Lee Ann Womack's 2008 CD, Call Me Crazy. Photo by Danny Clinch, courtesy of UMG Nashville.
Oct. 21, 2008 — Lee Ann Womack releases a new album, Call Me Crazy, on Tuesday, and she gave a rather appropriate preview Monday night by playing all the songs, from start to finish, in a concert at Nashville’s War Memorial Auditorium.
The back curtain and the entrances to the venue were all cast in purple light, reflecting the album’s eye-catching cover. The music, which hinges on barroom images and challenged relationships, underscores Lee Ann’s position as one of country’s faithfully traditional females.
She used a seven-piece band along with several backing vocalists in relating the material Monday night, singing with a breathy resonance in her lower register and hitting some commanding, gut-wrenching tones in the upper part of her range.
Dressed in black, she visually mirrored the serious nature of the songs, though she took a moment or two to lighten the mood in welcoming her invitation-only guests.
"I’m fascinated by people that are able to take older things and make ‘em new," she said, introducing "New Again."
"Like," she added with a laugh, "a good plastic surgeon."
Though it was probably not intended, War Memorial’s history nicely matched the traditional tone of the album. For five years beginning in 1939, the hall was the home of the Grand Ole Opry. Among the musicians who gave their first Opry performance there were Minnie Pearl, Ernest Tubb and Bill Monroe.
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