'Stronger' than ever Singer/songwriter Carlene Carter to perform in Clayton

Carlene Carter poses with a relaxed smile on the cover of "Stronger," her new CD. The daughter and stepdaughter of country music greats June Carter and Johnny Cash has lots to smile about these days, considering her colorful, and at times, wayward, past.

"I've followed my own path, but I know it's been kind of crooked at times," she said earlier this month from her home near Santa Barbara, Calif.

The path will take her to the Clayton Opera House on Wednesday.

In 1979, living in London, she married rock star Nick Lowe. (Wedding clips can be found on Mr. Lowe's "Cruel To be Kind" video.)

In 1980, Ms. Carter released "Musical Shapes," an ahead-of-its time album produced by Mr. Lowe that pioneered the country-rock sound. Critics loved it, but it never caught on with radio programmers.

In her mid-20s, Ms. Carter, now 53, struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. She rediscovered her country roots in 1986 when she joined her mother and aunts as a member of the Carter Family.

In the 1990s, she reached the top of the country charts with such tunes as "I Fell in Love," "Come on Back" and "Every Little Thing." She toured with fellow country stars Pam Tillis and Lorrie Morgan. Her crossover appeal was apparent when she starred in her own cable TV series on VH-1 and TNN.

In 2002, Ms. Carter was charged with stealing a dead man's identity to obtain prescription drugs.

In 2003, she faced a devastating year of personal losses when her longtime partner Howie Epstein, bass player for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers died. He was also her producer.

In May of the same year, her mother, June Carter Cash, died. Stepfather Johnny Cash died that September. That October, her little sister, Rosey Carter Adams, 45, died when she was overcome with carbon monoxide fumes on a bus.

"It was a bad year," Ms. Carter said. "But everything is how it is. There are ups and downs."

But she was buoyed by family and friends. She said marrying her fourth husband, actor Joseph Breen, in 2006, is what inspired her to create "Stronger," her first album of new material since 1995.

Ms. Carter said her husband, a veteran of Broadway and television who studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, encourages her to write. "He badgers me to pick up my guitar and to get behind the piano instead of watching reruns of 'CSI' on my DVR," Ms. Carter said, as she let out a hearty laugh.

"I write songs that matter to me, and that's what it's all about," she said. "My husband totally supports me and gives so much love in my life. I don't have to act 'as if.' I act as I am."

She described "Stronger" as an album that explores the power of love to hurt, to bring laughter and, most of all, to heal.

Critics and noted songwriters have praised the album. Elvis Costello called it "astounding." Bernie Taupin called it "A staggering achievement by one of the great voices and fearless hearts of country rock."

"I can't say I'm surprised, because I think it's really good," Ms. Carter said. "I'm really pleased people are liking it so much."

COUNTING BLESSINGS

She said she's glad to be touring again and that her CDs are selling well, especially at her shows. "We just made a record we really wanted to make," she said. "It's always what we wanted to do.

She noted other things going her way. Besides a new husband, she will welcome her sixth grandchild into the world in December.

"Life is good," she said, and recalled something her mother and stepfather stressed: "Always count your blessings and be happy with what you have."

But the title track of "Stronger" focuses on what she lost in 2003. Its lyrics are an elegy for Rosey, Ms. Carter said, but the song came from the combination of that year's losses. Its chorus is about survival: "What doesn't kill me makes me stronger."

She worked with her half brother, John Carter Cash, on "Stronger." The CD is released on the independent Yep Roc label and is produced by John McFee, a former member of the Doobie Brothers. Ms. Carter wrote that band's 1980 hit, "One Step Closer."

"I've come full circle in a lot of ways," Ms. Carter said. "I feel a lot closer to my family's roots than when I did back then. I'm comfortable in my skin and my musical skin."

Johnny Cash and June Carter were married in 1968, when Ms. Carter was 13 years old. She is the biological daughter of honky-tonk singer Carl Smith.

"I never had pressure from my family to be anyone other than exactly to be who I was," Ms. Carter said. "I got the best support from my parents in that regard."

THE DETAILS...

WHAT: Carlene Carter in concert

WHERE: Clayton Opera House, 403 Riverside Drive

WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19

TICKETS: Priced at $20. They can be purchased by calling the opera house at 686-2200 or at the opera house box office. Regular box office hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. This Wednesday, the box office will be open from noon through the start of the concert.