Lee Ann Womack has performed at the Concert for the Nobel Peace Prize, Willie Nelson’s 70th Birthday and Maya Angelou’s Celebration of Joy Rising Memorial. On Thanksgiving, the East Texas girl will firmly plant her heels and embrace one of the Lone Star State’s greatest honors: sing “The Star Spangled Banner” before the Dallas Cowboys take on the Philadelphia Eagles inside AT&T Stadium.
“Growing up, Thanksgiving and football were always part of the tradition,” says the six-time Country Music Association Award winner. “When you think of those things that are such a part of Thanksgiving in Texas, but really everywhere, watching that Cowboys game with your family is a big part of the day!”
Womack being a traditionalist of the true order is looking to bring a taste of her kind of country music to the undertaking. Joining the woman deemed “entrancing” by The New York Times is renowned steel guitarist Paul Franklin, known for his work with Mark Knopfler, Sting and Megadeth, as well Alan Jackson, George Strait and his Grammy-nominated collaboration Bakersfield with Vince Gill.
“Paul brings so much heart to the songs he plays on,” Womack says of her unusual choice. “When I was asked, I didn’t just want to go and sing, I wanted to really invest this performance of our national anthem with something that makes us all reconsider what the song is expressing. If you’ve ever heard… or really listened to Paul’s musicianship and the emotions he brings out… I think having him play opens up so many aspects of what Francis Scott Key was celebrating when he wrote that.”
Womack has much to celebrate and be thankful for this holiday season. The response to The Way I’m Livin’, her first new music in seven years, has been unprecedented. Major features in Texas Monthly, No Depression, Nashville Scene and Rollingstone.com, as well as multiple appearances in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and on NPR, via Fresh Air and World Café, helped her achieve a Top 10 Americana Album.
Womack taped CMT’s “Crossroads” with R&B sensation John Legend, co-hosted the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards with Jerry Douglas, joined Lucinda Williams, Amos Lee and Buddy Miller for a PBS tribute to gospel quartets with the Fairfield Four and the McCrary Sisters and went into the studio with Dr. Ralph Stanley for an album to be released in 2015.
“When I look at this year,” Womack says, “I feel blessed that I was able to make so much music with so many amazing people, to express the songs in my heart and to explore places I might not have otherwise. My family is healthy… and we will get to be together during the holidays, so singing the anthem before the Cowboys game really is the cherry on top.”
