From Tour Guide to Singer : Country Music’s Kathy Mattea Has Come Long Way and Keeps on Truckin’

Kathy Mattea has certainly come a long way from her days as a tour guide at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Indeed, Mattea may be on her way to a place of honor inside the museum, judging by the four nominations she just received for this year’s Country Music Assn. Awards.

“I was pretty excited and kind of shocked,” the warm, friendly voiced West Virginian said laughingly, “especially the Album of the Year (for her ‘Untasted Honey’). Whew! Five records out of every year get nominated, so I thought the nomination would go to someone famous-er. . . .”

Mattea, who plays the Crazy Horse Steak House in Santa Ana tonight, remains the down-home girl despite all the tangible signs of commercial and industry success. That success is as extensive as it is impressive: four Top 5 country singles from last year’s “Walk the Way the Wind Blows” album, including Grammy-nominated “Love at the Five and Dime”; the title track was nominated for CMA’s Single of the Year honors. “We’ve tried real hard not to be predictable with every single,” Mattea said. “We don’t want to fall into something that’s real comfortable but that would stagnate us musically. . . . I always thought that as long as you’re open and working hard, you’d keep improving and expanding--and eventually out of that, you’d break through.”

For Mattea, the breakthrough came following a particularly frustrating period. Although such singles as “Soft Place to Fall,” “Heart of the Country” and “Street Talk” landed her on the charts, they failed to expose the former demo singer to a wide audience.

It wasn’t until Mattea was able to wrestle Nanci Griffith’s tale of small-town romance, “Love at the Five and Dime,” away from the Judds (mother and daughter) that success started rolling in. That song took Mattea back to her folk-bluegrass days growing up in Cross Lanes, W. Va., and the results were so pure and true that both the public and her label responded with new-found enthusiasm.

At last, the girl who had supported herself as a jingle singer for Combine Music Publishing had locked into a sound that was her own.

“Really, it’s just what feels the most natural and gets the best response,” she says of the spare acoustic arrangements her songs receive. “I think it was more a change of focus. I could have spent more time doing that (moving from style to style) over and over until I was 50 and lost my voice. But, with this, I feel like I’m getting fulfillment on a deeper level and making music I can be proud of.”

In addition, Mattea is also getting more fulfillment from her personal life, following a Valentine’s Day wedding to songwriter Jon Vezner. Clearly pleased with the way her life is shaping up, Mattea said, “We get along really well and life’s real rich. We’d been building careerwise, and last year was a good year.

“Since then, I’ve been on the road, so we’re used to working around each other’s schedules. Jon’s a songwriter, and his schedule is flexible, so he’s really been wonderful about making our relationship work.”

And Mattea has been equally diligent making her career work. Like the tortoise, she has taken the slow-and-steady approach to her music.

“In retrospect, I think it’s a subtle gift I’ve been given. I was able to learn without the magnifying glass being focused on me during that period where I was figuring out the way things work, when I was learning how to be an artist instead of a singer.”

Now, Kathy Mattea is learning how to balance being a “star” with being a person, noting “I don’t want to have to be her all the time.” She says she is still making music “for the friends and neighbors. After you’ve been out here a while, you start to realize they’re the ones who really matter.”

As the clock closes in on midnight, Mattea stifles a yawn and admits with tones of satisfaction that come from doing something well, “I’m really having a good time out here. It doesn’t always feel easy, but it always feels right.”