JoDee Messina returns to Shiprock Oct. 14
By Carolyn Calvin
Navajo Times
WINDOW ROCK, Oct. 7, 2010
(Courtesy photo)
Jo Dee Messina
Messina is looking forward to performing for a community she connected with last year.
"I have great memories of Shiprock," she said. "Last year, we played the same night a football game was taking place. We had a great time and bonded with the community. We booked our show right there and then."
Before her show last year, Messina performed before a football game at Shiprock High School in tribute to brothers Marshall Alan Westbrook and Kenneth Westbrook, who lost their lives in separate incidents in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The event also marked one of the first podcasts Messina did for her fans, featuring her performance and a backstage broadcast.
The podcast, a digital file that can be downloaded and viewed on a computer, evolved into the USTREAM series, "Make Something of It with Jo Dee Messina."
The "Make Something of It" series began broadcasting April 6 on www.jodeemessina.com/podcast/. It showcases inspiring, uplifting and positive stories submitted by Messina's fans. Messina broadcasts the podcasts from the studio her husband built on the third floor of their home outside Nashville.
"We started doing the podcasts on a regular basis," she said. "I don't do it from the road anymore. I took a hiatus because I'm on travel."
In April, Messina released "Unmistakable: Love," the first in a series of three EPs to be released in 2010. The collection displays her songwriting skills and her abilities as a co-producer.
The rest of the series - "Drive" and "Inspiration" - are being released soon and will include live bonus tracks of Messina's biggest hits.
"I think this is a great way to let the fans hear all the recordings made in the last six years," she said. "They not only get to experience the finished product, but the complete collection of songs recorded along the way."
Messina's favorite song on her current EP is "Unmistakable."
"I started dating my husband while I was writing this song," she said. "It's sentimental."
"You can pretty much feel it that there was a shift in my life during the process of recording these new songs," said Messina, who became engaged, got married and had a baby during the period.
"Unmistakable" is the next chapter in a career that has brought the Massachusetts-born singer to the heights of the genre she has loved since she was a little girl. She has sold over five million albums, had nine No. 1 singles, earned two Grammy nominations in addition to awards by the CMA and ACM.
She says fellow country artist Tim McGraw "literally started my career."
"When I was first at Curb Records, I was going to do an album with four songs," she said. "Tim said, 'I'll pay to do a whole album of 10 or 11 songs. She deserves a full album.'"
McGraw went on to co-produce four of her albums with producer Byron Gallimore.
Today Messina's musical influences include everyone from Miley Cyrus to Lady Antebellum.
"My musical tastes and influences are from everywhere," she said. "Come on out to the show, we will have a really great time."
Tickets are on sale for $38, $44, $50 or $58 at the venue or can be charged by phone at 505-368-2490.
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