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There was no shortage of rabid fans lining up to hand the Nashville starlet a bunch of flowers or give her a hug that usually involved a photo being taken at the South Shore Music Circus Sunday night. Wynonna, the daughter Judd from the blockbuster mom-and-daughter act the Judds, was doing her best to keep the modest-sized crowd happy, and that meant acceding to most every request, even if it broke up the flow of her set. But Wynonna is smart enough to know that you take love where and when you can get it. So she wasn’t about to turn away even the scariest-looking autograph seeker. And though there was an 18-wheeler with the word "Wynonna" scrawled across it in big letters parked out behind the venue, this particular country singer harbors no illusions about her status in the world of show biz. Indeed, she was the first to point out that her stock has fallen quite a bit over the past several years, that she’s no longer the Nashville hitmaker she once was. "I believe there is still love in the world," she told the audience in one of her between-song sermons. "Even when you think your time has come and gone . . . " And then the band broke into a gospel-tinged tune about "faith" that Wynonna referred to as her "themesong." So, yeah, this Judd isn’t quite as big a star as she once was. After all, the big stars don’t skip Boston to play the South Shore Music Circus, as delightful a venue as it is. And she’s put on a few more pounds than the airbrushed face shots on her latest CD, What the World Needs Now Is Love (Curb), would suggest. But to borrow a phrase from Tom Petty, she not backing down. In fact, she seems comfortable in her new role as a cult singer who remains a household name in a lot of households who aren’t necessarily interested in buying tickets to her shows or copies of her latest album. And, boy, can she sing. Her version of "Burnin’ Love," from the animated motion picture Lilo & Stitch, should have been a travesty. But with a crack band of session players backing her, she pulled it off without embarrassing herself or anyone else in the audience. She also seemed to have a relatively realistic view of herself, indulging in a bit of fun at her mom’s expense when she told the crowd, "Don’t believe everything you read — especially not in my mother’s book." And then it was on to a Oprah-esque self-help slogan: "You can’t be defined by the world; you have to be defined by within." In other words, don’t listen to what the critics say. This critic went in with an open mind (and with his mom, who happens to be a big Wynonna fan) and left feeling okay about where Wynonna’s at in her career. She tends to praise the Lord a little too much for my taste (I get my religion from professional athletes who couldn’t have gotten it done without help from the Big Guy), and she likes to try her hand at gospel singing toward the end of her sets, with sentiments like "Oh, my Lord, I can’t wait to meet you." Me, I can wait, even if it takes a real long time. And I think Wynonna should think about sticking around for a while too.
BY MATT ASHARE
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