Hill says she created Fireflies because songs that came along that inspired her worked best in a sparer, rootsier setting. And after a couple of albums in which her music grew increasingly fuller and more theatrical, she felt a desire to do something simpler and more straightforward.
John Rich of Big & Rich and Adam Shoenfeld co-wrote "Mississippi Girl" for Hill.
"I basically stalked Faith Hill because I wanted to write a song for her," said Rich, who got to know the singer during Big & Rich's first national tour as opening act for Tim McGraw. Hill and the couple's daughters often joined McGraw during the tour, with Hill dressing down in her ballcap, jeans, T-shirts and sneakers. Rich got to see a side of the superstar few ever do, and she impressed him with how down-to-earth she was.
"I've always admired the emotional way she sings," Rich said. "I knew I wanted to write a song for her. But I started hiding out watching her, and I wanted to capture that part of her in a song."
She had already gathered some other key songs including "I Ain't Gonna Take It Anymore" and the album's second hit, "Like We Never Loved at All." She'd put aside a jazzy tune called "Paris" (a hidden track on Fireflies), at first thinking it might be too unusual for her to record. But as the album filled out, she realized it wasn't so different after all.
Then, as she thought she was nearing the end of recording, Nashville song publisher Melanie Howard sent Hill a song by Lori McKenna, a Massachusetts singer-songwriter and mother of five. Hill listened to the song, "If You Ask," and flipped for it. She immediately requested to hear everything McKenna had written. It turned out to be quite a lot - McKenna had released four independent albums.
"I couldn't believe the honesty in her writing," Hill said. "It was so human. I just fell in love with her. There was a while there that I didn't listen to anything but her records. I knew I was going to cut several of her songs."
Besides "If You Ask," Hill cut McKenna's "Stealing Kisses" and "Fireflies," which became the album's title. The two appeared together on an "Oprah" segment devoted to Hill. McKenna has since been signed to Warner Bros. Records and had her most recent album, Bittertown, re-released by the major label.
"There's still not a week that goes by that I don't listen to Lori's music," Hill said. "She just kills me. And I love her as a person now. I've really gotten to know her and she's just a great girl - very funny, very smart and a great mom."
At one point, Hill thought McKenna's "Stealing Kisses" would be the leadoff cut. But others convinced her to start with "Mississippi Girl," a decision that obviously worked well.
"It was a good way to introduce myself back into the market," she conceded. "It was what I needed to say at that moment, and it's fun to sing live and the crowd loves it. If it was up to me, I could've done a whole album of Lori McKenna songs, but it's good to hit different marks on an album. You have to have those feel-good songs that make you feel great."
So there she goes again - defending herself for having contradictory creative impulses. She laughs loud and long at that thought. "You know, I have to walk to the beat of my own drum, for sure," she sighed. "Who wants to be predictable, to be a follower? I have three daughters, and I want them to see that I follow my heart and don't always take the safe, easy way. I'd want them to be the same way."