Shania Twain added an acoustic break in the middle of the shows she is doing on her “Rock This Country” tour, even though she wasn’t sure about it.
“I was afraid to slow the show down,” says Twain, calling from a tour stop in Ontario, Canada. “But I’m really glad I did. It’s good to have that dynamic - the rest of the show is so full-on.”
In a way, Twain is ready for a similar change of pace in her life, as well as her career. The “Rock This Country” tour is Twain’s first since 2004. She also says it will be her last.
“I’m really enjoying myself,” says Twain, who will turn 50 in August. “I know that this is coming to an end, and I’m not anxious about it. I’m going to enjoy it.”
Twain says she is eager to work on new music. She hopes to release her first album of new material since 2002’s “Up!” later this year, with some help from singer-songwriter-producer Matthew Koma. “I miss making records,” she says. “I’m dying to do it.”
She also is eager to present her impressive catalog of hits - from the traditional country of “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” and “Any Man of Mine” to the pure pop of “You’re Still the One” and “From This Moment On” - in a new way for her fans.
“It’s been a lot of years since I wrote those songs - life has changed dramatically,” she says, alluding to her very public divorce from husband/musical collaborator Robert “Mutt” Lange and a health scare that threatened the complete loss of her voice. “Why I wrote some of those songs has changed. They affect me in a different way when I’m singing them now for sure. Seeing how the audience reacts affects me as well. … I sing them as myself at that moment.”
That said, Twain is definitely out to have fun on the tour. “I enjoy giving people the hits,” she says. “We’re doing them more rock-edged and adding the live spirit of the ‘Rock This Country’ theme. It’s high-energy and it feels good.”
Twain says she was surprised at how excited fans have been about the shows. “During the planning process, it’s all on paper and you don’t know what is going to happen,” she says. “But the reaction has been so much more than I expected.”
Twain says her goals now have become simple. No more concerns about hits and sales and all that.
“I just want to keep focusing on where I’m at,” she says. “I’m going to focus on doing my best and hopefully that will make a difference in people’s lives. I hope it does.”
