amateurs can perform on a weekly basis. And so that's really a true story? |
| That's true. But actually, when I was five, I started doing, you know, shows on stage in competitions and everything. And I told my mom and dad then that I wanted to do it and he got a job offer up in Texas. And you know, people are saying, "Why didn't you move to Nashville." And, for one thing, you know, he did get a job offer and there were still places to play in Texas. So we decided to move up there for both reasons and he loved coon hunting all his life, and he sold everything he had and moved up there and started helping me. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Well, you can go coon hunting in Texas, too.
|
| Well, you can, but he just kind of let that go and started concentrating on my career. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Let me ask you something. Having you parents with you in your career, your dad as producer and manager, and your mom often goes out on the bus on tour with you and kind of takes care of you and looks after your health, you know, I mean, that's unique in a way and it must be great. But on the other hand, I mean, do you ever feel like you could just sort of get out on your own for a week or two? I mean, having your parents around all the time could sort of get old. |
| Well, yeah, you know, I guess it's one of those things. It's not normal because most kids, you know, I guess have a break every once in a while from it. And they usually, you know, when I'm off the road, I basically get to do whatever I want, you know, within reason, I guess. But, you know, wherever I want to go, it's like, that's fine with them. I get to go see all my friends. And we do take, you know, breaks from each other, 'cause it does get, it's gets crammed, you know, everybody gets kind of, just really together all the time and it's like at the end of the tour you're ready to wring each other's neck, you know. And that's with everybody. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Yeah, it doesn't matter. |
| But, exactly, but we have a lot of fun out there, you know. And it's definitely an advantage because there's a lot of people, you know, in the music business that I know that it's hard to trust anybody, you know really, in anything. But definitely, when you have two people that you know are okay, it's a good thing. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Well, with your schedule, touring and recording and making appearances and doing interviews like this, it's not easy to keep a social life. |
| Oh right, oh yeah, it's not at all. |
| Rick Mitchell: | But I know there's a lot of teenage boys out there that would like to meet you. |
| Oh, yeah. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Do you get asked out? |
| To tell you the truth, I haven't. I've never been on an official date, kind of thing yet. And it's just, I don't have time. [LAUGHS] I really don't. It's just one of those things that I don't have time for. I've never been asked out. And maybe one day. I'm looking forward to that day, because, when I have some time off. But I haven't, I haven't yet. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Now you stopped going to school on a regular basis and started taking home education when you were in junior high school? |
| I finished sixth grade in public school and started home schooling and I skipped seventh and eighth grade and moved to ninth. And now I have a tutor that travels with us and I'm taking my courses out of Texas State University. So, it's working out really well. I love, you know, I really like it even better than going to public school just because it's one on one. I can pace myself and, for me, it's a lot easier just because, you know, I'm running all the time, so I have to fit it in somehow and it can't be eight hours a day. So, it works out really well. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And you will get what? A high school equivalency degree within the next couple of years? |
| Right. Oh, yeah, I'll get my high school education and my high school degree, probably in the next two or three years, hopefully. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Have you thought about going to college? |
| That has definitely gone through my head a few times and I think that's still a possibility. You know, really, I wanted to help children some way in my lifetime and hopefully that will be through my music. But if somehow my career happened to kind of take a nose dive and kind of go away, I really would like to maybe go to college and learn, take speech pathology and help children with speech problems. So, you know, that's definitely been something I've wanted to do for a long time. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Do you ever think maybe you'll miss not, you know, going to the prom or things that your average 14-, 15-year-old girl in Texas might do? |
| Well, you know, I don't think I'll ever miss out on any of that. I mean, I know a lot of 14-year-olds who would be wanting to do what I'm doing now. So, I mean, I think I have a once-in-a-lifetime thing and a one-in-a-million chance, you know, people don't really get to do this all the time, so I'm like, you know, like, a one-in-a-million thing. So this is, it's great for me. And I don't think I'm missing out on anything at all. You know, I still go and hang out with friends, even though they might be older than me, and I still go do things that I love to do. But though, on the other hand, I'm getting to, you know, come to Disney World and put my hands in cement and [LAUGHS] go up to the Grammy Awards and you know, win a few Grammies, and it's been amazing to me. So, I don't, I really, I'm not giving up anything, 'cause I'm gaining so much. |
