Personnel: Deana Carter (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, strings, horns, piano, background vocals); Deana Carter (vocals); James Michael (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, drums, programming, background vocals); Jeff Carter (acoustic guitar, electric guitar); Randy Leago (flute, accordion, piano, keyboards, synthesizer); Steve Mackie (bass instrument); Kyle Woodrig, Kyle Woodring (drums).
Audio Mixers: Deana Carter; James Michael.
Recording information: Jeff's House, Franklin, TN; Little Big Guy Recording Studio, Los Angeles, CA; The Village Recorders, Santa Monica, CA.
Photographer: Randee Saint Nicholas.
Chalk THE STORY OF MY LIFE up as Deanna Carter's huge change-of-life project. With this 2005 album, Carter leaves behind the Music Row system that not only fostered the breakout success of her 1996 smash, "Strawberry Wine," but subsequently made the performer feel creatively restrained. Prior to the record, the Nashville native fled to Los Angeles, where she signed with Vanguard and took full control over her musical direction. Admittedly influenced by the sound of 1970s singer/songwriters, Carter unabashedly ties this confessional approach to her own tunes, resulting in tales of record-company malfeasance (the dreamy "Sunny Day"), a determined attitude (a delicate title track), and heartbreak (the melancholy "In a Heartbeat.") Even though real-life personal losses inform the Lucinda Williams-like "Atlanta & Birmingham," Carter still tosses in her fair share of eclectic fictional characters. Most intriguing is the go-go-boot-wearing childhood pal residing within the winsome jangle of "One Day at a Time," with its charming allusions to Elvis Presley, Kurt Cobain, and John Lennon.
Professional Reviews
Entertainment Weekly (No. 810, p.104) - "[T]he musical statement of her career..." - Grade: A-
