FAITH HILL : Take Her as She Is--Blue or Not

It’s a wonder country singer Faith Hill’s debut album, “Take Me as I Am,” didn’t turn out to be a collection of tear-drenched laments.

The 26-year-old Mississippi native admits having a bad case of the blues while recording it.

“I was going through a divorce and I wasn’t too happy a lot of the time,” says Hill. “So the sad songs may be a little sadder. But I didn’t want to do one of those typical country albums full of crying about lost loves.”

Hill, who co-wrote two of the songs on her Warner Bros. album, says her main goal was to make a record that would speak to other women.

“I talk to women about being strong--saying don’t be a doormat and be a decision maker,” she says. “I don’t preach to them . . . it’s all fairly subtle. It’s important for me to be accepted by female fans.”

But what about that glamour image that her record company seems to be pushing?

“I’m very careful about that--not to let it go too far,” Hill explains. “I know this is an incredibly tough business and there are certain things you have to do to get to be one of the handful that breaks through. But I don’t want to appear threatening to women. That glamour thing alienates them.”

But the campaign--and music--is also scoring with the opposite sex. “Most of my mail is from men,” Hill admits sheepishly. “But I don’t think they’re getting a different message than the one I’m presenting to women.”

Part of Hill’s appeal is a seductive twang in her voice and the heart-tugging Angst that reverberates through her ballads. Chalk that up to the Patsy Cline influence.

“I can’t do without her music,” Hill says of the late country singer. “I listen to it for inspiration--particularly just before I go on stage. Her voice gives me chills. She gives me a goal to reach for.”

As a teen-ager in Star, Miss. (population: 1,500), Hill sang whenever she got a chance--in church, school and social gatherings. Increasingly serious about a show-biz career, she moved to Nashville when she was 19.

For five years, Hill paid the usual dues--working as a receptionist and singing backup vocals in tiny clubs. She didn’t get her record deal until last year. But things have happened fast since then. Hill’s first single, an upbeat tune called “Wild One,” has hit No. 1 on the country charts and she’s landed a coveted spot as the opening act on an upcoming Reba McEntire tour.

Looking back on the long-shot move to Nashville, Hill says, “It was crazy--I had no job and I didn’t know anybody in town. I’m headstrong and incredibly ambitious.

“Back home in Star, people’s lives are all mapped out--they get married, they grow old and die there. I was driven by all these dreams--dreams that just weren’t going to come true in Star.”