MUSIC: UP COUNTRY: COMPOSER MATRACA BERG SCORES AS A SAVVY SINGER

COMPOSER MATRACA BERG SCORES AS A SAVVY SINGER

At last month's Country Music Awards, Matraca Berg picked up a Song of the Year trophy for Strawberry Wine, co-written with Gary Harrison. That was a ho-hum: the Nashville scribe has penned prime bedroom and barroom laments for Reba McEntire (Last One to Know), Trisha Yearwood (XXX's and OOO's), Martina McBride (Wild Angels), Patty Loveless (You Can Feel Bad) and other country thrushes. But that same night, Berg sang Back When We Were Beautiful, about a widow recalling her one and only love, and put so much ache and age into it you could hear a collective heart breaking. Now, with...

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