Terri Clark To Release Indie Album In September

Terri Clark will release "Takes The Long Way Home" as an independent release after requesting and being granted her release from SonyBMG late last year.

Clark learned three years ago that her mother Linda was struggling against cancer and figured it was time to make a change to honor that relationship.

"When you see someone fighting as hard as my Mom was, it strikes you the things that matter," Clark said. "To her, life was everything. It was about personal integrity, her family, the things she loved about living...and I realized I couldn't make my music for any less. My fans deserved that from me, especially after the stories they tell me about things my music's gotten them through over the years."

That’s when she asked label head Joe Galante to release her from her Sony/BMG contract. "Joe was unbelievably gracious," Clark said. "I think he understood that this record I needed to make needed to be more...more personal, more country, more raw...He is an incredible artist guy, in that he knew where I was and needed, and he didn't hold me to (my contract)."

Clark calls the recording a honky-tonk, steamy spiritual blend.