by Kerry Dexter

Headlining the music part of the Country Music Marathon, McBride enthralls a near capacity crowd at the Gaylord Entertainment Center

Martina McBride immediately took command of the nearly full house April 28th downtown Nashville's Gaylord Entertainment Center when she opened her show with her driving anthem of self determination, It's My Time, accented by fireworks and swirling lights.

But McBride didn't need any special effects that night to win over the audience, as her powerful voice soared through celebrations of love including her hits The Way That I Am and Safe in the Arms of Love.

The vibrant entertainer, dressed in black slacks and top accented with silver and wearing her hair at a longer shoulder length than she has in recent shows, clearly delivered the goods to a mixed audience of hometown friends and fans, music industry execs, and participants and supporters of those who'd run the second annual Country Music @{Marathon}@ through the streets of Music City earlier that day. Runners were given a free ticket to the concert as part of their entry to the race. "When they called me about doing this, " McBride said, " I asked them, you mean singing, don't you, not running -- because about all the running I did this morning was into the kitchen to the coffee machine. I have to applaud all you runners," McBride said, clapping for her audience.

They returned the favor, and McBride clearly won over some new fans who appreciated the singer's left of country mainstream taste in songs, as she continued with Wild Angels, Happy Girl, and her surprise pop hit My Valentine, accented with video of her husband and two daughters.

"I grew up in Kansas," McBride told the audience, "and I remember as a kid they'd always show The Wizard of Oz once a year -- always right in the middle of @{tornado}@ season and scare the crap out of all the little kids, I never could understand that -- anyway, we'd always come running in to watch it. And one of my clearest memories as a child is seeing Judy Garland singing and saying to myself 'someday I want to do that.' So, I'm going to do that tonight," she said by way of introduction to a soaring rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow which brought the entire house to its feet in appreciation.

Though she's been touring actively, schedules haven't brought her to Music City in more than two years. "I just love to play my hometown," the delighted entertainer said as many of the audience came to their feet to applaud her . "I love @{Nashville}@, and it's so wonderful to come out and get all this support in the place where I live."

McBride also revealed that she's working on a greatest hits album set for release in the fall. "There'll be four new songs on it too," she said, "none of which we're going to do for you tonight -- we haven't learned them well enough yet!" As audience members called out requests of their favorite songs, McBride told them ."We'll get there. I promise you we'll get there. And I want to thank you for letting me have enough songs to have a greatest hits album," she said with a smile.

"I like this song because it's a song about choices," McBride explained as she introduced Wrong Again, and then picked up the pace as she picked up a harmonica to play the opening notes of Love's the Only House. Mainstream country doesn't go much for social justice songs these days, but McBride's conviction gained good airplay for this Tom Douglas penned tune that affirms the importance of community, respect, and healing. The chorus is "love's the the only house big enough to hold all the pain on the world." "I believe that's the truth," said McBride as she concluded the song.

McBride offered the song Broken Wing, which audience members had been calling for, and once again the petite singer reached the rafters of the Gaylord Center with a vocal power that brought the audience to its feet for another standing ovation. McBride commented that "a guy down in front here just asked me if I'm having a good time. I'm havin' the time of my life!" the singer said as the crowd cheered. Clearly touched, McBride continued, " There's nothing like coming home, playing my hometown after so long and getting this kind of response -- I'll carry this with me everywhere we play."

Turning to another song that reaches themes deeper than the average radio hit, McBride began her 1993 hit Independence Day with an a Capella version of the chorus, which made a compelling transition to the song about domestic violence. Against a stars and stripes themed lighting backdrop, the singer segued into an intense and rock tinged rendition of the powerful song, putting a different twist on the ballad style with which she's treated it in the past. It garnered her a third standing ovation as she drew the concert to a close.

The crowd wasn't ready to let Martina go, however, and called her back for two encores, for which she turned to the classic rock of Natural Woman and You're Still the One.

Check out McBride's most recent CDEmotion, which contains Love's the Only House, and find Independence Day on Way That I Am.

Martina McBride is adventurous in her search for songs she can deliver with conviction. Look into these solo releases by three who've written hits for McBride:

Gretchen Peters wrote Indpendence Day and The Way That I Am. Her latest is the self titled Gretchen Peters

Matraca Berg wrote Wild Angels. Her latest disc is Lying To The Moon & Other Stories

Beth Nielsen Chapman penned Happy Girl. Hear her version on Sand and Water