LAUNCH Yahoo!, April 6, 2000 

Martina McBride's current Emotion tour treats the singer's fans to a whole new experience. While McBride's goals and priorities toward entertaining audiences hasn't changed, virtually everything else has.

"We just put together a new show -- first all-new show in about a year and a half," she tells LAUNCH. "New set, new lights, new tricks, new things; you know, new songs -- new songs from the album Emotion, and really the gist of it is the same. Always for me, what I try to do when I go out on stage is connect with that audience. It doesn't really matter how great of a light show you have or how well you sing or whether you don't fall on your butt. You know, those things don't really matter if you don't connect with that audience, and if they don't leave feeling like they know you a little bit better."

McBride will take a short break in her headlining Emotion tour to participate in the George Strait Country Music Festival from April 29 through June 11. She will join fellow artists Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Lee Ann Womack, Mark Chesnutt, and Asleep At The Wheel for this top-selling tour.

For McBride, being a part of the George Strait tour is a dream come true, as she explains. "Touring with George Strait is a huge, big, big deal for me," she says. "It's a tour that I've watched from the outside for a couple of years and just always really, really wanted to be a part of, so to be invited to be on that tour is an honor and a thrill. I wish they were doing more than 10 shows. I mean, I'd like to spend my whole summer touring with George Strait."

-- Margy Holland

courtesy of www.launch.com