Jo Dee Messina takes fan involvement to a new level

When it comes to connecting with fans, many artists spend time signing autographs, posting items on Web sites and interactions with blogs and interviews.

In the case of Jo Dee Messina, who will perform July 31 at The Cave in Big Bear Lake, she went ahead and involved her fans in her new record. Having escaped a long-term record deal and forming her own label, the singer reached out for help with last year’s album “ME.”

“The whole process was timely because when I was writing, I wasn’t aware I was writing for a record and I was just posting stuff on social networks and I got responses,” she said. “It became very interactive via Facebook. I began to ask if I was to make a record would you want this song on it. I went back and forth with fans and had enough money to make a record.”

The financial aspect was important.

“We didn’t have the money and someone suggested Kickstarter,” she said. “So we did that, got enough for the record and everyone who contributed each got a new reward, either me giving a backyard concert or a free CD.”

As a result of the interactions, the album is not one that fits only one musical style or theme.

“It doesn’t sound like the same song over and over because no one likes the same music,” she said. “People who listen to music do not have one rigid style so there is bluegrass, pop, and country.”

It makes sense for there to be a lot of fans because Messina has been collecting hits for some time. First hitting the charts in 1996 with “Heads Carolina, Tails California,” she has nine Number One singles and 16 Top 40 hits to her credit.

She acknowledges a lot of help along the way.

“Tim McGraw produced my first few albums and Charley Daniels gave me a lot of advice,” she said. “He pointed out that it’s not how many times you get down that matters but how many times you get up.”

Yet, it is certainly not about a high society lifestyle.

“Country music has a camaraderie, but I am a mom and who I hang out with is my three- and six-year old kids,” she said.

As a result, much of her music is about everyday life.

“I’m working on songs for a new albums, and as usual it is things that pop in my head,” she said. “There are songwriting legends in Nashville that have quotas, but I write about things that move me.”

That may just be a regular day in the world of a musician who happens to be a mom.

“I was out yesterday and I can’t believe how long I waited through swim lessons and all this,” she said. I’m not out getting a pedicure, I know what it’s like to sit in car lines, to give the stink eye to someone going the wrong way. I tell my stories and the fans relate to it.”

For example, there is “A Woman’s Rant.”

“It’s a funny song but basically a day in the life of me starting with me getting out of bed at 6 a.m. and stumbling from the haze,” she said. “I don’t worry about how great or bad the song is. I don’t think about that. When I have an idea, I write it.”

And on the stage, it is always an experience.

“The stage is fair game,” she said. “I do all kinds of stuff including things I have never recorded, covers, hits and album cuts.”

And she will play with the songs, but not too much.

“I do try to stay consistent because it can quickly become a mess,” she said. “We don’t change them every show but we play around.”

But as the last album shows, it’s about the fans and that connection no matter on stage or in the studio.

“I am definitely a people person, and I am grateful these people allow me to live my life, to live my dreams,” she said. “The only reason we are here is because of other people.”