She is the new country. Young. Beautiful. Her voice captures the emotions of her songs, and her songs capture the essence of today's country female artist.
    For Faith Hill, the road from her hometown of Star, Mississippi to the Hampton Coliseum (where she'll open for Tim McGraw on March 25) has been paved with gold - make that platinum. Her debut album Take Me As I Am scored three number-one singles, elevating her album sales to one million units.
    Except for her much-publicized surgery for vocal chord injury last year, Hill's career has enjoyed bounding success. "When I arrived in Nashville (at 19), I was very naive. All I cared about was getting a bus and singing every night in a different city," says Hill.
    While pursuing her dream bus, she set out to find work during the day as a secretary and made no secret of her desire to follow in her idol Reba McEntire's footsteps "I'd go to apply for a job, and they'd ask, 'Are you a singer?' After a while, I got wise," she says. When Hill applied to be a receptionist for a music publisher, she kept her ambitions quiet and got the job.
    From there, Hill's story takes on a Cinderella-like air. A friend overheard her singing at work. The resulting chain of events landed Hill a record deal.
    Besides being named one of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People of 1995, Hill accomplished a musical feat that garnered her critical acclaim: She recorded the classic Janis Joplin hit "Piece of My Heart."
    "I was crucified - critics, Woodstock-era fans, they didn't like the idea of a country singer trying to do this legendary song."
    Amazingly, Hill had never even heard the Joplin tune until she recorded her own version. Instead, she trusted the instincts of producer Sott Hendricks (who is now her fiancee), and the song hit number one in April 1994.
    Now, three years after Take Me As I Am hit the streets, Hill is once again riding high on the charts, thanks to her sophomore effort for Warner Bros. Records, It Matters to Me (See Jan. '96 Country Star). A glance at a recent listing of the country top-40 chart finds the title cut at number one, with the accompanying video at number one and the album itself at number five.
    Hill continues to gain definition and power as a serious performer. On stage she is jubilant and bright, almost ethereal; yet her songs often deal with serious themes. "A Man's Home Is His Castle" takes on the plight of domestic violence. The Alan Jackson-penned "I Can't Do That Anymore" is about a woman entrapped in a marriage with a sexist husband and her plans to put the marriage behind her.
    Hill's serious side shares her show with her upbeat lively numbers, like the recent hit "Let's Go to Vegas," or the robust "Wild One."
    With the continued success of It Matters To Me, this probably will be one of the last times you'll see Faith Hill as the opening act.