| Rick Mitchell: | You know I saw your concert at the Astrodome with the Houston Livestock Rodeo-- |
| Right-- |
| Rick Mitchell: | Obviously that's my home turf. Were you nervous at all that night? |
| No, to tell you the truth, I was sick. |
| Rick Mitchell: | That's what I heard. |
| I had the flu and unfortunately I had to cancel a show the next night. I think Allen and I both were very sick. And we, I wasn't nervous at all, but in front of, you know, how many? I think, 60,000 people there, it was just, it was pretty amazing to me to be playing. I went from like 50 people, you know, audiences two years ago, to now playing 60,000. So it's been great. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Well, even though you were sick you still hit that note on "Unchained Melody" that put the chill on my spine. |
| Well thank you very much. |
| Rick Mitchell: | That was part of a tour with Alan Jackson, right? |
| Right. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Are you still doing that? |
| We're going to be on tour with Alan till October 1st, and we're having a lot of fun with him. Great guy! So, we've been having a lot of fun on that tour. |
| Rick Mitchell: | It's kind of a nice combination, really-- |
| Oh, great-- |
| Rick Mitchell: | --between his audience-- |
| Right, oh yeah. |
| Rick Mitchell: | --your audience. |
| Yeah, we always, you know, we're playing usually between 10- and 18,000-seat places a night and, to play that many people, it's been a lot of fun for me. And to be with him, it's been really neat. So, I really love being on tour with him. |
| Rick Mitchell: | For people who haven't heard the story behind the song, "Blue," can you fill people in on how that song was written and how it came to you? |
| Well, that song was written by Bill Mack, who is a D.J. in Dallas, Texas. And he wrote the song for Patsy Cline over, you know, 30 years ago, and she unfortunately got killed in the plane crash before she had time to record it. And he heard a tape of me singing the National Anthem two years ago and sent me the song, and it became my first number one. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And Bill, he wrote the song and it sat in a drawer for 35 years until he heard you and thought, that's the voice for this song. |
| Exactly. And to have someone think that 35 years later about someone, you know, that, first they were going to give it to someone who was one of the greatest singers of all times, and now they give it to me, is such a big thrill. And to have a song that was written for Patsy Cline who is one of my idols, is a big thrill. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And then the song came out when? Last May? May of '96? |
| Yes, I think so. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And started getting airplay. |
| Mm-hm. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And then when the single came out, which was, which was when? June? |
| June, yeah, first of June it came out. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And it just went right to the top of the sales charts. |
| Yes, it debutted at number one on the sales charts, and it was number one on the single sales for twenty weeks. |
| Rick Mitchell: | That's pretty impressive. |
| Yeah. It's very impressive. And you know, it went to number ten on the Radio & Records, you know, R&R charts and Billboard. But, to me, it was my first number one, you know, just because, that's actually the song that I'm known for. You know, that was what started my career. I think if we could've released something else off this album, it wouldn't have been the same. You know? I don't think I would have had this much success right now. But "Blue" is definitely, I attribute a lot of my success to "Blue" and I take it, I mean, I look at it as my first number one. I mean, it was number one for twenty weeks on the sales charts. So I look at it as that was my first number-one hit. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And I think it's one of those songs that you can sing, really, for the rest of your life-- |
| Right-- |
| Rick Mitchell: | --and feel good about. |
| Oh, yeah. |
| Rick Mitchell: | I mean, some people, and we won't mention any names, are stuck with songs that broke them to the radio audience that they may not really want to sing-- |
| Right. |
| Rick Mitchell: | --ten years from now. |
| Well, exactly. And you know, I think that, hopefully I'll be able to be around long enough to do that. And I really, I think that people, like I said, that's what I'm known for and, when they decided to release that first, I was like, "Gosh, I had the song two years before." It was on the album I got my record deal off of. I had it two years and it was, "Gosh, this song, I'm getting sick of this." You know? And they decided to release it first and it was, after it became, you know, after it did what it did and became such a big hit for me, it was like, "Hey, I like this song, now." You know, right now I would never ever get tired of singing it just because I know that the people like it and how much they love it. |
| Rick Mitchell: | What other projects are you working on? Have you started work at all on a new album? |
