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When the full-blown impact of the second
cut, "A Broken Wing," washed over the audience, a hush fell. The song is about a woman in a verbally abusive situation and the
strength she finds in herself to overcome it. Sound familiar? Though not
as volatile as "Independence Day," the message is just as stirring.
Another cut on the album, "Be That Way," is a song of acceptance in a
relationship, of partners who aren't afraid to show their true colors to
each other
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"Yes," Martina admits with a laugh. "That's 'My Baby Loves Me Just
The Way That I Am' four years later, after they've been through the
wringer and back. They're confident with each other enough that they
can show all their sides."The album is called Evolution: "A process of
change in a certain direction," Webster defines, "an unfolding."
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Martina's journey to today began in a Kansas town of 200 souls called
Sharon. Born into any other family but the Schiffs, Martina's path might
have been one that led directly to a farmhouse after high school
graduation, a well-worn trail for small-town American kids.
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"Besides teaching me about music," Martina explains, "my parents
taught me that I had a God-given talent. They continually let me know
that they believed wholeheartedly, unquestionably, that if I got in the
right place at the right time, I would make it. And they nurtured that
belief in me. That's an incredible, empowering gift to give a child."
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Martina sang with her family's band, The Schiffters, from the age of
eight on, and set out solo as a professional when she was 19. The
business threw her together with a sound tech named John McBride,
whom she married in 1988. From that moment on, the McBrides'
"evolution," their unfolding, was intertwined.
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Martina and John moved to Nashville in 1990. When John was hired
to do Garth Brooks' sound on tour the next year, Martina hired on to
sell concessions so she wouldn't be separated from her husband. By
1992, John's production company was on the fast track to success,
and Martina was on track at RCA with a debut album, The Time Has
Come. The couple once again traveled with Garth, but this time
Martina was his opening act.
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Despite her exposure to a million fans on the Garth tour, Martina's
career didn't blast into orbit with her first outing. It built momentum
with Top Ten hits "My Baby Loves Me" and "Life No. 9" from her
sophomore effort, The Way That I Am. However, the song that fueled
the album to platinum status with the force of a fireworks display was
"Independence Day." As momentous and vivid as the song and its
accompanying video were, the controversial lyric about a battered
woman driven to burning down her house, and her abusive husband
with it, never broke the Top Ten.
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"There are different definitions of a hit song," Martina says. "For me,
the hit isn't defined by the number it is on the charts. If it's a wonderful
song and people respond to it, then it's a hit."
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Not only was "Independence Day" a hit with the public, it showcased
the diminutive singer's power as a vocalist and defined her as a
recording artist willing to take a chance and as a woman unafraid to
make strong statements about sensitive issues.
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"We need to bring Country Music into the '90s," she says with candor,
"with socially aware topics. As far as the violence in the song is
concerned, 'The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia' is just as
violent, and it's been a hit twice."
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Not until "Wild Angels," the title cut of her third album, did Martina
celebrate a Number 1 single. By then it was a moot point, because she
was already perceived as a top hit-maker.
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The next hallmark of the evolution of Martina and John McBride had
nothing to do with sound companies or gold records. It was the birth of
their daughter, Delaney, in December, 1994.
"Delaney has affected every single aspect of our lives," Martina says.
"She's an incredible, gratifying, wonderful source of joy."
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The McBride family's life continues to unfold in new and exciting
directions. While Martina and Delaney are on tour supporting an album
that already has two smash hits-"Valentine," a Number 1 pop song
with pianist Jim Brickman, and "Still Holding On," a Top Ten Country
duet with Clint Black-John is in the midst of a merger.
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"John has worked for 15 years, from when we were back in Kansas,
building up his business from a $5,000 loan, literally with blood, sweat
and tears. And now he has merged with the biggest sound company in
the world," says his proud spouse. "They have tours out with
everybody from Cheryl Crow to Tracy Lawrence. It's a huge deal."
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The success of her husband's business is just as important to Martina
as the fact that "A Broken Wing" has a strong possibility of similarly
impacting her own career. Martina and John McBride are both soaring
to new, untested heights of success-and like everything else in their life
during nine years of marriage, they're experiencing the vista together.
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What is Delaney singing at the end of "Valentine" on Martina's album
Evolution?
She's singing "With a broken wing." Martina happened to overhear Delaney
singing it one day , so they recorded it. (Delaney is also heard laughing
at the beginning of the Wild Angels album.)
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When is John McBride's birthday?
January 15.
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Did Martina really work for Garth Brooks selling t-shirts and hats?
Yes. When Martina and John moved to Nashville in January, 1990, Martina
initially worked as a waitress. But she found herself lonely with John being
on the road with Garth's tour, so she got a job working for Garth's
merchandising department selling t-shirts, hats, etc. in order to be able to
travel with John. She continued with that until she signed with RCA and
began working on her first album.
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Does Martina write any of her own songs?
Martina has not tried her hand at songwriting (so far). She prefers to use
her creative energy to co-produce her albums and leave the songwriting to
the people who have a special gift for it.
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Martina has such fabulous blue eyes - does she wear blue-tinted contacts?
Nope, those are Martina's very own blue eyes. She wore glasses from
kindergarten until age 16, when she got contacts, but she says they're clear.
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Who does Martina's hair and makeup?
Martina's hair stylist is Earl Cox at Trump's Salon in Nashville. Mary Beth
Felts of Nashville does her makeup.
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Is Martina left-handed or right-handed?
Martina is left-handed.
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How can I meet Martina in person?
The best way to meet Martina is to join her fan club and attend one of her
concerts. She meets with fan club members backstage for autographs and
pictures after virtually all of her regular concerts.
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