Born into a big-band jazz family, she earned a degree in metalwork from Illinois
State University while playing guitar in the clubs. Her career break came in
1986, when a recruiter from Capitol (now Liberty) spotted her during a stint at
Dollywood (Dolly Parton's Nashville park). From 1991 onwards, with the album
Aces, she established herself as one of Nashville's finest vocalists, racking up
hits such as "Someday Soon", "Outbound Plane" and "Letting Go".
The style remains traditional, with a great facility for yodeling (singing in
vocals with abrupt changes of register), but the...