Radiating softness and warmth, Deana Carter clutches a small tumbler filled with what appears to be a sweet white wine. She sits nonchalantly on the leather ASCAP couch overlooking Music City with ease, a confidently content smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Her blonde clocks square her face with tenderness, highlighting her remarkable features in the cool sunset glow permeaating the room. With the physical release of her latest record, Southern Way Of Life, she basks in her long career, unabashedly humble for the woman who's iconic song "Strawberry Wine" lives in the hearts and minds of a digital music landscape.

It's been a long day for the songbird, who co-hosted Sirius' early morning show "The Highway" on this Thursday (Feb. 27). She never gets used to the time change, as she know resides in Los Angeles. "I don’t manage [early mornings] well," she chuckles to NashvilleGab, taking another sip of wine. "The thing is when you get up like that, I can’t go to bed. I’m on LA time. I lay in bed, and it’s midnight because it’s only really 10 o’clock in my body. Then, I ended up doing one eye the whole night going, ‘Is it two yet? Is it three yet?’ I just end up getting up and doing my devotions."

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