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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels March 31, 2004 Zimmy Sez Lawrence buoyed by new start Steve Zimmerman The old saying "everything old becomes new again," certainly applies to country music superstar Tracy Lawrence in 2004. He has a new record label, Dreamworks, a new producer, James Stroud, and a new CD, "Strong" (released Tuesday), which just happens to describe the music on the CD. Lawrence has been recording music since 1991, putting out 10 albums and selling millions. But, with the release of Strong, his 10th, he feels like it is a whole new start to his career. The new CD is the first of what Lawrence hopes will be many on Dreamworks and reunites him with his first producer, Stroud. The first single is a strong start to what many in the industry are calling Lawrence's best effort to date. "The first single is called 'Paint Me a Birmingham' and it is in the Top 20, which we are excited about," he said. "We are really anxious to get the CD out. This is my first product on Dreamworks and this will be my home, hopefully for the duration of my career." The move to Dreamworks came after Lawrence went through a period of turmoil with the closing of his old label, Atlantic Records, and a switch to parent label Warner Brothers. "I released one album with Warner Brothers," he noted. "I was in the process of making that record when Atlantic closed. I was at the end of my deal so I cut that album for Warner Brothers and we had a single moving up the charts." But then tragedy struck the U.S. in the form of Sept. 11, and the whole mood of the country changed. And, at the same time, so did the attitude of Warner Brothers toward Lawrence. "I think the label became very disinterested in me at that time," he said. "They walked on that record and I still had two albums left on my deal. But I realized it was time for me to seek another producer and met with just about everybody in town." That was when Lawrence and Stroud, who is also president of Dreamworks, renewed contact. "James, by his contract, was only able to work with one outside act off Dreamworks," he explained. "James had been there at the beginning of my career. He produced my first three albums and was instrumental in getting my career off the ground. After we talked, we felt we had a lot of good music to make between us." Stroud and Lawrence went into the studio and recorded the album for Warner Brothers. But because of internal problems at the label, Lawrence was released from his deal. "Stroud came in and bought the album and took me to Dreamworks with a whole new deal," he said. "It happened a little bit sooner than I expected but if I had gone with anyone else, I might not have a record deal now." "Paint Me a Birmingham" is a song that Lawrence said he might not have recorded five years ago. "James really challenged me to broaden my boundaries and record things that were outside my comfort zone," he said. "It was time for me to back up and try to reinvent myself a little bit and become more current while still maintaining my artistic integrity. "I had been producing my own albums for the last several albums and not doing that this time freed up a side of me that allowed me to expand artistically because I didn't have to worry about the rest of it. So James challenged me to go for some things that were rangier than things I had done in the past. Vocally, this was an extreme challenge for me." The flat-out best song on the CD is one that may never appear on radio but everyone who has ever been in love should hear, "The Questionnaire." "This song may be one of the strangest things I have ever recorded," he noted. "It is extremely short, as it is less than two minutes long. The best way I can describe the song is that it is like this incredible book you get immersed in and it ends completely out of whack with where you thought it was going. "This song ends so abruptly that the shock factor is extremely high. And that was what I liked about the song, it was just so left of center. And it does deal with a relationship. It talks about a man who comes in and his wife has done this questionnaire out of Vogue magazine and left it on the counter for him to read. And at the end of it, she leaves him. She fills this questionnaire out and she is gone. She says in the questionnaire that she doesn't love him anymore and he is left there with his mouth open. It is pretty shocking." Lawrence said he has finally found the spot he has been searching for in his career. "I think the last four years I have found that level plane," he said. "Rolling into my 30s and dealing with a lot of personal and professional upsets I have had to overcome, I have kind of found a balance in my life. My wife and my two children have been very instrumental in getting me to that place. I am not doing the things a 20-year-old kid does anymore. I have mellowed a whole lot." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams