Ask Anita

9. Is there a special cause, charity or organization that you care deeply about or that you regularly support?

I have a huge heart for animals and would have 100 cats and dogs if I could. It breaks my heart to see an animal that is injured, abused or not being taken care of properly. I have a goal to start some kind of charity for animals. I hope it won’t be that much longer ‘til it’s an actual charity raising money for our little companions!

I also regularly support Operation Injured Soldiers, participating in motorcycle rides for charity and headlining benefit concerts.

8. At what age did you realize that you wanted to be a country music artist?

I can’t put an age on when I decided to become a country music artist. It’s something that I always remember wanting, and people started tellling me as a kid that I would play the Grand Ole Opry one day. It’s something I have always dreamed of and thank God they were right!

7. You learned to play guitar at a very young age. What other instruments do you play?

My family was very musical so I learned to play a few different instruments: guitar, lead guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass guitar, piano, drums, dobro and have been playing steel guitar for the last few years. My main instrument is guitar. Everyone in my family played guitar…even aunts, uncles and cousins. It was just something you naturally learned in my family at a young age.

6. Where were you and what did it feel like to hear one of your own songs on the radio for the first time? What about when your song “What if I Said” (a duet with Steve Wariner) reached #1 on the country charts?

The first time I heard my voice on radio was in Detroit, MI.  My very first professional recording after signing to Warner Bros. Records was a Christmas Song, “Please Come Home For Christmas.” I remember knowing when they were going to play it, so my whole family gathered in the living room around the stereo and listened together.  I will never forget that.  When “What If I Said” became a number one record, it was the most exciting thing.  To get a number 1 song on the radio is like winning the lottery.  I was overwhelmed with the events, the number 1 parties and the traveling.  I finally felt like I had made my mark in country music and was living the dream.  I still remember the phone call home to mom to tell her the news!

5. What was the first show you arrived to in a tour bus instead of driving your own car?

I joined my family band when I was 5. We traveled in cars. Then we upgraded to a van. Then we got a trailer! Wow a van and a trailer...we were excited about that! We paid our dues alright. I drove a Camaro with a hatch and played keyboard, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin and ran sound from the stage so I carried the sound console too...got it all in that car. I was very happy to upgrade to the van and trailer. Then the day came when we actually bought a bus. Can’t remember the year but it was like 1959 Eagle. We gutted it and built our own bunk area and sitting area and had it painted. I was about 22 I would say. I remember how cool it was that we had our very own BUS! Our first event out in it was I think was a Bluegrass, Gospel festival in Whitmore Lake, MI. Funny thing is is that my cousins still had that bus after I moved to Nashville..I had long left the band at that time. I moved into my new house and had a pest control service come to my house every month. One day the tech was talking to me about music ..of course..every person I have ever had come to my house for any work is always a musician lol. The tech told me he played in a family band...he was probably in his early 20’s. He said they were looking for a bus. I told him about our bus and that it had been sitting there for years. I gave him my cousins number. Well the Tech and his father drove to MI and bought the bus. I’m pretty sure we sold it for the same price we bought it even with a new engine and paint job....pay it forward I guess. Wonder if it’s still on the road? I will try to get a picture of it someday.

4.  Do you have a favorite or most meaningful song from your own works?

Every song I’ve written and recorded has a special meaning but there are a few that stick out.  Of course “What If I Said” since that made so many dreams come true for me and really jump-started my career.  When I was writing that song, I could hear Steve Wariner’s voice singing it with me.  When the president of Warner Bros. Records heard the song, he asked me who I wanted as my duet partner.  I told him Steve Wariner.  He made a call to him, and the next thing I knew I was standing next to Steve singing my song in the studio.  First time ever meeting him and within minutes I felt like I knew him my whole life.  I’m a very sentimental person, so I’m a huge fan of ballads.  Some other favorites that I have written are “One Of Those Days,” “What I Leave Behind” and “Picture You In Heaven.” I think songwriting is truly a gift from above and sometimes you get a little extra sparkle on songs that can bring healing.

3. Which artist has been your biggest inspiration?

I have many artists that inspired me over the years.  Musicians, singers and songwriters.  My first influences were my mom and dad.  They formed our family band and actually recorded a record in 1968.  They both played guitar and sang.  In fact...all of my aunts and uncles played guitar and sang.  On BOTH sides of my family and I had a lot of aunts and uncles.

As a guitar player, my influences were my parents, Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, Steve Wariner, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs.  I use to sit in my room for hours on hours trying to learn all of their solos.  Back in the day of cassettes, I would rewind over and over.  I owe those guys a lot of money for the free lessons  ha ha.  I learned to play mandolin on my own really from listening to Bill Monroe and my Bluegrass influences.  Playing the banjo of course I tried to play like Earl Scruggs.  The other instruments that I play I just picked up on my own from listening to the session players that play on records.

As an artist/enterntainer, my biggest influence was Loretta Lynn.  She was really the first professional woman that got my attention as a little kid.  My mother grew up in Kentucky just like Loretta did....grampa made a dollar a day, they lived in a holler and had 8 kids.  Her voice and songs obviously got me first but the more I learned about her the more I loved her because she so reminded me of my mom.  I wanted to play guitar in her band when I was little.  She was the only artist I ever wrote to.

Of course I had many other insprirations but she was the biggest. And I loved Conway Twitty as well.  Those two were the reason why I wrote “What If I Said”...I loved all of their duets so I wanted to record one as well.  There is only one Loretta Lynn!  She’s the real deal and her song writing lead in so many ways.  She was not afraid to write about the truth!

2. What is Anita’s guide to recording electric guitars in the studio?

There are all kinds of ways to record guitars. Depends on what sounds you are looking for. Typically the way I do it is this. I get my amp to sound the way I want it. Then I move the mic around the speaker cabinet until I get the same sound on tape. I really never record with any effects. I record dry and then add the effect later so I can change my mind if I want. Sometimes on a rare occasion I might record with an effect like a wah wah pedal or something. I will also use a room mic and set it out from the amp...sometimes I will use that track and sometimes I won’t. I usually make that choice when I’m mixing.

1. Can you tell the story of the first guitar you ever held in your hands?

The first guitar I ever had was when I was about 3 years old. It was a cheap Sears acoustic, black with a sunburst top. I actually stepped on it and broke it. Then my dad got me a Gibson B-15 when I was about 4. It was a small guitar. When I turned 5, I came home one day and found out that he sold my Gibson to my uncle and gave me his Martin D-35 which I hated because it was way to big for me to play. My dad bought himself the Martin D-45 with all the pearl...you could say he upgraded. I didn’t like the Martin at all. When I would play it my mom would have to hold it on my lap. It’s actually the guitar that’s in my first cd artwork “Back To You”. I was mad at my dad for a very long time for selling my Gibson! 2 years ago...my uncle surprised me and gave me my Gibson back! And of course I grew into my Martin and have it to this day. They are both great guitars and of course I have sentimental reasons of why I would never sell them or take them on the road.

I bought my first electric guitar when I got my first credit card at the age of 16. I had an $800.00 credit limit so I bought a Peavey Horizon 2 electric guitar...modeled after a Strat. And..it was lavender color! I also bought a Peavey Backstage Plus Amp. Came to...$800.00! I loved Alabama at that time and wanted a guitar like Jeff Cook, lol.

I still have every guitar I’ve ever owned and every other instrument as well. I have a hard time letting go of them but...I may need to add on to my house in the near future!