| Yes we started on the new album, you know, that should be out sometime at the end of this year. And we just went back in the studio and started that and I'm looking forward to that, really, the next album. You know, I think it's, I hope everybody's going to like it. We, in our, we started to put some songs in our show from the new album. I really, there will be a couple more songs that I've been writing. I've been doing a lot of writing lately. So, there will be some songs on there that I've written. And I really, I'm going to put all I've got into this album and I've found so many great songs, it's going to be hard to choose. But I really am looking forward to it. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Well you don't have to do just ten on there, you know? |
| Okay. We'll do about 30 then. |
| Rick Mitchell: | People comment, myself included, on how you seem unusually mature for your age. In fact, I think early on, a few people even questioned that, you know, you maybe knocked a couple years off your birth date. And I remember your mom, Belinda, telling me she had your birth certificate right there with her and said, "I know how old she is. I was there when it happened." |
| Sometimes I wonder, though. You know, I've grown up in an adult world all my life. And you know, like I said, all my friends are a lot older than me and I've really had to grow up fast just because I've dealt, I'm very involved in the business part of my career. I've dealt with business all my life. I've dealt with adults, you know, the outside world. I've had to grow up and understand this fairly fast. And I want to do that. Just because I want to know what's going on around me. I don't want someone running my life, which I'm going to have to run in the future, you know, and be running it now so I have no clue, you know, what's going on in the future when I have to do it. So I'm learning about it now and I think I've had to grow up really fast doing that. But I don't mind it. I mean, it's really, it's me. It's something that I've, I've heard people describe me. I've got an old soul. And I definitely think they're right in some ways. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Your stage set includes a couple of Pop covers--"Unchained Melody," "Stand By Me." |
| Right. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Do you listen to contemporary popular music? |
| I listen to everything. In fact, I just got through buying, like, a Sheryl Crow CD. I listen to Sheryl Crow. I listen to Bryan Adams, you know, Bonnie Raitt, just about everybody, you know, including Country Music and anyone from Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, you know, anybody that puts out good music that I love, I listen to. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Who are your real all-time favorites? |
| Well probably the biggest influences on me that are really probably three of my favorite singers are, well, probably Wynonna Judd and Reba McEntire and Patsy Cline. And, those ladies, I've gotten a chance to meet two of them. I got to tour with Wynonna last summer and I've gotten to meet Reba many times, and that's just, they are amazing singers. And probably the two people that I haven't met yet that I really, that are my favorites are Barbra Streisand and Celine Dion. |
| Rick Mitchell: | What about other singers your own age? Who are some of the people whose work you admire? |
| That are my own age? |
| Rick Mitchell: | Or, you know, younger Country singers. |
| Well, probably younger Country singers, probably the one person that I really admire a lot is Brian White, who's a good friend of mine and he's got a great voice. |
| Rick Mitchell: | He does have a great voice. |
| --Great singer and really a good guy, so I admire him a lot. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Matter of fact, I thought I saw his picture up on your tour bus. |
| Oh, yeah. But, you know, like I said, we're very good friends and he's a neat guy. I've been friends with him for a couple years now and I've learned, in fact, I've learned a lot from him on stage, just by watching his concerts for a long time. It's just, he's amazing. So I admire him. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Well, you've had a great first year in the music business. In fact, it's virtually unprecedented for someone to have such a great first year. If you could have another dream come true for your second year or for the next few years, what would it be? Where would you like your career to go from here? |
| I hope it will still keep on going up. You know, I think, I'm looking forward to the next album. I hope, you know, I would really love to see that debut, you know, at a high spot and you know, sell a few more million albums, you know, which would be great for me. And you know, I think I've kind of, I always used to say I wanted to win a couple awards and get a platinum album and all that's come true. It's just, the next thing, I want to do it with the next album again. You know, and keep on doing it. So, hopefully, you know, I think I'm setting the same goals for myself, but just trying to reach it a little bit higher. So, hopefully I'll be able to keep on climbing. |
| Rick Mitchell: | Well, LeAnn, I feel that you're a true talent. |
| Thank you very much. |
| Rick Mitchell: | And I certainly wish the best for you. |
| Thank you. |
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