NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Five years is a long sabbatical in a business where careers rise and fall with the music charts.
But if singer Deana Carter is worried about being away since 1998, she's not letting on.
The wispy blonde who sang of lost virginity in her breakthrough song, "Strawberry Wine," is at it again, this time baring all in a new video for her latest hit, "There's No Limit."
"I've really learned to embrace my femininity," said Carter, a self-professed tomboy. "I want to embrace it and do it tastefully and organically. I certainly don't want to be exploitive. I think it's something to be proud of."
The song, the first single from her new album, "I'm Just a Girl," reached No. 14 on the Billboard chart while the album went to No. 6.
That pales beside the numbers she racked up with her 1996 debut, the multiplatinum "Did I Shave My Legs for This?"
But it marks her first return to the Top 20 since her 1998 follow-up, "Everything's Gonna Be All Right," a commercial disappointment that yielded only one hit.
Carter, 37, blames the slump on her old record label, Capitol Nashville. She says she worked with four label presidents before she asked to be released.
"The last record was critically acclaimed, but it just didn't have the economic support," she said. "That's what makes all of the difference. You put all of your blood and sweat into an album, but you still need the label to support it."
She's now on the Arista label and enjoying a career rebirth. Her video for "There's No Limit" is one of the most requested on Country Music Television. She's appeared on the "Tonight" show with Jay Leno and is performing to large crowds on Kenny Chesney's Margaritas & Seoritas tour.
Fans still remember Carter from "Strawberry Wine," said Chris Parr, vice president of talent relations for CMT.
"That's one of those songs that is a legitimate, bona fide hit, and those don't go away," Parr said. "I think it's probably a key part of why she still has a base out there and has been well received."
A lot has happened to Carter over the past five years. Aside from leaving her label, she divorced songwriter Chris DiCroce and moved to Los Angeles where she's tried her hand at acting, appearing in independent films and TV sitcoms.
The changes in her personal life show in many of the 12 new songs, all of which she wrote or co-wrote as well as co-produced.—
She landed a record deal with Liberty (now Capitol), but the release of "Did I Shave My Legs for This?" was delayed because of corporate changes at the label. When the album finally came out, it sold more than 4 million copies and produced four Top 10 hits, including three No.1s.
Carter says she's paid her dues, and then some.