In keeping with the title of one of the songs that made her a household name in the early '80s, singer-songwriter Juice Newton is an Angel of the Morning.
That means she likes to take care of business well before the crack of noon, when most other musicians and journalists are just shaking the cobwebs off and moving a little slow.
And, unfortunately, three minutes late for a phone interview means you're no longer a priority for Juice, especially not these days when family, tending to chores on her San Diego ranch, riding horses, snowboarding and polo playing take up a large chunk of her time.
"(Music's) a major part of my life, but I do have other things that I do," she says when we finally hook up two hours later.
"After you get established in your career or in your lifestyle, you can do more than one thing if you can stay organized."
Established, Newton certainly is.
The 49-year-old, who was born Judy Kay Newton, has had a lengthy and auspicious career filled with highlights such as: Chart-topping crossover country-pop singles such as Angel of the Morning, Queen of Hearts, The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known), and Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me; a Grammy Award and People's Choice Award; being named Billboard magazine's artist of the year and the CMA's new female vocalist of the year; not to mention 15 million albums sold worldwide.
In fact, one wonders why, with seemingly nothing more to prove and so many other pursuits to enjoy, Newton bothers to keep the 70- to 75-shows-a-year touring regime that will bring her to Cowboys this evening.
"I can't imagine not singing and playing and writing and sharing this cool thing that I have -- well, at least I consider it cool," she says. "I can't live off of yesterday -- that's in the past."
It's an admirable and healthy attitude for Newton to take, considering how low-key her career has been in the past decade.
Most of Newton's success came at the height of the Urban Cowboy craze and stemmed from her 1981 album Juice and its follow-up Quiet Lies. By the '90s, the country-pop audiences who had bought her albums had moved on to younger artists.
Though she still kept making music, with the exception of some time off to raise her son and daughter, most people still only know Juice from her heyday, and they won't let her move on.
"Sometimes I get weary of people thinking they only want to hear from the past ... because I don't live in the past," she reiterates. "I (still) do all of those songs and I enjoy them, but I've never stopped making new stuff."
In fact, Newton has released two albums in the past three years and is set to record another one, as well as a live DVD.
And though she may never achieve the success she once knew, she's willing to see her career through to its natural conclusion, taking it all in stride.
"When I started out, it never occurred to me that I wouldn't do this, that I wouldn't garner a level of recognition that I wanted to. But I never put a limit on it -- high or low."
