By Shelley Koppel
Entertainment writer
FORT PIERCE - Country superstar Jo Dee Messina wants to invite you into her home. Her Music Room Series tour, which comes to the Sunrise Theatre on Oct. 23, is modeled after the music room in her home, where she sings, writes and rehearses.
The stage will have a piano and some back-up musicians and Ms. Messina will play, take requests, answer questions and talk to the audience about the stories behind the songs.
Her appearance at the Sunrise is part of the country series, including Kenny Rogers, Craig Morgan and Cherryholmes, that is sponsored by Hometown News.
Ms. Messina spoke by phone recently about her career, motherhood and this special tour.
Ms. Messina comes from Massachusetts, which is not usually thought of as a breeding ground for country music stars.
"When I first heard it as a kid, around 11 or 12, I loved it," she said. "It was real and I thought they were talking about me."
She began looking for a country station on the radio and for records. She'd buy the whole album and, not knowing what song was the single, she'd learn them all.
"When I was 13, I got to sing with a country band and I went to open mic nights," she said. "As soon as I was 16 and old enough to drive, I put a band together. I knew what I wanted to do after high school."
She left home at 19 and moved to Nashville.
"I was naïve and extremely driven," she said. "I thought I would get a record deal. I didn't know there were 17 billion other more talented people trying to do the same thing. I didn't realize how long the odds were and I was supported by a lot of positive people."
Hits such as "Heads Carolina, Tails California" and "You're Not in Kansas Anymore" announced a new talent had arrived. By the end of the 1990s, she was one of the first women in country music to mount a headlining tour.
Today the singer/songwriter has a new focus: her son, Noah, who's 10 months old.
"He gives me a different way of looking at stuff," she said. "I've just recorded a song my keyboard player wrote about my taking my son for a walk. He sees things differently. What matters to him really matters."
Her tour, the Music Room Series, allows Ms. Messina to interact with the audience.
"I wanted a chance for folks to get to know me," she said. "We go into an intimate setting and it's hanging out with me for the night. The questions people ask dictate what we sing. We do everything from 'Amazing Grace' to the national anthem. Usually, they request my songs. It's all about the audience. We're usually laughing and taking and singing."
It doesn't often happen that someone asks a risqué question, but if it does, Ms. Messina is prepared.
"I'm an Italian chick from Boston. I can handle it," she said.
Jo Dee Messina presents the Music Room Series, sponsored by Hometown News, at the Sunrise Theatre, 117 S. Second St., Fort Pierce, on Oct. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $49. Call the box office at (772) 461-4775 or order online at www.sunrisetheatre.com.