In a revolutionary move that defies all the laws of new country stardom, the Canadian sensation has not and will not hit the concert-tour trail in support of her mega-selling The Woman in Me album.While state fair promoters and label executives wince at the thought of the huge concert takes that will go untaken, Twain is adamant.
"I made the decision a long time ago, and it's a new thing to do," she says. "I know I'm sacrificing a lot of money, but the reason is that we put so much into the album and it meant so much. I felt that if the music could stand onits own then the music will sell the show later on."
Besides TV appearances, Twain, 30, has given only one public concert since the album was released a year ago. That was last June at Nashville's Fan Fair. She won't do it again until early 1997, when her concert tour will coincide with the release of her next album.
{since been changed to mid-late '97}
She knows that keeping fans waiting will increase anticipation - and expectations. A sampling of the pent-up demand came last month, when an in-store appearance at Minneapolis' Mall of America drew 20,000 fans. Twain is aware of the considerable sniping in the country industry about her sudden success. She counters her critics by saying that she has been honing her chops nearly all her life; she has performed in "smoky country bars since I was 8," she says, and "didn't come out from behind my big old guitar until I was 18. "
"I kind of expected it (the criticism). I guess all newcomers run into that. There's no resentment on my part. The fans dug the album and I'm thrilled to death."