Deana Carter; Photo Credit: UMG
Deana Carter; Photo Credit: UMG
DEANA CARTER
THE COVER STORY
Tears slipped down Lainey Wilson’s cheeks when she met Deana Carter before presenting the trophy for Single of the Year at the 55th CMA Awards. Carter’s “Strawberry Wine” was a seminal moment in Wilson’s young life. She was 4 years old when Carter released the coming-of-age anthem, and at 29, Wilson calls Carter, her “hero.”
“Dream. Come. True,” Wilson wrote after the show. “If y’all had told me I’d be up on the (CMA Awards) stage a few years ago to present an award with (Deana Carter) singing THE ‘Strawberry Wine,’ I’d say y’all crazy.”
Wilson’s expression of adoration was one of many that night. When Carter slid on her sequins before the show, she knew they were going to sing a few lines of her 25-year-old hit. What she didn’t know was how people would respond. The women launched the song a capella. The camera panned the audience and captured Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, and others singing along as they harmonized. When it was over, Ashley McBryde led a standing ovation.
“The response from my fellow artists was just mind-blowing, and that entire arena was singing,” Carter said. “I don’t think television really depicted how loud it was in there. I was in tears. I just was so moved that it has touched so many people.”
Deana Carter; Photo Credit: UMG
Carter hopes her new album does the same thing. In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of “Strawberry Wine” and her debut album “Did I Shave My Legs for This?,” she recently released a 25th-anniversary edition of the project. The celebratory collection includes a remastered version of the album and two new multi-artist versions of “Strawberry Wine” and “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” that Carter co-produced. Lauren Alaina, Martina McBride, Ashley McBryde, Kylie Morgan, and Vince Gill (on guitar) joined her on “Strawberry Wine.” Terri Clark, Sara Evans, McBryde, and Gill jumped in on “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” The digital deluxe version of the album has 10 additional songs – seven of which are new to the digital space.
“We went in with some of the same musicians and just got to relive it all and live it through these girls and really prop them up vocally so that they could be featured as well,” Carter said. “I wanted it to be more about everybody else and just let me be a part of the songs.”
“Did I Shave My Legs for This?” extended beyond “Strawberry Wine,” also housing chart-toppers “We Danced Anyway,” “How Do I Get There” and “Count Me In.” Carter told People the album was the “culmination of all my experiences” and that she realized it was connecting at the time, but it wasn’t until now that she understood how much.
DEANA CARTER
THE COVER STORY
Tears slipped down Lainey Wilson’s cheeks when she met Deana Carter before presenting the trophy for Single of the Year at the 55th CMA Awards. Carter’s “Strawberry Wine” was a seminal moment in Wilson’s young life. She was 4 years old when Carter released the coming-of-age anthem, and at 29, Wilson calls Carter, her “hero.”
“Dream. Come. True,” Wilson wrote after the show. “If y’all had told me I’d be up on the (CMA Awards) stage a few years ago to present an award with (Deana Carter) singing THE ‘Strawberry Wine,’ I’d say y’all crazy.”
Wilson’s expression of adoration was one of many that night. When Carter slid on her sequins before the show, she knew they were going to sing a few lines of her 25-year-old hit. What she didn’t know was how people would respond. The women launched the song a capella. The camera panned the audience and captured Little Big Town’s Karen Fairchild, Dierks Bentley, Miranda Lambert, and others singing along as they harmonized. When it was over, Ashley McBryde led a standing ovation.
“The response from my fellow artists was just mind-blowing, and that entire arena was singing,” Carter said. “I don’t think television really depicted how loud it was in there. I was in tears. I just was so moved that it has touched so many people.”
Deana Carter; Photo Credit: UMG
Carter hopes her new album does the same thing. In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of “Strawberry Wine” and her debut album “Did I Shave My Legs for This?,” she recently released a 25th-anniversary edition of the project. The celebratory collection includes a remastered version of the album and two new multi-artist versions of “Strawberry Wine” and “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” that Carter co-produced. Lauren Alaina, Martina McBride, Ashley McBryde, Kylie Morgan, and Vince Gill (on guitar) joined her on “Strawberry Wine.” Terri Clark, Sara Evans, McBryde, and Gill jumped in on “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” The digital deluxe version of the album has 10 additional songs – seven of which are new to the digital space.
“We went in with some of the same musicians and just got to relive it all and live it through these girls and really prop them up vocally so that they could be featured as well,” Carter said. “I wanted it to be more about everybody else and just let me be a part of the songs.”
“Did I Shave My Legs for This?” extended beyond “Strawberry Wine,” also housing chart-toppers “We Danced Anyway,” “How Do I Get There” and “Count Me In.” Carter told People the album was the “culmination of all my experiences” and that she realized it was connecting at the time, but it wasn’t until now that she understood how much.
