Wynonna's world: If you want to interview one of country music's most famous names, brace yourself

Katjusa Cisar  —  8/06/2008 3:04 pm

Here's the story of how Wynonna Judd schooled me.

When a publicist calls you on a Thursday asking if you want a phone interview with Wynonna Judd the next day, you don't say, "Wait, is that the hot actress Judd or the fat Judd who got her stomach stapled?"

You say, "Yes, and 2:15 p.m. Central Standard Time works out great!" and then immediately google "wynonna judd wiki." Why? Because she's famous and it's easy to get wowed by names, even if you're hazy on the details. Besides, she's playing at the Crystal Grand Music Theatre, 430 W. Munroe Ave. in Wisconsin Dells, at 8 p.m. Friday, August 8. (Tickets are $40.95 and $45.95, available here.

That's how it went for me, at least. Wynonna is, in fact, the fat one and just as beautiful as her half sister, Ashley. It's a big hair, big personality, big voice kind of beautiful, and it's one reason she said she's attracted a following among drag queens. And it was Carnie Wilson who got her stomach stapled, not Wynonna.

Wynonna got her start in the early 1980s with the Judds, a country duo with her mother, Naomi. They were one of the most successful country acts of the 1980s, racking up a total of 18 No. 1 singles on the country music charts.

After her mother was diagnosed with chronic hepatitis and had to step down in 1991, Wynonna quickly started to make a name for herself as a solo artist. In 1993, Country Music magazine was writing that she had "the potential to be the greatest female country singer since Patsy Cline." Her seventh solo studio album is coming out this fall.

Wynonna chronicled a rocky upbringing and a lifelong battle with addiction and overeating in her 2005 New York Times bestseller, "Coming Home to Myself."

Her music in recent years has opened up beyond straight country, taking on flavors of soul and rock. In an interview with Larry King on CNN, she said, "Country music has changed, and I think for a while country music and I parted ways." In another interview, she denounced the direction that Nashville is taking commercial country music.

When Wynonna called me up on a recent Friday, I wasn't prepared for the force of nature on the other line. Peppering her long answers with 12 Step platitudes, she took control of the interview in a sometimes abrasive way that still has me wondering if she's a genius or delusional nut case. She refused to play along with the unspoken reporter-interviewee rules, leaving me stuttering in her wake.

I hated her (but love her for it in retrospect).

Well, I wanted to start off with,

First of all, first of all, first of all: where did you get your name? I love it.

Oh, I often get that question. It's Slavic. But I often just tell people I got it from my parents to be cheeky. So, have you started this tour yet?

Honey, I have been a road warrior for 24 years and I haven't stopped. So, are you kidding? I'm the endurance runner of show biz. I'm out on the road right now. I did a show last night with my mother. A couple weeks ago I did a show with Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle. Week before that I was in Alaska doing a show that went globally for the military for all the bases in the world. And on Sunday I'll be on my farm wearing clothes that don't match. I mean, I'm in and out of the road constantly. I don't stop. I'm a year-round kind of girl.

How do you do it?

Well, I'm in recovery for a lot of things, and I fellowship and I stay on my program, and I stay focused on literature. I don't watch TV as much as possible because it's a life sucker. I try to stick with things that are life giving, which is really hard. I don't hang out in bars, I don't do that anymore. I have a dog, I read my fan mail. I make phone calls to chicks like you. I try to be productive as well as constructive.

It is tough out here because you do tend to get in an isolated womb of a bus and you can think really bad thoughts if you're not careful. I try to find balance by going back to the farm that I share with my mom and my sister, play in the dirt. I have six to 10 kids at my house every weekend, and we eat popsicles and we run around and get really dirty and get those dirt rings around our necks.

It's a crazy life, I will admit. It's not for everyone, but I was born to do it. I think I have a purpose and I have found mine -- thank you, God. It gives me energy when I step out on the stage and see the whites of people's eyes. I think we're a very lonely culture and making a human connection is really important to me. That's why I still tour. We need each other. My fans and I have been together 24 years and now they're bringing their kids, the next generation of Judd-heads. It's pretty awesome, actually.

When did you realize that this was the life for you, what moment?

(Sighs.) It's not one moment. I'm really pretty good at waking up and saying, "Good morning, God. What do I get to do today?" There are mornings, however, when I do wake up and say, "Oh God, it's morning, I'm exhausted." I think that's just the biorhythm of being an artist. I don't think it's a one moment thing.

I think there are moments when -- like last night I'm standing there looking at my mom, who's 62 and still wearing sparkles. And I'm watching her flirt with the audience again after years. She's 62 and I'm 44, and I'm standing here singing "Grandpa." You know, that's always a hit. We won our Grammy in '84, '85 excuse me. And I'm here again with her.

So there are these milestone moments where I'm standing there singing to the military and I realize, you know, I've been doing this since 1984 with my mom on the USO tours. I've done everything two and three times, so I'm grateful to be anywhere. You get to your 40s and you start getting it. Your peripheral vision gets wider. They say life is a journey, not a destination.

Looking back, what do you wish you'd known at 22?

(Pause.) See, these questions don't work for me. There's no way I could answer that.

Why is that?

Well, because at that age, honey, I'd lived a lifetime already. I had so much success and so much good and bad happen to me. There's no way I could have had any kind of perspective. My life has been so crazy. And honestly, in my recovery and the things I read, we are exactly where we're supposed to be based on our choices. I was right where I was supposed to be. And so now at 44, I have the wisdom. Would I have I have loved to have had the wisdom at 22? There's no way I could have! I was young and fast. I wouldn't have paid attention.

