Her debut album 'Big Town' on Atlantic Records has already won ASHLEY CLEVELAND a great deal of critical acclaim. America's ACM Journal spoke to the talented 'new' singer/ songwriter.

"Well... the songs span 10 years. The oldest song on the record is 'Willie', and the second oldest, which is certainly very dear to me is 'Rebecca'-because I wrote that for my daughter shortly after she was born. She's eight-and-a-half now. The most recent, 'Up From The Ether', I wrote during the recording process. They all come from a very specific chapter and they're all important to me. A comment on where I was in my life and what I was experiencing and, hopefully, that I was growing from."

So, they're snapshots of your life...

"Very much so. I'm a newlywed, so 'I Could Learn to Love You' is foremost in my mind. I've been in the music business for seventeen-and-a-half years working professionally. Some years busier than others, I might add, I had an opportunity over the years to accumulate quite a catalogue of material, so I had a lot of songs to choose from. I chose what I did, because I felt they were a well-rounded view of where I was coming from - both positive and negative. I've had a lot of press that the record is about my bad relationships with men. Well, there are eight other songs on the record that aren't about that. I'm hoping that people will not pull things out of context and will look at it as a whole."

Unfortunately, there's a tendency to group things into women's music when it comes out with that slant.

"Yeah. And it's not. Certainly that's an element. I have definitely made some poor choices in my life and I'm an experiential writer. I write about what I know."

But you must have found someone great if you've just married.

"I am married and I did find someone in the end. We were friends for many years and we work together. The romance was a result of the growth of our friendship and a mutual appreciation for each other. But we also have a lot of passion. In the end, it's finding someone you can be content to struggle with. I really admire him. I want to be with him in the thick of it. He's a rare and wonderful man and I'm really fortunate."

Having your daughter the age she is... does that influence the direction you take with your music, where you take your music, or influence the music itself?

"I am very much devoted to my family and that is the priority for me. In the end, I think that God will have very little to say about how I ran my career, but I would assume that he's going to have a few questions about the way I raised the child He gave me. I take that really seriously. The important thing for me is to write music that is provocative - in the sense that it would provoke thought or would challenge people to consider my perspective - whether they agree, disagree or aren't interested. I would like to see a little depth in the industry. It feels like for the men it's just a lot of hair bands and very frivolous, whereas for females it's something short of a burlesque show. Neither one means a whole lot to me. I would just like to see something a little more intelligent going on. I'm being very general and certainly there are artists out there that have tremendous substance, but it seems that they tend to be few and far between these days.

"Certainly not on the forefront of MTV. "You're right about that. My husband is a guitar player, and practises while watching MTV. About 15 minutes of that is more than enough for me!"

What sort of venues are you playing currently? Primarily bars and clubs in town?

"That's what I've always played. The way I got involved in gospel music was that I attended a church in Nashville and the pastor asked me to lead music at one point. Now I just play periodically. A lot of Christian artists also attend my church and ask for songs or ask me to sing background on their records. I never consciously thought to pursue the Christian music industry. Frankly, it was too narrow for me... content-wise. I felt like the restrictions were too limiting."

And Atlantic is really giving you a chance to be up front about where you're coming from and things that are important to you then?

"Yeah! I was concerned the other extreme would be true in a secular environment. I'm sure much record labels would be gun-shy about any attachment to the Christian philosophy. Lately they're a little more skittish because one of their bands, King's X, did an extensive article in Rolling Stone magazine and talked extensively about their faith and apparently sales dropped. But our appeal is different. Their audience and my audience are, for the most part, probably different, Not only has Atlantic not limited me in any way, they chose 'Walk To The Well' and 'Big Town' for the record. They loved those songs."

The important thing is just being honest about your faith. To earn respect based on your ability and the honesty and applicability of what you have to say. "I've never pursued anything else. The things that I've been through in my life have equipped me to really understand other people's struggles. I hear from a lot of people who are not believers, but are really touched by the spiritual material. I feel this is where I've been placed... this is where I belong. I'm a professional musician and I'm not entirely comfortable with using the stage as a podium for evangelism. But at the same time, I'm going to sing my material. Hopefully that will speak for itself. What I'm saying is... I think I'm where I'm supposed to be, and I think I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I really hope my life reflects it."

Even though you're a Christian and you live a life consistent with that, life is still a roller coaster.

"Things are working out. I think life is very difficult and the biggest struggle I have is that I was raised to believe that life was going to be fair. It was a big stumbling block to discover that wasn't true. That whole myth of trust Jesus and everything will be fine. That's not entirely true. Or, trust Jesus and everything will work out the way you want it to, which is usually how people interpret it. People get the notion that it's their ticket away from pain. If I have anything good to bring to the table... to really offer people in my life... it is directly born of the most painful times of my life. The stuff that came easy amounts to very little over time. If I have any substance, or any depth, that is what that's made of."