Love In The Real World

Sherrie Austin

  “I see myself as extremely human.  I've learned a lot in the last few years, and it's in these songs. 
If my last album was about the wreckage of love
... the fairy tale, then this one's a lot more realistic and a lot more about surviving.'

With Love In The Real World, Sherrie Austin comes to terms with what she knows, what she wants and what she's looking for.  Writing from a place every woman can relate to, the dark-haired singer/songwriter has identified a sound that is uniquely her own, while seeking a new candor lyrically.

"This time, it's a lot more been there, done that' coming from knowing you can survive!  This was written from a really fearless place.  Whatever the risk, it's okay - because even if it doesn't work, it won't kill you.  You realize there are several things that can happen: you either freak out, feel sorry for yourself or fly.  Once you know that, you know the choice is yours.  Then you're really free."

For Sherrie Austin, that freedom also extended to the evolution of her 'sound.' Austin, with producers Will Rambeaux and Ed Seay, opted for arrangements that were built around chiming acoustic guitars, sparkling mandolins, evocative fiddle lines and the occasional ripple of the steel guitar.

It was a more organic, acoustic approach immersed in an Appalachian sensibility.  'I wanted to take the musical road less traveled,' acknowledges the woman who was nominated as Top New Female Vocalist at the 1999 Academy of Country Music Awards.  'I was looking for my own path, rather than just plowing down the road everyone else is on.

"I spent the last year on the road and I've learned a lot about what works and doesn't work for me.  I'm tiny, so screaming over a wall of electric guitars isn't comfortable.  I'd rather bring people in, draw them close and find a way to use the dynamics of my voice.  From knowing that's what I wanted and experimenting in the studio, this sound evolved."

Austin grew up on many of the Nashville classics.  Raised on Skeeter Davis and vintage Dolly Parton, Sherrie Austin's well is deep with a pristine sense of country tempered by her later discovery of progressive country hybrids Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash and kd lang.

“All those women had a very strong sense of sound,” Austin says, “I'm not sure I realized it at the time, but they all did.  And usually, there was also a strong acoustic element to it, something that evoked the hills or the mountains.  And just as importantly, they were all reaching out to people - especially women - and they understood the contradiction that is woman.  They got the notion of being totally vulnerable, yet strong at the same time.  And that's what I want my music to reflect as well.”

There's music in my heart again
Playing like a mandolin
I can see the sun shining
Smell the wildflowers on the breeze
"Good Love Comin' On"

Whether it's the lilting 'Little Bird' with its cautionary note about the inherent dangers of holding and being held - too tight, the aching balladry of 'Sarah,' a third person look at the quicksand of sorrow', or the effervescent 'Never Been Kissed,' an exuberant cocktail about the kind of connection that is beyond physical, mental, spiritual and any other definable realm, Love In The Real World is an album about soul-searching, finding a place in the world and learning to enjoy what each of us has.' Sherrie Austin talks a lot about realizations, finding herself in her songs and the power music has in bringing people together.  Since the release of Words, her Arista debut, Austin has spent her time taking her music to the country fans - somewhat the old fashioned way - and finding an audience that believes in what she's doing.

Austin says, "I played big halls as part of the "T'n'T tour" with Trace Adkins and Tracy Lawrence, but I also played small honky tonks and state fairs because that's also where people want to hear my music." Sherrie Austin hit the road and found both a fan base (she's sold over 300,000 copies of her debut) and her muse.

“If that's paying your dues, then GREAT!  I'd always rather people respond to me and make it a personal connection.  Plus, the more we worked, the more it became obvious how much people related to where I was coming from."

When Sherrie Austin was growing up, she had a dream of singing country music.  It was farfetched - even for a girl who would win talent shows and open for legends like Johnny Cash when they would tour her Australian homeland.  Yet Sherrie Austin was never afraid to dream big, and her family was never afraid of those dreams, either

They relocated to Los Angeles when Sherrie was a teenager so she could chase her dream.  She did some writing, did some recording, even did a little acting, but never made the right connection.  It was all good, all experience, and all part of getting where she wanted to be, but it never quite resonated the way it should have.

And then Sherrie Austin's first love decided things weren't what he wanted.  So, suddenly, the determined young woman was confronting one of the first major failures of her life - heartbreak - and it jolted her.

Whatever happened to the Prince and Cinderella
That wide-eyed boy and girl
What happens after happy-ever-after
Love in the real world
"Love In The Real World"

  "I remember waking up and wishing I'd get hit by a truck so I wouldn't have to deal with everything,' Austin recalls.  'Then one day, I knew I'd survive.  I don't know why or how I knew ... nothing was working out and I was supposed to go back to Australia ... and instead I went up to my mother and said, 'No, I'm not going back... I want to go to Nashville."

With just a few names..."friends of friends” scratched on a scrap of paper, Austin left for Music City determined to make her mark as a songwriter and to find her destiny.

"I moved to Nashville for more than just writing songs - I came to Nashville to do it on my own and find my place in the world!  Looking back, it was a crazy thing to do with just a suitcase, a guitar and enough money to last two months... but I got a publishing deal as the money ran out.  I needed to go somewhere to nurse my broken heart and write, and that was the sign I needed to know I'd done the right thing."

Resolve became a writing partnership with Will Rambeaux  (“Wild One” for Faith Hill, “Can't Get Enough” for Patty Loveless) and later a production involvement.  They had a vision and, with the help of publisher Ree Guyer and manager Larry Fitzgerald (Vince Gill, Clint Black, Patty Loveless), it became a reality.

"When you start letting go of what you think you're supposed to be doing and focus on what's inside you, then you start getting where you need to be.  That's what I found out, and that's what a. lot of these songs are about."

I want to sing like a gospel choir
Hang on the highest note
Emotion overflowing in my soul
You give me all the love a heart can hold
"All The Love A Heart Can Hold"