After years of being one of the biggest names in country music, Terri Clark announced that she was going to leave her major label home and focus on making the music that she wanted to make.

She performs at Westerner Days on July 21.

Yearning for change, she vowed to do things “her way”. What fans got in return was what she called the most “personal” record of her career. Roots and Wings was released last year.

“I chose Roots and Wings after much deliberation about naming the album after one of the song titles, which felt a little cliché. I felt not just one song encompassed what the album meant for me.”

Kicking off with the empowering anthem Wrecking Ball and wrapping up with the heartbreaking Flowers in Snow, Clark’s honesty and passion shine through.

“I’m embracing my roots, who I am, my old friends and family, and coming full circle in my life choosing some songs with those themes for this album.”

Sticking to her northern roots, Clark turns up the fun with what’s certain to be the rebirth of a vintage Canadian party starter, Trooper’s We’re Here For A Good Time.

In the time between albums, she shared much of her experiences during her mother’s battle with cancer. Those who never met Linda felt like they knew her based merely on the stories Terri would tell about her.

With some help from the iconic Alison Krauss, Terri shares the closeness with her mother, in the form of Smile.

“The song is about how she was always willing to ‘let me go’ so that I could live up to my fullest potential, and really fly no matter how hard it was at the time, because we were always so extremely close.

“I lost my best friend, my mom, to cancer last year, and ended a long-term relationship not long after that. It was all very tough, but I also feel like that is when our spirits and minds grow the most, and creatively I feel like it all inspired me to write some songs that I otherwise may not have.”

In The Good Was Great, Terri mirrors the changes in her own experiences – choosing to focus on the positive. “It’s about taking the good parts of a relationship and the sweetness it brought to your life instead of constantly focusing on the bad parts and reasons why it didn’t work out.”

Like life, relationships play a big part in Roots and Wings. Terri offers some fresh perspectives with songs like Beautiful and Broken, Breakin’ Up Thing and The One – three very different songs that range from unconditional love to being true to one’s own needs in life.

“I love letting people know and see that I am just an everyday girl, with a not so everyday job, but I don’t feel a disconnect with my audience just because I am on the stage.

“I feel like we are all there to have a great time, myself included, and usually, that is what happens.”

While everyone faces challenges, few are able to transform them into the kind of messages Terri shares in Roots and Wings.

“I’ve been learning to be me again. To be the person I was before my mom got sick. I’m learning how to have fun and lighten up and roll the windows down and hang out with friends and laugh out loud and be a goof ball.

“I’m really enjoying life and being happy again. That’s coming out on the record. There’s some pretty fun stuff on here that I’m feeling is emerging that hasn’t in the past few years.”

For complete details of everything that will be a part of this year’s Westerner Days, visit www.westernerdays.ca or call 403-343-7800.

-Weber