LeAnn Rimes: evolving through music, love and life

Kim Harris

Managing Editor

When LeAnn Rimes broke into the music scene more than 20 years ago, she really had no idea how her life would evolve and change, or that she would one day become one of the most respected artists in music history. But her haunting voice and powerful lyrics, along with her positive outlook on life has helped her to become one of music’s most beloved artists.

“I don’t know what it is. I feel like honestly, the more I grow as an artist and as a human being, I know how to connect with people when I go and perform,” the 35-year-old singer songwriter said when asked about her staying power.

Rimes, who took the world by storm at the young age of 13, with her 1996 album “Blue,” said she has always been connected to her emotions and able to pull those emotions through her music.

“When I am in that studio singing, it is just an emotion that comes through me and out of me. I have always been able to connect that way, since I was a kid, even when I didn’t know what the songs were about.”

Rimes, who has won two Grammy Awards; 12 Billboard Music Awards; two World Music Awards; three Academy of Country Music Awards; one Country Music Association Award and one Dove Award, believes that those things to which her songs speak, are important to people, which is a big reason for her success.

“We all have a different perception of life from our experiences,” she explained. “It’s amazing what music can do and how it connects people and how it connects people to moments in their life.”

As Rimes’ career progressed throughout the years, she began to invest more of herself into each of her albums. Now, such as with her most recent album “Remnants,” she chooses what she will sing about and what she won’t, giving her complete control over the message she shares in each of her songs.

“I think some songs are really relevant at this moment and time,” she said. “I think that is something as an artist that you get to create what you put out in the world, especially, at this time in my life.”

Rimes said her goal is to always produce a product that will help people connect with her and the music.

“I think there is a soulfulness about it,” she said, adding that she thinks of herself not just as a singer, but as a storyteller. “I think I’m definitely someone that is a communicator of sorts, being able to tell stories. I have been given this gift that is my voice and I think I am learning that it’s way more than that.”

Rimes said that she looks at a song from all angles and that it is all part of a collective story, something that helps to keep writing and performing fun for her.

“It also brings out a different performance depending on what I am relating to,” she said. “The more I follow my heart, the more it stays that way.”

While she had some ideas as to what she wanted to say on “Remnants,” Rimes knew she wanted to experiment with “different grooves” that she loves such as drums, something she has always loved.

“I went in and just allowed it to happen and what came out was just amazing and at the end you are just stepping back and going ‘Woah! That just happened! We just created that,’ and you know there is such love on the record,” she said.

Rimes said if there is one thing she wants to do, it’s push the boundaries for herself.

“I know that music is always going to be a part of my life so how can I, as an evolving being, just push my limits because I feel like I can do pretty much anything with my voice and I want to be able to experiment that way,” she explained. “A lot of times in our society everybody wants to put somebody in a box and you know, they know what they are getting when the album comes out. It goes far beyond records, but I think that’s always been what’s so great about my music and who I am as a person willing to take the risks, creating something different every time.

“I’m creating more than ever and I’m enjoying it more than ever and I’m not done yet.”

LeAnn Rimes will be performing at Galway Downs as part of its ongoing “Country at the Downs” concert series, Sunday, Sept. 17. To purchase tickets, visit www.galwaydowns.com.