When she recorded the album in the ’90s, her life experience was limited. Carter had one boyfriend from 14-22 years old, and she was working every job she could get to pay back her college loans. She funneled that passion into her songwriting and refused to consider any song that didn’t feel as authentic as the ones she’d already written. When Matraca Berg and Gary Harrison wrote “Strawberry Wine,” Carter felt they ripped a page from her diary.
“They just nailed my life on the head,” she said. “It was unbelievable how spot-on they were, and just the way God worked it out. It was meant for me to sing that song because it was my truth. And it’s turned out to be millions of people’s truth, too.”
Just as she did with the two multi-artist remakes on “Did I Shave My Legs For This? (25th Anniversary Edition),” producing was part of Carter’s plan from the earliest days of her career. She grew up in the recording studio with her father, famed session guitarist Fred Carter, Jr., and the studio felt like a second home. When Jimmy Bowen signed Carter to Capitol Records Nashville in the early ’90s as a development artist, he promised that she could produce. Bowen let Carter co-produce the original version of “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” before artists were given production credits on the album. Bowen required her to keep a notebook, put her in charge of the union contracts, and had her do “the legwork,” she said. She worked alongside David Campbell for the string parts on the ballads and was “there for every single note,” she said. At the end, Bowen paid her for her work.
Expressing a sense of humor about life’s trip-ups in her music was vital, too. The combination of humor and heartache was enough to win “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” the distinction of being the first album from a debut artist to have five singles and three or more No. 1 songs.
“I was there for every note in the studio, all the way through mixing and mastering,” she said. “I’ve never missed a day in the studio for any of it. The songs were always the focus and remained the focus. And for me, the production had to be unique and different.”
In a time when successful female country singers are rare, female producers are even more infrequent. Carter wishes her name had been inked in the producer credits, but she thinks her diligence in the studio still helped open the doors for other female producers.
“I’ve done some other artists, too, which has been a lot of fun,” she explained. “Producing wasn’t new to me by any means, but I certainly did learn a lot working with them then. I’m very proud. It’s still held up.”
Behind the Scenes Music Video for Strawberry Wine (2021 Version) by Deana Carter; UMG (on behalf of CMCapNash (N91)); UMPG Publishing, Polaris Hub AB, Sony ATV Publishing, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., CMRRA, and 2 Music Rights Societies
When she recorded the album in the ’90s, her life experience was limited. Carter had one boyfriend from 14-22 years old, and she was working every job she could get to pay back her college loans. She funneled that passion into her songwriting and refused to consider any song that didn’t feel as authentic as the ones she’d already written. When Matraca Berg and Gary Harrison wrote “Strawberry Wine,” Carter felt they ripped a page from her diary.
“They just nailed my life on the head,” she said. “It was unbelievable how spot-on they were, and just the way God worked it out. It was meant for me to sing that song because it was my truth. And it’s turned out to be millions of people’s truth, too.”
Just as she did with the two multi-artist remakes on “Did I Shave My Legs For This? (25th Anniversary Edition),” producing was part of Carter’s plan from the earliest days of her career. She grew up in the recording studio with her father, famed session guitarist Fred Carter, Jr., and the studio felt like a second home. When Jimmy Bowen signed Carter to Capitol Records Nashville in the early ’90s as a development artist, he promised that she could produce. Bowen let Carter co-produce the original version of “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” before artists were given production credits on the album. Bowen required her to keep a notebook, put her in charge of the union contracts, and had her do “the legwork,” she said. She worked alongside David Campbell for the string parts on the ballads and was “there for every single note,” she said. At the end, Bowen paid her for her work.
Behind the Scenes Music Video for Strawberry Wine (2021 Version) by Deana Carter; UMG (on behalf of CMCapNash (N91)); UMPG Publishing, Polaris Hub AB, Sony ATV Publishing, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., CMRRA, and 2 Music Rights Societies
Expressing a sense of humor about life’s trip-ups in her music was vital, too. The combination of humor and heartache was enough to win “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” the distinction of being the first album from a debut artist to have five singles and three or more No. 1 songs.
“I was there for every note in the studio, all the way through mixing and mastering,” she said. “I’ve never missed a day in the studio for any of it. The songs were always the focus and remained the focus. And for me, the production had to be unique and different.”
In a time when successful female country singers are rare, female producers are even more infrequent. Carter wishes her name had been inked in the producer credits, but she thinks her diligence in the studio still helped open the doors for other female producers.
“I’ve done some other artists, too, which has been a lot of fun,” she explained. “Producing wasn’t new to me by any means, but I certainly did learn a lot working with them then. I’m very proud. It’s still held up.”
When “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” was released in 1996, Carter did an album signing at a Nashville record store. Gill heard about her appearance on the radio on the way home from the golf course and dropped by to lend his support – it’s one of the reasons she wanted Gill to play guitar on the 25th-anniversary edition of the album.
