You can blame Strawberry Wine for Deana Carter's dizzying rise to the top -- even by today's standards it was enough to make the head spin.

Over the past two years she's gone from from zero to hero at Billy Ray Cyrus breakneck speed.

After the buzz settled down over her single Strawberry Wine hitting No. 1, she turned around with major chart action on Did I Shave My Legs For This?, We Danced Anyway and Count Me In, proving she was no one-hit wonder woman.

The pace was frightening.

"It been a lot better lately, but we spent a fair bit of time just trying to escape the steam-roller effect of this success the whole time.

"We were out on the road playing live and just trying to stay in front of it all, trying to appreciate the significance of what was happening with all of it," says Carter, on the phone before she brings her barefoot brand of country/folk rock to the Corel Centre tonight as part of the Alan Jackson concert.

"It was an awesome way to start. We were beat by the end of it all but I wouldn't change a minute of it."

After scorching the continent with a continuous stream of live shows, Carter went back in the studio to create her stunning new collection Everything's Gonna Be Alright which will be released Oct. 20.

The disc is supremely eclectic with everything from ZZ Top-style guitar to the steamy sensuality of Absence of the Heart to a remake of the old Melanie hit Brand New Key.

"The reason that song ended up on the CD had a lot to do with the big powwow we had with all the record label and management people and 'they' felt like we needed something more to tie up the loose ends on the recording sessions.

"So I said I was just going to go and think about it and when I was driving home I remembered that a lot of the radio people I'd talked to said they thought my voice reminded them of Melanie and the light went on, let's try Brand New Key!

"It's a great song for the young people who weren't exposed to it and then for their parents who were. It's just a fun little thing

"The other cool thing about it was we got to get contemporary with it by adding the line about a brand new pair of rollerblades. Heck, I don't even know that you used to roller skate and use a key," she says with a breathy giggle.

The best aspect of Carter's new disc is just how personal it sounds. There's a sense the listener is in the studio with her all the way.

"We never want to record anything that we can't duplicate on stage. So we pretty much recorded all the songs 'live' with a simple band concept and no overdubs."

When Carter sings Absence of the Heart tonight, fans should realize the creation of this song was a special experience for her.

"Back when we were putting this together I felt like we were one song away from me shedding my skin. We had ballads that were beautiful songs that spoke about life experiences and the truth but I didn't feel like we had a Deana experience until this one happened.

"It's the kind of song that makes me cry on stage and the creation of it was a special moment in my life."