Country superstar comes to local station

CECELIA fRAI\CISCO STAFF WRITER CAF722@CABRIM .EDU

"It's like being on a rollercoaster, [the] anticipation before you go [down the drop] and then it's like 'wow!"' Rachel Luciani said after she and three other WXTU listeners had a chance to meet country superstar Martina McBride.

McBride was in town to promote her recently released CD "Martina" on 92.5 WXTU, Philadelphia's country station.

The interview took place in the WXTU studio on City Avenue on Friday, Oct. I, 2003, around 4 p.m. After almost 45 minutes of interview and live performances of a few songs from the new CD, the four anxious listeners looked up to see a petite red-headed woman walk through the door of the conference room they had been waiting

She greeted the excited faces with handshakes, smiles and small talk before posing for pie- tures and signing autographs. Some of the station's employees also took time to meet and pose with the singer.

"This is a once in a life time chance," Diane Sharp-Keys said while watching her daughter happily accept an autograph and pose for a picture with McBride. For a brief l O minutes, the four listeners and some station employees spoke to McBride before she was escorted back up the hall to continue her interview. The listeners stuck around, hoping to catch another glimpse, and eager to listen to the rest of the interview.

McBride answered a few phone calls, explained that she would be touring again with her Christmas CD this winter, and sung a couple more songs before the interview ended at approximately 5:30 p.m.

"I'm completely speechless," Missy Pierce said as her hands were still slightly shaking from adrenaline.

Her friend, Luciani, had written a lengthy e-mail to Cadillac Jack, an afternoon DJ at XTU, who was the one to be interviewing McBride. The e-mail explained how much Pierce loved McBride and had introduced Luciani into the country music scene.

Jack responded, and told the girls to meet at the studio by 4:30 p.m., and Jack would see what he could do. Along with Luciani and Pierce, Sharp-Keys and her daughter also were invited to meet the singer by winning an auction that supported the United Service Organization.

McBride's new CD is her first studio album in four years, and is her 10th studio release. Its first single, "This One's For The Girls," is an anthem for women and girls of all ages, "from one to 99," as the song goes.

For more information on Martina McBride visit www.martina-mcbride.com.

For more information about upcoming country music events in the area visit www.wxtu.com