“He stood in the back of Tower Records on West End and just his presence, his gorgeous presence, was such an acknowledgment and a stamp of credibility on that project,” she said. “I had to have Vince Gill play guitar on this because my daddy passed in 2010, and Vince is the next best thing, as far as putting somebody on a pedestal, like my dad.”
About three months after its release, Carter’s debut single became her first multi-week No. 1 hit. The Middle Tennessee native soon found herself on tour with country music royalty, zipping from coast to coast on tour buses and chatting with her 1990s peers on the CB radio. The family atmosphere and shenanigans from touring remain her sweetest memories.
“We’d pull our buses over and swap out with each other,” she told People. “Tim McGraw got on my bus, and I’d get on his bus. It was like the circus. You’d be rolling down the interstate and see other buses passing and get on the CB and talk with each other. Just that community was so loving. I’m so blessed to have been a ’90s artist and still be working.”
It’s an atmosphere that Carter wants to recreate. With the release of the 25th-anniversary edition of “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” she hopes to spark a top-tier ’90s country tour reuniting her favorite touring buddies to play a string of arenas. She wants the attention that “Strawberry Wine” has received to trigger a chain reaction that reignites interest in ’90s artists. Carter wants her class of artists to be considered for major label record deals, country radio airplay, awards show nominations and more.
“Let’s go to the drawing board and talk about how to make that happen for all these artists who were kings and queens of our format for a decade or longer,” she said. “The ones I’ve talked to would just love to do that. I believe that if they just put the right ’90s artists together and put us all back out on the road together, it would just be a done deal.”
But the most important thing she wants people to know is that it’s never too late to “live your best life.”
Behind the Scenes Music Video for Did I Shave My Legs For This? (2021 Version) by Deana Carter; UMG (on behalf of CMCapNash (N91)); UMPG Publishing, Polaris Hub AB, Sony ATV Publishing, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., CMRRA, and 2 Music Rights Societies
“You have to put it in God’s hands and follow through,” Carter explained. “I’ve had to do that professionally. I’ve had to do that as a single mom. I’m on my third marriage with the most wonderful man ever. I’m a walking testimony that you can make every mistake in the book, and God will work it out in the best way. You got to just keep your faith and keep trying to do the right thing.”
That is a plan for which she’ll happily shave her legs.
When “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” was released in 1996, Carter did an album signing at a Nashville record store. Gill heard about her appearance on the radio on the way home from the golf course and dropped by to lend his support – it’s one of the reasons she wanted Gill to play guitar on the 25th-anniversary edition of the album.
“He stood in the back of Tower Records on West End and just his presence, his gorgeous presence, was such an acknowledgment and a stamp of credibility on that project,” she said. “I had to have Vince Gill play guitar on this because my daddy passed in 2010, and Vince is the next best thing, as far as putting somebody on a pedestal, like my dad.”
About three months after its release, Carter’s debut single became her first multi-week No. 1 hit. The Middle Tennessee native soon found herself on tour with country music royalty, zipping from coast to coast on tour buses and chatting with her 1990s peers on the CB radio. The family atmosphere and shenanigans from touring remain her sweetest memories.
“We’d pull our buses over and swap out with each other,” she told People. “Tim McGraw got on my bus, and I’d get on his bus. It was like the circus. You’d be rolling down the interstate and see other buses passing and get on the CB and talk with each other. Just that community was so loving. I’m so blessed to have been a ’90s artist and still be working.”
It’s an atmosphere that Carter wants to recreate. With the release of the 25th-anniversary edition of “Did I Shave My Legs for This?” she hopes to spark a top-tier ’90s country tour reuniting her favorite touring buddies to play a string of arenas. She wants the attention that “Strawberry Wine” has received to trigger a chain reaction that reignites interest in ’90s artists. Carter wants her class of artists to be considered for major label record deals, country radio airplay, awards show nominations and more.
“Let’s go to the drawing board and talk about how to make that happen for all these artists who were kings and queens of our format for a decade or longer,” she said. “The ones I’ve talked to would just love to do that. I believe that if they just put the right ’90s artists together and put us all back out on the road together, it would just be a done deal.”
But the most important thing she wants people to know is that it’s never too late to “live your best life.”
Behind the Scenes Music Video for Did I Shave My Legs For This? (2021 Version) by Deana Carter; UMG (on behalf of CMCapNash (N91)); UMPG Publishing, Polaris Hub AB, Sony ATV Publishing, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., CMRRA, and 2 Music Rights Societies
“You have to put it in God’s hands and follow through,” Carter explained. “I’ve had to do that professionally. I’ve had to do that as a single mom. I’m on my third marriage with the most wonderful man ever. I’m a walking testimony that you can make every mistake in the book, and God will work it out in the best way. You got to just keep your faith and keep trying to do the right thing.”
That is a plan for which she’ll happily shave her legs.
