By Lydia Dixon Garden

Martina McBride was thrilled to host last year’s TNN Music City News Country Awards show and she’s “really happy” to be doing it again with Lorrie Mor­gan and Mark Miller.

With one such hosting stint under her belt, did she look back on her per­formance last year and critique her­self?

“No‚ I had such a good time last year,” she tells. The only modification she plans to make this year is not on performance, but wardrobe. “One thing I don’t think I am going to do this year is wear a dress that is so tight at the bottom that I have to take baby steps to get across the stage!”

This past year, however, has not been measured in baby steps for McBride. Her career bas taken great strides in terms of recogni­tion, focus and creativity. She has made appearances on such high ­profile shows as Late Night With David Letterman and her single Independence Day won honors at several awards shows this past year.

Last year when we talked to Martina, she was still in the midst of recording her “Wild Angels” album, her third. Each album bas been a progression for her and this one is no different. ”Who knows what I’ll be like with the next album?” she pondered last year..

Well, the top of the charts seems to be a like­ly place. The title cut from “Wild Angels” was a No. 1 song and her current single, Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town, is also making a strong showing. She feels confi­dent that they will be able to pull five, and possibly six singles from the project. More than ever before,

Martina feels like she has found a batch of songs that she can connect to on a personal basis than ever before.

“With this album, I feel like I found songs about me,” she tells. “It’s coming from a more personal place. The songs I sing should stand for what I believe, and people who buy my albums should get a sense of who I am from my music.”

Comments from critics and fans alike have remarked there is a more positive feel to this album. That may come from the uplifting relationships she has with her husband, John, and tod­dler daughter, Delaney. Martina was pleased to find not one but three, songs for the album that really “captured the relationship my husband John and I have.” They are Ali The Things We’ve Never Done, Driving Ali The Time and Born To Give My Love To You, which Martina admits she now sings more for Delaney.

“Motherhood changes your outlook. You become really protective, and you realize that what you do impacts someone else’s life,” she says. “She (Delaney) is with me all the time and John most of the time. I think that is the most important thing. It really doesn’t matter where we are. She gets to see a lot of different things. She is really a good, easy baby and she loves to travel - on the bus, and on planes. She gets kind of bored when we stay home too bong.”

All three of them used to travel together, but now that Garth Brooks is back on the road, John tours with Brooks as his Production Manager, which means he handles all the details associated with the tour.

Earlier this year, Martina made her second tour to Europe. She co ­hosted the Great British Music Awards and then performed around a dozen shows in Holland, England, Ireland, Scotland and Germany. Her shows have received rave reviews, a feat her manager, Bruce Allen, says are hard to get. Allen also manages rock artist Bryan Adams and has found European music critics are just that - critical. Martina, who opened shows for Garth Brooks during his World Tour two years ago, has been able to wow those in the audience.

Part of the reason may be the hands-on approach she took when baying down the instrumental tracks for “Wild Angels.” She co-produced with Paul Worley and Ed Seay, but she was very involved with what the musicians played on the tracks and also came up with some interesting and different arrangements.

“I had really specific ideas about the production of this album,” Martina says. “First off all, I get tired of hearing the same sounds on the radio all the time. I wanted there to be some fun stuff that would make people go, ‘Wow, what’s that? That’s really dif­ferent.”

“I love to go in and create,” she adds. “To do the same thing album after album would be boring. I’m still growing, and I want my music

to grow, too.”