The Post

A two-time Grammy nominee who has sold more than five million albums will bring her storytelling-style show to Athens tonight.

Country singer Jo Dee Messina will perform at 8 tonight in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, and tickets are still available. The performance cost is estimated to be about $25,000, which will be covered by ticket sales, said Andrew Holzaepfel, associate director of the Campus Involvement Center.

The Post's Ashley Luthern spoke to Messina about her tour, upcoming album and future plans.

Follow up:

The Post: How does this tour differ from your others?

Jo Dee Messina: The whole thing started off as a storyteller kind of thing, to tell the story of the songs ... and I asked the audience... do you have any questions? ... People started rolling into stories, about (their) mother was going through chemo and "Bring On The Rain" really helped her, so we did "Bring On The Rain" ... . It became not about me and why I recorded them, but it became about the audience. No two shows are the same, because they don't have the same questions and same stories to tell.

Post: You have song-writing credits on this album and you were also a co-producer. How did you go about that process and what was unexpected of it?

Messina: It's been six years since my last album release, so a lot has happened. I met my husband, had a kid, and it was so many years to get the label to release. Unmistakable is finally coming out. ... The first part of the record comes out on April 27 and it will be a trilogy album set. Three albums, eight sides on each one. (The three parts are) Love, Drive and Inspiration. So, actually, the fans have waited six years for a record, and they'll get three in one year.

Post: When you were first performing, what were some of the odd jobs you held to pay the bills?

Messina: I did everything. ... I was a bartender, which was a total joke. ... I was the crappiest bartender out there. I did some data entry. I did accounting, programming - anything, really. I didn't go to college. ... I knew this is what I wanted to do in my life so I left right after high school. ... You have to believe in yourself.

Post: What do you have planned for the future?

Messina: I'm wanting to keep my creative juices going and doing a lot of writing, whether it's books, TV pilots, songs - it's just creative and singing. Everything always goes back to the singing. ... Music, it is part of my being and not something I do to be famous and wear fancy clothes.