NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� became Shania Twain, she was a child performing in Canadian bars, singing to miners, lumberjacks, fishermen and hunters drinking the night away.
鈥淚t was a bit more of a rugged crowd. And they were small crowds,鈥� she says in a recent interview with The Associated Press. 鈥淚 could only enter after the bar closed. That was after midnight because I was underage. And as long as the bar wasn鈥檛 still serving, then I could go in and play while everybody was finishing up their last call.鈥�
It was 鈥渃haracter building,鈥� she says, painting an image of a bygone era of her life in Northern Ontario and one dramatically opposed to the glitz and glamour associated with winning country musician. But those days were instrumental to what became her career. 鈥淚 spent a lot of years dreaming about things that would eventually come but took a little while,鈥� she says.
As Twain describes it, her latest album, 鈥淟ittle Miss Twain,鈥� out Friday, is the period of her life from her earliest performances at age 8 all the way to her late-20s, when she inked her major label record deal.
鈥淭here鈥檚 this whole gap of life that I鈥檝e never written,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 wanted to fill in story wise, personal story wise. 鈥� It鈥檚 a phase of my life that not a lot of my fans would know about.鈥�
Revisiting the past 鈥� in more ways than one
A number of the songs on 鈥淟ittle Miss Twain鈥� have been sitting with the singer for many years. 鈥�’Rockstars’ I was writing probably 10 years ago now, and 鈥楴orthern Town’ is one that鈥檚 been around for a long time,鈥� she says.
The title track of the record, 鈥淟ittle Miss Twain,鈥� is its emotive heart 鈥� a song for her mother, who , alongside her stepfather, and never got to experience her success. For Shania, it was an opportunity to reflect on 鈥渕y mother being my manager and my agent, my driver and my coach, even though she couldn鈥檛 sing a note,鈥� she said. 鈥淪he would drive me around to all these stages, underage in the bars, and that鈥檚 where I got my experience.鈥�
The song was one of the last ones to make the collection, she says, but 鈥渋t was this missing piece that came to me.鈥� That’s at least partially due to who duets with Twain on the track.
On the chorus, Twain sings 鈥淎ccording to my mother / I’m the next Tanya Tucker.鈥�
Twain says of having Tucker on the record: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if I would ever really be able to explain in words what it meant and what it would have meant to my mother.鈥�
The song also features her son Eja D鈥橝ngelo Lange on background vocals; he appears on a few of the album’s tracks. 鈥淚 get to fulfill a lot of things that my mother would not have been able to share with me,鈥� she says about working with her son. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really beautiful.鈥�
Genre explorations from a country music giant
Pulling from her early years allowed Twain to focus on in and outside of country music. Listen closely and you’ll hear 鈥淢otown, the country and western that my grandparents used to play like Marty Robbins鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of rock edge stuff in there. 鈥楩aded Blue Jeans鈥� is very much a bluesy rock song鈥� 鈥� it features
The multi-genre moments on the album, with work for Twain’s current voice, which now features a wizened rasp. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have the little sweet sound I had years ago, but I have a new sound that I actually like,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I think I write songs a bit differently because of it.鈥�
A number of years ago, which affected her voice. In 2018, she had implants placed in her larynx. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very unusual procedure to have for a singer,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 had damaged nerves in my larynx. So the vocal cords were perfectly fine.鈥� The surgery worked, and the continued result is a kind of gravelly tone, a vocal fry, and additional distinction to her already unmistakable voice.
When her audience listens to 鈥淟ittle Miss Twain鈥� for the first time, Twain hopes they will leave the experience with 鈥渁 sense and a feeling of the atmosphere that I grew up in, the environment that shaped me, the experiences that developed me as a person and as an artist,鈥� she says.
She wants them to get to know at the local bar, the woman who didn’t have childhood success. 鈥淚 hope they learn,鈥� she takes a beat, 鈥渁bout the missing chapter of who I am.鈥�
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