- Hey, I'm Deana Carter, and you're watching NPT, Nashville's Public Television, your home for Nashville stories. My first gig in Nashville, I believe was I was a waitress at Zanies. So it was at Douglas Corner across the street from Zanies on 8th Avenue. Oh goodness, my favorite place to hear music in Nashville. The Bluebird is always fabulous. I was at 3rd and Lindsley recently, that's a great venue. The Ryman, of course, is probably my favorite place because the sound is amazing. Well country music icon for me, and I'm sure everybody has said this, but it would be Dolly. She's the icon because she came from very modest means and she's a family girl, she remained true to herself, she's a spiritual woman, she's kind, I've worked with her, her voice. You don't even get the full Dolly, like I've heard her rehearse and go through getting ready to record vocals and she's like the baddest, most amazing R&B singer on the planet. I mean Dolly knocks it out of the park on every level for me. I think Willie, again. I have done that before and that was just like too amazing to only do one time. I wanna write a song with Willie. I haven't done that yet. So, I would say Willie because he's been in my life as friends of my parents and just growing up I feel like he's family in a way. And it just makes me feel close to him and my roots. It wasn't just country music, I had like Barbra Streisand and Nanci Griffith and, you know, Willie & Waylon. I loved pop and rock music too, of course. But Olivia Newton-John, I think she was probably a big influence for me 'cause she did a country approach to things and I connected with her. And the movie Grease was out at the same time so I would say Olivia Newton-John actually had a really large impact on my wanting to sing and be in front. I always wanted to be a background singer. Hank Jr. was so smart to nail it in the song 'Family Tradition' because it's just a message that is okay from generation to generation to generation. It's the truth. And parents wanna instill the truth in their children. So, I feel that country music represents the truth. And sometimes there's gritty truth and sometimes there's sweet, simple truth and heart-wrenching truth. Like truth has a lot of faces but it has to be authentic. That's the like common denominator. And that's why I think it's a family tradition because kids can appreciate the truth in things that their parents appreciate truth in. It's like this unspoken truth that everybody can participate in.