Before becoming a global country music star Shania Twain spent her childhood singing in rough Canadian bars to miners, lumberjacks and fishermen often performing only after midnight once the bar stopped serving alcohol, since she was underage.
That formative period is now the focus of her new album, "Little Miss Twain," released Friday. The record covers her life from age 8 through her late 20s, just before she signed her major record deal, a chapter Twain says most fans have never heard about.
Several songs on the album, including "Rockstars" and "Northern Town" have been written over the past decade. The emotional centerpiece is the title track, dedicated to her mother, who died in a 1987 car crash along with Twain's stepfather before ever witnessing her daughter's success.
Twain described her mother as having been her manager, driver and coach throughout her early bar performances.
The song features a duet with country legend Tanya Tucker, referencing a lyric where Twain's mother once called her "the next Tanya Tucker." Twain's son, Eja D'Angelo Lange also contributes background vocals on several tracks.
Musically, the album blends Motown, classic country and rock influences with a bluesy rock track featuring Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. Twain says her voice and altered by a 2018 larynx surgery following Lyme disease-related nerve damage, now carries a grittier tone that has shaped her songwriting style.
Twain hopes listeners will come away understanding the environment and experiences that shaped her before fame, calling the album a chance to reveal "the missing chapter" of who she really is.
