| 'Carlene Carter Gets On Track' (Conclusion) by Jim Jerome |
| Son Jackson, 14, lives with his father in Los Angeles. Mom sees the kids often and talks to them almost daily, but she won't discuss their fathers except to say that "lot's of girls marry at 16 in Tennessee" and "everyone makes mistakes." Unfortunately, Carter's weren't just marital. She was also coping with problems familiar to many performers. "We were running pretty fast," she recalls of her earlier days on the road. "We'd celebrate doing the gigs and in the dressing rooms before the gigs." Then about three years ago she cleaned up her act. "My excess now is feeling good and being chemically free," she says. "Playin' totally straight is a million times more fun than getting smashed on champagne. I wasn't real gone. I just got bored and burnt out on it. I asked God for help and got it." These days Carter's tour-bus stateroom has a library ranging from Twain and Tolstoy to self-help classics like A Course In Miracles and You Can Heal Your Life. Her daily 90-minute workouts keep her lean and toned, and there are no more numbing all-nighters, she says. She no longer gets her kick from champagne but does knock back double espressos. One remedy for life's ills that Carlene hasn't yet found, despite her new LP's title, is lasting domestic tranquility. She says it's too soon to name or discuss her new flame, and , she adds, "we don't live together; we're dating. I'm open to all romantic possibilities." If they're as promising as her musical future seems, now that she has finally gound her way into the family business, she has little to worry about. "There was a period where I was a little scared that I'd blown my chance. But I think everything that I did, every step I took, every wrong turn led to this," says Carter. "I've matured as a writer and human being. I've got some wisdom under my belt." |
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