I don't know how old you are, but when you're that young, you're God. You think you're in control of everything. You think it's "I" and then somewhere between 35 to 40, you realize it's "we." At that age, you could have all the wisdom in the world, but the brain is only capable of so much at that age. I traded in my youth card for my wisdom and experience card. (Pause.) It would be nice to have both, but I don't think that's realistic. How old are you?

I'm almost 27.

Twenty-seven. Would you like to know at 27 the wisdom you'll have at 40?

I don't know. I don't know if it would do me any good now.

You're right where you're supposed to be, honey.

So, you've been going outside of the country genre. Do you ever get slack for that?

Well, I don't read my stuff. I learned a long time ago, thank God, not to believe my own press and not to pay attention to the opinions of people because I know myself pretty well. I know that I'm a people pleaser. I try hard to work past that. If I don't follow my heart, then I'm not able to be a pioneer like Tammy Wynette and the women who've come before me. If I fall victim to that, I will never pave the way for the next generation the way I have. Does that make sense?

Mm-hmm.

When a young girl comes up to me and says, "I listen to you. and I appreciate what you're doing and I'm following my heart," that's the payoff for me. That's better than a Grammy. To me, "to thine own self be true" is the closest thing to heaven on Earth for me. I would rather fail on my terms than succeed on someone else's. That's one to ponder. In this day and age, we have so many people -- like "American Idol" and these other shows -- I just wince. Let these kids find their way by making all the mistakes they can, 'cause that's how we learn.

So, honey, if I go out on that limb -- and as I said earlier, that's where the fruit is, baby -- and I find something by taking that chance, I'm a seeker. I don't know about you, but I like taking risks. That's how I learn about my craft and my gift. I'm learning about how much my instrument works in these other genres, so who is it for someone to say that I don't belong? Because I've earned it! And when I say "earned," it's not an entitlement thing. I've earned it. I've been doing this 24 years. And I wouldn't have gotten the call if I wasn't prepared to sing with Chaka Khan and Patti LaBelle. He doesn't call the qualified, God qualifies the called. Does that make sense?

And you'd better be ready. When I stand up in front of an audience and I sing with a 60-piece orchestra and I'm singing Etta James, I promise you I can sing it from my toenails 'cause I've practiced my butt off. I've lived it, and I've earned it, and I've been there in the churches. I've sat there and listened to Stevie Ray Vaughn play his guitar. I've been there because I've showed up and I've earned it. So, I think there's a confidence with that of not worrying what the critics say as much.

You've criticized the country music scene, at least certain parts of it.

Can we transfer to something other than all the criticism? I would really like to get away from that. I really want to be a positive. We have enough bad stuff in the press and in the news, and I'm really gonna support to turn this around a little bit.

Well, where would you like to see the country music scene headed?

Where it is. Are you into country?

I don't really listen to it very much.

Yeah, you don't seem very enthusiastic about this interview. Are you doing it because you have to?

I'm interested in hearing what you think about the country music scene.

Well, and I appreciate that 'cause us girls have to stick together. Just sometimes when I do these interviews, the questions are pretty generic. I think as an artist, honestly, I have about as much right to say what I think about the country music scene as I do who should be president. That's an opinion. I'm a teacher. I don't know that I have the right to speak -- do I agree with it? Absolutely not. But that's the great thing about agreeing to disagree. We can all show up and have very different ways of expressing our music and it all works! Everybody brings their stuff, and we make it work. Do I agree with all of it? Absolutely not. But I really don't want to spend all of my life judging. I want to spend my energy on connecting.

We live in a culture where we have more technology than ever before; we're lonelier than we've ever been. I hope people continue to come to shows. That's the human experience for me. I don't sit and think about, gosh, where country music is heading. Honey, it's so big and brighter than day. I have no opinion about that.

I'm going to be doing the Opry in a couple weeks, and I'll be in Washington, D.C. doing political stuff. You know, I'm part of the American Dream. I'm part of the backdrop of all these different situations -- whether it's a rape victim shelter or a children's benefit or the Women of Faith Conference -- I'm everywhere because I think people see me as a real ambassador for hope. So, I don't sit and think about, "Hmm, I wonder if I like where this is going?" But I tell you what I do love. I love the crazy, young, wonderful, wild, wacky kids. I just do. My heart is with the young because I feel them. If it hadn't been for music, I would have ended up in prison.

Well, who would you like to collaborate with?

Well, he's dead.

Which one?

I would have loved to have collaborated with Elvis. What a groove that would have been. Who would I have loved to collaborate with? I love Pearl Jam, I love Bono, I love Sting -- he's a friend. I would love to get with Tina, Aretha. Let's see. I would love to sing, above all, with Tony Bennett. Oh, by the way, get his DVD. You will learn a lot from his DVD, the Tony Bennett DVD.

You're the second person this week to tell me they'd like to collaborate with Tony Bennett. He's a popular guy.

No, it's not about popular. He's an endurance runner. I'm not a religious person, I'm a spiritual person -- there's a difference to me -- the spiritual part of all of this is, he is an elder and he is like a general. He's earned the authority. The Bible talks about not removing the landmarks. You know, you don't go back and remove the people who came before us. I think what we're doing is paying homage to these people. He is like, to me, a beautiful part of our culture woven in and you cannot remove that. He's the King of Cool. I was at a benefit with him, and he sang without a mic. It was me, Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, all these artists. We're up there boogie-ing our brains out, and here comes Tony and he sings with no microphone and blows everybody away. What does that tell you? He doesn't need all the lights and production. He's the best. He's earned it.

Katjusa Cisar  —  8/06/2008 3:04 pm