In 1993, Shania Twain was part of Mercury Records’ unique marketing plan: the Triple Play tour that included John Brannen and Toby Keith. Twain’s self-titled debut brought her a level of international attention with the pop-flavored "What Made you Say That," accompanied by a video spotlighting her good looks and appealing voice. However, things changed with her second album, The Woman in Me (1995), which has sold over 10 million copies and established her as a songwriter, penning 11 of the disc’s 12 tracks. Since then, Come On Over (1997) sold over 19 million units and her latest, Up!, set a record for a female artist its first week out with sales of 800,000 copies. The album—a two-disc set with 18 tracks featured in pop and country versions—immediately shot to No. 1, held its position week after week, and had sold over 2 million copies by the holiday season. Alternate takes of the songs were recorded for the international version of the album, which also contains the pop recordings, and can be heard for free on Twain's Web site, www.shaniatwain.com.
    Born in Windsor and raised in Timmins, Ontario, Twain’s childhood was unconventional at best. At age 8, with parental encouragement, she was performing weekends in clubs; two years later she was singing her own material. She admits that there were periods of burnout because, "To a degree, I was forced a lot of times. No 8-year-old wants to sing in bars. I was happier singing in my bedroom.
    "I don’t think anyone could have burnt me on music, whether it became my profession or not, but as a child I wanted to do it for myself, not get up in the middle of the night, or with a cold, to sing. I didn’t understand. I was professional before I could conceive what that meant. But it prepared me for so much in life. I can separate the two worlds and I think my priorities are straight. It’s give and take; you sacrifice certain things for others, and I wouldn’t change anything."
    Alongside the music, she spent summers working with her father as foreman for a 13-man reforestation crew. In addition to giving her "a few extra triceps inches," she agrees that the experience strengthened her in many ways and taught her to survive in a man’s world. "It builds character," she states. "You’re the boss, the woman, over 13 guys and it’s a physical job as well. I’m a small person, not as physically capable as the average man, and it’s hard to boss people around. You pull your weight the best you can … and a few muscles at the same time!
    "You learn to gain other people’s respect, and that’s difficult as a woman. It helped me in the music world, where again you deal with a lot of men. Women have to keep up or we can’t compete. We’ve got to be as good or better, and while it’s not difficult for us to be as good, our nature is different and we have to work harder, bottom line. Maybe that will change someday, but for now we have to be prepared to bite the bullet and gain equal respect. You’ve got to be a survivor, and those types of jobs helped me. You can spend a lot of time complaining, but it’s best to just do it and see better results."
    She agrees that success opened doors for creative freedom. "It’s a very big thing for artists to be able to express themselves," she says, "because otherwise you are stifled by what people don’t know about you."
    Mercury Records hasn’t hesitated to capitalize on Twain’s physical attributes—whether through promotional mailings, videos or album covers. The in-your-face marketing of Shania Twain, hot babe, makes it easy to ignore her talents. Queried about this focus on image over craft and whether the label would have initially dedicated equal attention to breaking her as a new artist had she carried an additional 50 pounds, Twain pauses, then candidly replies, "That’s a good question. I always think about those things—women do. I see it in the professional sense as an obligation I have. It happens in so many women’s professions. I take pride in trying to look and be fit, healthy. I always would, regardless of my career. My sisters are the same way. The pressure comes from ourselves.
    "Entertaining is my job; performance is part of that, and if I were 50 pound heavier, I wouldn’t have the same energy or move the same way, so it’s not just the way I look in photographs. You can make anyone look good in photos; I look better in them. I’m not necessarily glamorous in everyday life. I’m an average person. I want my photos to be natural, not a ton of makeup and a supermodel look. I didn’t want to have to live up to an image."
    Twain’s tenacity has been tested regularly, from her childhood gig to working in forests to assuming responsibility for her younger siblings at age 21 when their parents were killed in a 1987 automobile accident. She undertook a full-time job as a resort singer to support the family until they were old enough to be on their own. Left to her own devices, she cut a demo tape that her manager sent to a Nashville lawyer. He attended a Canadian showcase and introduced the singer to a Mercury A&R representative. From there, a contract was negotiated.
    Twain fought hard to keep from becoming a puppet artist manipulated by corporate strings. "That’s the type of thing women can run into within this industry," she says. "We’re not going to make ourselves into something else. We have to be whoever we are and gain respect for the artistry we have to offer. It can be a struggle. Honestly, it wasn’t a problem on my first album. My writing was not noticed as much as it could have been, but I was very involved with choosing my songs. Mercury understood that I was coming from a writer’s mentality and that left me room to graduate into songwriting on my second album.
    "I knew before my first album that I wanted to record as a singer/songwriter," she says, "but I accepted the fact that you can’t begin a career the way you think it should be. On the first album, I recorded as a vocalist; [after that] I was artistically involved all the way.
    "I was able to write with a writer/producer [Robert John "Mutt" Lange, her husband] who knows how to bring out the best in me. It’s easy to sit and create, but I need someone to direct. I got my songs together before I presented them to the label. I didn’t just tell them, ‘I want to be a singer/songwriter; I’ve been one all my life.’ Instead, I got songs together during the making of my first album. Mutt was directing me from that point on, saying, ‘You really have something—make sure it’s not overlooked.’ I wanted the label to be impressed. They’re not in a position to babysit; you have to deliver because there is so much talent going on that they can pick up things already developed." In addition to their partnership on her albums, Twain and Lange have written songs recorded by Michael Bolton and Britney Spears.
    Twain’s extended career has given her a first-hand perspective of women’s changing roles and opportunities within the music industry. "We’re being allowed to have more fun with songs," she states. "[Songs like] ‘Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under’ and "Any Man of Mine’ have pretty demanding attitudes, and I’m not so sure you would have heard that years ago. Dolly Parton was the most daring; she and Loretta Lynn are good examples who helped get that for women, and it has a lot to do with being songwriters. Many women are now all-around artists and we can sing about whatever we want to. That has to do with the women who create these songs. Years ago, if you were just a singer, you wouldn’t seek out material like that. If you write, it’s true to you. You’re creating those thoughts and now they’re accepted."