Past, present and future - on the heels of their 2003 Greatest Hits collection, the members of Lonestar are aware of all three. And that awareness is only enhanced by the realization that they're a year away from the 10-year anniversary of their Country Music chart debut. Perhaps that's why all three themes pervade their June 2004 CD release, Let's Be Us Again.
"It kind of feels like we have a blank slate," said guitarist Michael Britt. "We've done the whole Greatest Hits thing, and I think people are ready to hear new Lonestar music. And we're ready to say, 'This is where we're at now.'"
"We just look for songs that people can relate to - songs about life," added lead vocalist Richie McDonald. "People are always going to expect the songs like 'Amazed' and 'I'm Already There.' And we still look for those and we still do them and they're on this album. But I think the one thing that they'll find more of on this album are fun, up-tempo songs."
It's true - more than half of the album's 13 songs are upbeat, several infused with the sense of humor that characterized early hits "No News" and such recent fare as "My Front Porch Looking In," the most-played Country song of 2003 according to Neilsen SoundScan. But the guys feel there is more of them in the words and music than ever before, with good reason. Lonestar's members wrote or co-wrote all but one of the album's songs, with some of Music Row's finest songwriters.
"It just kind of happened," Britt said. "It seemed like the songs we were getting pitched weren't turning us on much so we all started focusing on writing a little bit more. And it's not like we're sacrificing any kind of quality. We're still writing with great writers in Nashville and we're still putting 'us' into our music as well, which is what we want to do."
The band even produced "Somebody's Someone," a last-minute inspiration from McDonald that they decided couldn't wait for their next CD, even though Let's Be Us Again, produced by CMA Award winner Dann Huff, was already complete.
"We did think we were through with the album, but we all got together and felt like this was something that we wanted to say and we wanted a lot of people to hear," said McDonald. In the tradition of "I'm Already There," (the BMI and ASCAP 2002 Song of the Year), the new song is a tribute to the men and women of the military and the realities of their sacrifice.
The 2001 CMA Vocal Group of the Year - who head into "The 38th Annual CMA Awards" broadcast on Nov. 9 on the CBS Television Network with another nomination in that category - launched the album with a flurry of activity in late May and early June. The CMA Music Festival held in Downtown Nashville was a big part of that effort.
Lonestar spent four consecutive days taking part in the Festival and surrounding activities, and their every move was captured for a syndicated radio special that aired the following weekend. They were part of "CMT's 100 Greatest Love Songs" concert (where "Amazed" made the Top 10), took part in MJI/Premiere's radio remote; signed autographs in the Wrangler® Fan Fair Exhibit Hall; were part of After Hours events with the Stars of NBC Daytime and were among the Nightly Concert performers at The Coliseum.