Spencer Patterson

Fri, Nov 12, 2004 (9:56 a.m.)

For two decades country star Wynonna has used her music as a vehicle to spin tales of heartbreak and passion.

Today, to mark her 20th year in the business, the 40-year-old artist is tellig the story of her own life.

"A lot has been written about me, but it's not me," Wynonna said in a phone interview from her home on a farm outside of Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday. "For 20 years everyone's been writing about who they think I am, and now it's my chance to unlock the mythology. And it feels good to be known, to be authentically known."

In part, Wynonna is using her concerts to reveal pieces of her past. Her 2004 tour, titled "Her Story: Scenes From a Lifetime," touches down at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay on Saturday night. Doors open at 7.

Wynonna's shows feature songs from the two phases of her career: her seven years as half of the Judds and the solo period that began in 1991 when her mother, Naomi, retired.

The set will also include favored covers, such as Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is," a track from Wynonna's latest CD, last year's "What the World Needs Now is Love."

"I'm relishing being able to have a lot of musical freedom," Wynonna said. "I'm getting away with some things now that I'm 40 that I don't know that I could have done when I was 20. At 40, they sort of give me a break because they know I'm having a good time."

As the tour's moniker implies, Wynonna also takes time during her performances to chat with audiences, filling breaks between numbers with personal anecdotes.

"There is history, or I should say 'herstory,'" Wynonna said. "I'll say, 'OK, this is what I was doing when I was 5 ... when I was 10 ... when I was 18, I was on a bus with my mother, doing her hair for free for eight years. Is this normal?' "

Earlier this year Wynonna's journey of self-discovery also took her to "The Oprah Winfrey Show" for two episodes.

On the first episode in February the singer laid out plans for a weight-loss and exercise regimen. When Wynonna returned to the program in May she was joined by her sister, actress Ashley Judd, and the two siblings' mother.

During that emotional Oprah appearance, the Judds touched on Wynonna's lifelong struggle with her weight, along with family issues such as Naomi's revelation to a 20-year-old Wynonna that her biological father was not the man who had raised her.

Wynonna said that even though her battle to lose weight continues, the Oprah experience has changed her life in other ways.

"The show has allowed me to broaden my horizons," Wynonna said. "Now, people understand me, what I'm trying to say.

"If people get caught up in the weight loss, they're missing the point."

Wynonna said she received more than 800,000 e-mails after guesting on Oprah, enforcing her belief that others could draw strength from her experiences.

"I guess I'm just trying to be an example of what not to do," Wynonna said. "I tell my fans, 'Don't look up to me. Look at me.'

After her second stint on Oprah, Wynonna said she did some serious soul-searching, withdrawing even from her husband of nearly one year and their three children.

"I isolated myself and I did some really serious work," Wynonna said. "I did workshops where I went and lived by myself for four days in a cabin and didn't talk to anyone."

When she emerged, Wynonna resolved to reforge key relationships, including that with her mother and former musical partner.

"I want a new relationship with my mom," Wynonna said. "I don't want one that's based in the past, based on the years where she was the boss and I worked for her.

"I don't want to leave her house going, 'She makes me crazy.' That's reactive. I want to be proactive. And I want to be positive, because I'm still really, really angry about the thing with my dad, and I always will probably carry some of that."

The new phase of Wynonna's life also includes dealing with the aftermath of what she calls both the "single most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me and the best thing that ever happened to me."

Just before her wedding in November 2003 the vocalist was arrested in Nashville for driving under the influence of alcohol. Wynonna later pleaded guilty, lost her driver's license for one year and and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service.

Wynonna said the incident taught her some important lessons.

"It forced me to get real, to be aware of how distracted I get and to look at my habits," she said. "It really started me on this journey of paying attention. I now only eat certain ways. I don't eat watching TV. There's a whole list of things I don't do anymore. I'm working on it anyway."

Wynonna added that she is grateful for the community service sentence.

"That 200 hours of serving meals on wheels to people in projects, going to assisted living (centers) for people with challenges, blew my mind," she said. "I laughed, I cried, I served and it changed me. So I think I'm a better person. I'm definitely more compassionate."

Which got Wynonna thinking: Maybe she'd hit on a way to make the music industry just a little bit friendlier.

"I think everyone should be forced to do community service," she said. "Like if you get a record deal, you have to serve 100 hours for every No. 1 you get. How about that?"