Legendary Songwriter Matraca Berg To Release New Album on May 17

Matraca Berg- the pen behind hits such as Deanna Carter's "Strawberry Wine"- returns to recorded music with her first disc in 14 years with the rootsy "The Dreaming Fields" on May 17 on Dualtone. Berg's last disc was "Sunday Morning To Saturday Night."

"I knew when I was writing these songs, the ones that I was drawn to... that they deserved to be heard... They where a bit deeper and darker than a lot of what's happening, so I knew it was up to me," Berg said. "I'd done some shows with various girlfriends, and when you look at the women - and the men - in the audience, I realized these stories I'm writing are their stories too... So, making sure they get to them became important to me."

Berg, who scored her first number 1 at 18, has had songs recorded by Dixie Chicks, Patty Loveless, Trisha Yearwood, Gretchen Wilson, John Berry, Linda Ronstadt and Dusty Springfield. She has 11 #1 hits to her credit and is a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

"I was raised on 'Harvest' (Neil Young) and 'Blue,' (Joni Mitchell) 'Pieces of the Sky' (Emmylou Harris)," she says, " That's the sound of my childhood. When I started writing these songs, I pulled them out - and it struck me how bare they were and driven by feel. The songs floated on the arrangements, and the vocals were all the emotions the songs had come from. It's so far from what we hear now, but everything I wanted this record to be."