By Christopher Smith

Her writing is anything but cliché. In fact, her lyrics are so bold and stark that major artist often back off of songs they'd select because they are just too potent. After years of seeing this cycle repeat itself, Sandy finally took the matter into her own hands with her debut C D Pushin' 40, Never Married, No Kids. The title says it all, an album of stories that can only be told by someone who chose the career path instead of the home life.

This may sound like a recipe for regret, but Sandy is not the wallow-in-self-pity type. After relocating to Austin last fall, she is already in the thick of a new chapter, playing local clubs, writing new material, and teaching a songwriting course at the University of Texas. Life does not end at forty, especially for someone who releases a debut at thirty-nine.

Why did you leave Texas?

I couldn't stay in Houston and be a singer-songwriter. You can live anywhere you want once you're successful, but when you're starting out, you need the big music town. I was in Nashville for six months when I got my first job in the business, as a receptionist at MCA records, and probably within about four or five months I had my first small staff deal. But my first major cut happened in 1993, so it took ten years. In that time period I had two staff deals and some album cuts, so I had been getting positive affirmations as time went on that I was on the right track. But along the way I just kept taking these baby steps toward the goal, and then one day I get a call and find out I had a single with Dionne Warwick and a cut with Reba released in the same month. So it took ten years to get the big guns going.

So what did it feel like to hear someone like Reba or Dionne singing your song?

Well, I'll tell you something, I got the promo copy of the Dionne Warwick single and the promo copy of Reba's album the same day. One arrived in the mail and the other one was dropped off to my publisher. And I went home and just sat here and played them back to back all night long. I went back and forth playing Reba, then Dionne, then Reba...and it was the greatest feeling in the world to finally hear these mega-artists on one of your songs.

Did you write either song with the artist in mind?

No, I've never written for an artist. I write the songs I want to write, and hopefully they find a home.

What about your listeners? Your debut album seems geared towards a specific audience.

I was in musical theater all my life and I was a drama major in college, so I do always think or performance possibilities for a song. And videos - I think how it would come across in video. When I'm writing it's like I've got a little camera going in my head because I'm seeing all the visual aspects, too. I'm pretty big on visual imagery in songs. But I don't customize a song or do songcrafting. When I perform I have a lot of women in the audience. But I've never tried to write thinking "Oh, women will really like this" or "This will stir up some juices." I just write what I feel. And it's found a home.

I also don't write thinking "This is going to be a hit and go to number one and make tons of money." If I did that, "She Thinks His Name Was John" would have never been written. Because, believe me, I didn't think anybody was going to cut that song. I wrote that song for me. My brother died of AIDS and he was the inspiration behind that. But the song has a sad ending, it's got no chorus, and three verses, and it's a big downer, and I really thought no one would cut it.

How do you think your songs affect a male audience? Have you gotten any feedback on that from your album?

Yeah, actually I have, and it surprised me a lot. I had one gentleman say to me that men should listen to it because it would give them more understanding into how women think. And the song on the album that has really affected men is "Childless." I've had so many of my guy friends - married and unmarried, with and without kids -tell me that that song made them cry.

I noticed that more than half of the songs on your album are co-written by men, but it really seems geared towards a female audience.

This is going to sound funny, but I've always leaned towards writing with male keyboard players. I've never written that much with women.

Your songs are so autobiographical - is it tough to have your life laid so bare to your audience?

Boy isn't that funny that you think it's laid so bare and I think it's still got so many secrets (laughs)? I have never even thought about it. That's one of the things when I teach workshops, I tell writers it's really important to write from your hear. Write what you know. If I was sitting down writing a song about being married and having three kids it would be so fraudulent. And it would show, I had never thought of it as laying myself bare, I just feel that I write honestly.