Martina McBride has been singing for as long as she can remember. With a career that spans over 30 years, she just completed 12 dates out on the road for her Joy of Christmas Tour, her 12th year of being on the road this time of year. When asked if she likes being out on the road, she says, "Sometimes. It's a balance thing. I also love being at home. I'm kind of a homebody. I try to balance out my tour where we have equal amounts of time on the road and at home. It's an interesting existence. There's that hour and a half on stage where you're connecting with the audience and it's really special. I wouldn't keep doing it if I didn't enjoy it."
And it's a good thing for all of us that she does enjoy it, because she'll start 2023 with 15 more dates on The Judds: The Final Tour. The new, added dates include stops in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Ohio, Florida, and West Virginia. "I say a prayer of gratitude before every show. A prayer for guidance. And I do my own hair and makeup on tour so that's really my time to switch gears from every day no makeup Martina to glamour and getting ready to go on stage. I like that transition period."
In addition to being a repeat Female Vocalist of the Year and a Grammy-nominated singer, Martina is a first-rate cook. She released a cookbook in 2018, Martina's Kitchen Mix: My Recipe Playlist for Real Life Cookbook "I'd love to write another cookbook. They are just a lot of work. There's a lot of writing and testing and cooking. It's being creative in a different way than making music."
She continues, "I love to cook, period. It's my therapy. My place of joy is to be in the kitchen cooking. I love to cook a lot of different things from soups and salads to braised meats and things that take a long time. I've just recently, in the past year and a half, gotten in to grilling a little bit. I was always intimidated by the grill for some reason, but I found it's a lot easier than I thought it was. I also have a smoker, so in the winter time, I smoke cheeses."
Martina also has a soft spot for women and children's charities. She explains her global charity initiative, Team Music Is Love. "Team Music Is Love started as a fan initiative. A group of fans contacted me and asked me if they could wear one of my t-shirts to a breast cancer walk. I was like, "Sure!" It started as Team Martina about 15 years ago and I thought we needed a better name. It just kind of grew from there. It's volunteer based. We do things sometimes in the cities where we play to help the local communities. We've done everything from starting a music school for a girls shelter in Guatemala to helping fund an inner city park. We've done a lot of work with food banks. We've done diaper giveaways, baby showers for shelters. We look and see where the need is. It isn't based on one specific cause."
Martina is also really proud of her Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum exhibit, Martina McBride: The Power of Her Voice. Fans can catch the exhibit through August of 2023. Says Martina, "They did a great job!"
And what else can we expect from the Kansas native this year? "I'd love to make new music in 2023." One can only hope. MartinaMcBride.com
"Being on a tour together with strong women who support each other is just a great thing to be a part of."
