barnesandnoble.com: Where did MY HEART begin? What was going on in your life and/or career that pulled you in such a personal direction?

Lorrie Morgan: I made a vow after SECRET LOVE that when I recorded the next album I was going to record songs that I love. And not just say, "Okay, I'm going to record this because radio will play it," or say, "I can't record this because radio won't play it." So everything we picked on this album was picked because it was a great song. I didn't feel like we needed to say, "We need an album cut." I wanted to make sure that every song on the album was a potential single. It all just kind of fell into place once we had all the songs. It wasn't really set up to be a description of my life; it just happened that way.

bn: The SECRET LOVE album was a departure -- a classic pop album with strings and orchestra. Now on MY HEART you're back to the hard country and tender ballads that you made your name with. Which one is closer to where you're at now as an artist?

LM: It's all part of one thing. It's show business. If you don't expand, you become stale in what you do. And you become bored with it. SECRET LOVE was my walk barefoot in the park, if you will. It was my way of getting off the sidewalk and runnin' through the park for a little bit. I've been very fortunate that my fans are very supportive of my music and what I do. Whether it's crazy or whether it's not, they're always there saying, "That's Lorrie." SECRET LOVE is in no way me saying I'm going into another kind of career. It's just a way of expressing myself as an entertainer. It was the kind of music I have loved since I was little.

bn: You said your aim on MY HEART was to put a bunch of great songs together, not necessarily to make a great personal statement. But are there songs on it that parallel real-life situations for you?

LM: It was very coincidental that it was very parallel to my life once it was all packaged together and we looked at the final twelve songs. I thought, "Wow, this is pretty strong stuff." It's all stuff that I've lived through, related to, whatever.

bn: The last three songs on the album -- "Never Been Good at Letting Go," "My Heart," and the one your husband, Jon Randall, wrote, "On This Bed" -- are like a mini-song cycle.

LM: You're right; they really are. But again, it wasn't planned. It was just fate that kind of put a hand in the album. And "Letting Go" and "On This Bed" are my two favorite songs on the album.

bn: Seems like your fans would have very emotional responses to the songs on MY HEART.

LM: Yeah, especially "Never Been Good at Letting Go." Even the men are coming up, saying, "I can so relate to that song. My girlfriend told me good-bye, but by God I left scratches on her!" You know what I mean. Yeah, they're really responding very well, men and women.

bn: You grew up intimately involved with country music, thanks to your father, George Morgan, and his big hit, "Candy Kisses." With all the changes in this decade -- particularly the growing pop influence -- how are you feeling about the state of things currently?

LM: I'm concerned in some areas, and in some areas I'm extremely happy that country music has broadened. But I'm also concerned that it's lost the core, the family tightness it had years ago. Today you can go backstage at the Grand Ole Opry and there are no stars there -- that is, no one's bigger than anyone else. They're so friendly, it's just like it used to be at the Opry. That's the part of country music that I've always loved and admired: that you could sit around and hang out with your friends and buddies who were onstage before you. That's the part of country music that some of the younger people who are getting into it are missing out on. They don't get it. They don't get it.

bn: Does it get tougher for you as a veteran artist? Or easier?

LM: You know, it was tougher, until I sort of slapped myself in the face and thought, Hang on! I got far much more than I ever prayed for in this business, and I'm totally content where my career's at and what I've accomplished. For a while there it was bothering me. But it doesn't bother me anymore, because how many people can say they've done what I've done? I'm not trying to sound like Kenny Rogers here and pat myself on the back; I'm not trying to be egotistical. But I've lived a dream that I never thought I'd be able to. I've recorded with my idols -- Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, the Beach Boys. What more could I want?

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