Wife, mom, country music star… Martina McBride juggles all three roles as easily as she hits her high notes.

“I really believe you can have it all,” Martina says during a break in rehearsals for her fall tour with Tim McGraw.

“You can have a career and be a good wife and mother,” she declares over lunch at Jack’s Bar-B-Que in Nashville. “I don’t really know how I do it, though. I think if I really stopped and thought about the roles I play and what I am to all these different people, I would probably crawl in a corner and hide.”

Martina and husband John, who’s stage man­ager for Garth Brooks, are parents of 2 ½-year-old daughter, Delaney. “I don’t feel like one area of my life suffers because of another,” says Martina, who’s expecting another chili in April. “I never feel like Delaney has to make any sacrifices. If I did, I would quit doing what I’m doing because she obviously comes first. My husband is also in the business and he understands it completely. He travels on the road with me a lot. He’s my biggest supporter and adviser and partner. Delaney comes with us on the road and has since she was two months old.”

The road has been a constant companion of Martina’s ever since she was hand-picked by Garth as his 1992 opening act. But when it was time to record her fourth and latest album for RCA -  Evolution -  Martina took seven months away from the road.

“Usually I try to make a record while I’m touring,” she says. “I go out and play shows for two weeks, and then I’ve got four days at home to unpack, do all my laundry, re-pack, return all my

phone calls, do interviews, and by the way, go in the studio record. So this time I decided I would take a big bloc of time the road and just focus.

“It was wonderful. I’d probably never make another album other way. I was able to go to work every day on the album not have my focus disturbed by a million other things. And voice was in good shape because I wasn’t singing in the studio after singing five nights in a row. So it was a really cool process.”

Since her second album, The Way That I Am, Martina’s been behind the console as as in the vocal booth. “Producing is like having a blank canvas -  you paint any picture you want to paint,” she explains. “You can take it in any direction, but one little change could affect the whole picture.

“One thing I got to do on this album that haven’t bad the chance to do before was experiment. If I tried a certain instrument on a song and it sounded better in my head than it did on tape, then I had the freedom and time to erase it. Before, I’ve always been restricted by budget time. This time I feel like I’ve explored every avenue.

When Martina discovered the album’s first single, “A Broken Wing,” she was stopped in her tracks by its powerful message, similar to her 1994 hit “Independence Day.”

„We had been working in the studio all day and were getting ready to go home,” she remembers. “Paul Worley, my co-producer stopped me and put a tape in the tape player. It just completely knocked me out.

“I heard the first verse and the chorus and thought, ‘This is really special.” Then I heard the second verse and chorus and thought, ‘I have to have this song.’

„I don’t think I would ever do „doormat” songs,” she says. „I try to sing the same things that I believe in. I like to sing what I would tell a friend who carne to mc for advice.

“It would be hard for me to sing a song that says, ‘I know your guy’s a loser and he treats you bad, but go ahead and stay anyway because he’s probably the best thing you’ll find.’

“I don’t think I’m unique in that aspect. I think there are a lot of women artists who sing songs that portray dignity, respect and strength.”

Don’t look for Martina to record a novelty song, either. “I have a hard time with novelty songs, because that’s what they are – novelties,” she says. “I like songs that are going to stand the test of time, songs that I’m still going to want to hear in 10 years. Music should be entertaining as well as inspiring. It doesn’t all have to be  serious and heavy and message-oriented, but the quality ought to be there.”

Martina admits she’s learned many lessons since her 1992 debut album, The Time Has Come.

“With the first album I went in thinking that I had to make a very traditional album. “I really love traditional country music. I was raised on it, so I had a conflict about staying true to my roots. I can remember looking for somgs for my first album and if a song was the least bit contemporary sounding, I would say ‘Well, I love that song, but it doesn’t fit with what I’m trying to do.’ Now, I’ve learned to open up.

“I’ve realized that I have a lot of influences, and it’s okay to use all those influences,” she continues. “It doesn’t make the music ‘not country’ just because it’s not a certain type of country. If I love a song, no matter what it’s like stylistically, I can make it my own. I don’t put as many restrictions on myself musically or artistically now.”

Delaney was a constant presence in the studio during the making of Evolution. „She knew every song forward and backward,” Martina says. Delaney can even be heard singing a few words of “A Broken Wing” on the album.

Now that mother and daughter arc back on the road, Martina goes to great lengths to ensure that Delaney has a normal life. “On off days we do things that are fun, like go to the zoo or the park,” she says. “I’ve also tried to balance time on the road and time at home. The longest I’m ever gone is three weeks. I start missing my house and my things, and I think Delaney does, too.

“I try to imagine what she feels like. If I’m feeling that way, I imagine she does, too. She wants to be in her room, with her toys and her books.”

Martina is already planning for when Delaney’s old enough to attend school. “What I’d really like to do is tour in the summer and stay at home during the school year. I can let her be a regular kid and I can record during those months. And then the first of June, tour until school starts again. We did that this year when we made the new album, and it worked really well.”

As she puts the finishing touches to her road act, Martina takes charge of the Nashville rehearsal, telling the musicians the exact sound she wants. “I’m more secure that the stage is my world and I am in control,” she says. “I’ve always been confident about the sing­ing part, but it’s the talking part that has become a lot easier for me. Talking to an audience between songs and really relat­ing, as opposed to just saying things. I love jt when an audience talks back.

“I’ve thought about incorporating a question-and-answer section in the shows because I love talking to the audience.”

For now, Martina’s focused on tour­ing with Tim. “I’m really excited about this tour,” she says, smiling. „Tm and I have done a few shows together, but never a full-blown tour. Our audiences are really similar, and I’ve always felt like it’s a real high-energy show from beginning to finish.”

Martina and Tm both have popular duets on the charts, but don’t expect Martina to fill in for Tim’s wife, Faith Hill, on the hit ballad “It’s Your Love.”

“That is such a special song for them, and I would feel a little weird singing her part,” Martina says. “That’s their song.” Marti­na’s own duet with Chat Black is different. „I’d love to have Tim come out and sing Clint’s part on ‘Still Holding’ On,’” she says.

As she looks back on the past five years, Martina is quick to count her blessings. “The obvious one is having Delaney,” says the proud mom. “I have this joy every day of my life. No matter what else is going on, I can look at her and she’ll do something that makes me laugh. That’s an amazing gift.”

Martina says she and John are delighted about the pending addition to their family. “We’ve always said we wanted to have four children, but I don’t know if we’ll get there. I’d like to have at least three. I’d love to have eight or 10, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she says, laughing. “Reality has to set in at some point.”

As for her career, Martina points to several milestones. “Being inducted into the Grand Ole Opry was wonderful,” she says. “Winning the CMA Award for ‘Independence Day’ was great. Another career highlight was being nominated for CMA Album of the Year for Wild Angels. I thought that was so incredible.”

Amazingly, this overachiever does not set goals for herself. “This business is so unpredictable,” Martina explains, “and a lot of it is out of my control. You can’t make people buy your records an you can’t make radio play them.

“I just work toward being in this business for a long time making music that I’m really proud of and having the respect of people who I really care about. Anything from here on out is icing on the cake."