By Ryan Gueningsman

Though she wasn’t sick of being on a tour bus, it was hard for Heidi Newfield to continue getting on the Trick Pony bus and hitting the road non-stop as she had for many years.

Newfield was ready to spread her wings and fly in a different direction – and she has soared to the top as a solo artist with the hit song “Johnny and June” and a successful debut album titled “What Am I Waiting For.”

“It was time to move on. It was time to evolve and take flight, and I kind of felt like we had kind of come to a personal and creative plateau,” Newfield explained about leaving Trick Pony. “I didn’t see us moving any further, musically. And, I knew there was so much more that I could do. It was a hard decision to come to because we had been together for a really long time. I shared a lot of great memories and we made some great music together, but it was time to move on.”

Trick Pony performed at Winstock 2003, featuring Newfield, Minnesota native Ira Dean, and Keith Burns. Dean left Trick Pony not long after Newfield, and Burns is now a part of a new duo called Burns and Poe.

“I finally did have enough things happen – I got hit over the head with the axe handle from God enough times that I finally started listening,” Newfield said. She broke the news to her bandmates, and began songwriting like she never had before.

“I’ve always been a writer, but this was the first time in my life I really just focused on that, and I had so much to say,” Newfield said.

In beginning to build a team of people around her, California native Newfield also found herself in the capable hands of Tony Brown as her producer

“He is pretty much a living legend, and he was extremely enthusiastic about this project from the very beginning,” Newfield said. “Everybody that was involved in this, from my management and certainly myself, the musicians, co-writers, you know everyone involved, the record label, everyone had sort of a different level of passion about this album.”

That level of passion shown for Newfield’s solo project also gave her the confidence she needed to keep moving forward.

“As we went on, I began to grow more and more confidence, and just really felt like we were making a piece of music that would stand alone and it didn’t sound like anything else out there,” Newfield said. “The transition at first was a little bit scary.”

Going from part of a group to a solo artist has been relatively unsuccessful in the country music industry.

“In country music, everybody knows going from a group to a solo act has not worked very well in the past for most country acts,” Newfield said. “I’ve tried to figure out why that is. In the rock, pop and any other genre . . . you can go on and do great things on your own, but in country, you haven’t seen it very much.”

Speculating on why that may be, Newfield said the reason may be that there is such a tight-knit relationship between country music artists and their fans.

“You become almost like extended family, and when that’s the case, the fans don’t often like change,” Newfield said. “I thought about that when making this transition, but I just knew in my heart instinctively that this was the right path, and I just felt like if I didn’t follow it, that years down the road I would regret it and I didn’t want to live like that.”

That thought process led to one of the songs on Newfield’s album, as well as the title of the album itself.

“That’s where the song ‘What Am I Waiting For’ came from, ‘cause that’s the question I was asking myself for the last couple of years of Trick Pony,” Newfield said.

“Am I just too scared? Do I not have the guts to do this? I think that’s why this album kind of speaks to everyone and everyone can relate to this – men, women, children – it’s about, this album, particularly the title track, it’s sort of an anthem for stepping out and making things happen for yourself. If you don’t do it, no one else is going to do it for you.”

Newfield said one of the main goals of her new music is to allow people to get to know her, and said, “a lot of my personality and where I’ve been and some of the things, some of the hurt, some of the pain, some of the hope and some of the faith, and the happiness, and the sense of humor, and all those things come through in this music. I think that’s the best starting place.”

On the heels of “Johnny and June,” which led Newfield to receive five Academy of Country Music Award nominations recently, she is enjoying some big-time exposure to the right people in the right places.

“Some of the national exposure has just been wonderful,” she said. “I’ve really been working and dedicated towards this for so long – since I was a child. This has been my path, and this has been what I’ve worked towards, always wanting to have the opportunity to sing on the awards and never had that opportunity – this is the first time.”

Newfield said she is enjoying building her own fan base, but is also thankful for the support Trick Pony fans have given her since she started her quest to be a solo artist.

“They’ve stayed on with me and they’ve really welcomed me back,” Newfield said. “But what was great was when ‘Johnny and June’ came out, is that it built a whole new fan base, as well. It’s certainly what we strive for as artists, and songwriters and musicians – to have as many people get to hear your music – that’s kind of your heart and soul.”

“Johnny and June” brought Newfield peace with where she was at in her life and career.

“I love that song with all my heart,” she said. “I remember when I co-wrote that song I brought in the demo to my producer and my management, and I said, ‘I think I just wrote my first single.’”

She knew that “Johnny and June” was the song she wanted to reintroduce herself with as a solo artist. Along with “Johnny and June,” Newfield said every song on her album “needed to be on there for one reason or another.”

Her most recent single “Cry Cry (‘Til The Sun Shines)” has been on the charts, but Newfield said things are tough right now to get songs to move up the charts.

“It’s really tough right now – especially it’s tough for women out there,” Newfield explained. “Actually, in 2008, I just found the chart the other day, there were only four solo female women who hit the top 10 – four of us – Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, myself, and Miranda Lambert – and that was it.”

Newfield said “Cry Cry (‘Til The Sun Shines)” is more of a “feel good” song and has sort of a Sheryl Crow sound to it.

“I loved the song from the first time it was pitched to me about four years ago when I was still with Trick Pony,” Newfield said. “I just thought it had a really cool message. We thought it was a cool follow up to ‘Johnny and June,’ just kind of a feel good thing to pick people up.”

Newfield has been on the road since the beginning of the year, and plans to stay out basically nonstop through December.

“It’s a pretty busy year – I’ll be everywhere,” she said. “I’ll be in Big Town, USA, you know, Big City USA and Small Town, USA. It’s great, ‘cause I’ll have the opportunity to hit a lot of huge state fairs and festivals and be part of large tours and then turn around and hit some big clubs.

Whether it’s a small venue or one with thousands of screaming fans, Newfield said she treats every show with respect.

“Of course, there’s a feeling that the more people you reach in your live show, the better,” she said. “When you can do that in front of 30,000 people, that’s a really wonderful feeling, especially when you’ve heard them all screaming the words to your song back to you. Personally, I like a little bit of a combination.”

Newfield is no stranger to Minnesota, having performed throughout the state with Trick Pony, and also spending time here with former bandmate Dean, who is a St. Paul native.

“I love Minnesota,” she said. “I think it’s a gorgeous state. I spent a lot of time up there with his (Dean’s) family and great people. You know – the Minnesota Vikings and cold beer and cold weather and a little ice fishing, I’m all about it.”

As for her appearance at Winstock, Newfield said she’s looking forward to the event and getting back to Minnesota.

“I’m looking forward to it and having a big crowd,” Newfield said. “We’re going to rock the show. I’ve got a killer band with great musicianship and a lot of chemistry and a lot of energy on stage, so the show is going to rock.”