Reba ‘Nudges’ Country Music To Its Roots

Reba McEntire's new album Stronger Than The Truth will be out on Friday (April 5) and the country icon says it reminds her of the albums she did in the 1980's.

Reba shared, "My goal for this album was to record a stone-cold country album. It is the most country album I have ever recorded. It reminds me of  My Kind of Country album because I’d gone to Jimmy Bowen and I said, ‘I want to record my kind of country,’ And he said, ‘Well what’s that?’ I said, ‘The songs I grew up with, like Merle Haggard, Ray Price, Mel Tillis.’ He said, ‘Well go find the songs yourself,’ and that’s what I did with this album. I went to look for songs that you can dance to, that are reminiscent of the songs that Pake and Suzy and I did when we were the Singin’ McEntires. 'Cause that’s where we played all the time, was rodeo dances, dance halls and you had to have a song that people could dance to, and that’s what’s on this album.”

She continues, “Well, I was hoping that if country music wasn’t planning on heading back to more traditional country, maybe this might give it a little nudge. Because I definitely sure would like to have the old traditional country music back, but with a new flavor that the younger generation of country music artists can put to it … add their touch.”

Reba posted to Instagram about her new single over the weekend, "Freedom, lovin' you feels like freedom. #StrongerThanTheTruth"

Look for Reba to host and perform on the 54th Annual ACM Awards, this Sunday night on CBS. This will be her 16th time hosting the show.

-Nancy Brooks