She was, indeed, born to fly, and this is the year she spreads her wings.

When RCA recording artist Sara Evans released Three Chords and the Truth as her debut album in 1997, it wound up on music critics’ "best of" lists for the year. When she issued No Place That Far as her second collection in 1998, she scored her first No. 1 hit and earned a Gold Record. Now comes Born to Fly, an album that takes her into a whole new realm as an artist, a songwriter, a producer, a performer . . . and star in the making.

"Things are different," says the widely admired vocalist. "You can just feel it. There’s something here that just hasn’t been here in the past. A lot of it has to do with this new music. And a whole lot of it has to do with my confidence level. I am really pumped. I feel like this is the one that is really going to take my career to where it needs to go."

Her faith in the project is well placed. Born to Fly is one of the freshest sounding records to emerge from Music Row in years. A dazzling blend of acoustic instruments, rootsy rhythms and production polish, it places her heart-in-throat vocals and vivid lyrics in audio settings that are a joy to the ear.

Beneath Sara Evans’ soaring vocal, the title tune scampers with fiddle lines. Jerry Douglas tosses in a dobro solo. Ricky Skaggs contributes harmony. The band eases into a song-ending jam session. And that sets the stage for a program full of mind-tickling musical textures. The layered artistry of "Saints and Angels," the achingly sad waltz "I Learned That From You" and the rolling highway groove of "Four Thirty" are equally enthralling. Whether bouncy and tongue-in-cheek on "I Keep Lookin’" or atmospheric and contemplative on "Show Me the Way to Your Heart" and "Why Should I Care," Evans is consistently compelling.

At times there is punchy drumming, as in "Let’s Dance." At other times sighing string sections underscore ballads, as in her version of Edwin McCain’s pop hit, "I Could Not Ask for More." Evans is in command on both powerfully emotive material like "You Don’t" and uptempo kickers like her cover of Bruce Hornsby’s "Every Little Kiss."

"This is the most important record I’ll ever make," she says. "This wasn’t some two-day album. We worked on it for more than six months. I felt that it was important to take as long as it needed to for it to be a creative statement."

Evans co-wrote half of the album’s songs. She co-produced it with Paul Worley. A self-described "control freak," she remained at the studio for every moment of her album’s creation, even when her voice wasn’t required. Since she is a new mother, baby son Avery accompanied her to the sessions. In fact, you can hear him gurgling on "I Keep Lookin.’"

He’s not the only family member involved. Many of the harmonies were sung by her sisters Ashley Evans Simpson and Lesley Evans Lyons. Sister-in-law Melody Ann Schelske also sings on the project. Evans drew from throughout the music community for her album’s cast - in addition to Skaggs and Douglas, such respected figures as Kim Richey, Randy Scruggs, Aubrey Haynie, Conni Ellisor, Kris Wilkinson, Bruce Hornsby and Jerry McPherson are on board. Underscoring all the tracks is the brilliant percussion work of Matt Chamberlain, a veteran of sessions for artists as diverse as The Wallflowers, Macy Gray, Fiona Apple, Pearl Jam and Tori Amos.

"Almost every musician told me that this was one of their favorite albums they’d played on in the last 10 years," Evans says proudly. "I was kind of worried -- because of the baby, I’ve been away for awhile. It’s been more than a year since ‘No Place That Far’ and ‘Fool I’m a Woman.’ But when I went out on the promotional tour and people heard it, their response to the music blew me away."

Although this is only her third RCA project, Sara Evans has been preparing for this disc literally all her life. Born to a rural Missouri family of seven children, she was performing in the family’s bluegrass band by age 4. Evans was earning $50 a night before she reached her teens. She even sang from a wheelchair at age 8 while recuperating from an accident in which she was struck by a car. She plugged a Foxfire Records single while attending Fan Fair at age 11. After a series of junior-high bands, the 16-year-old began singing at The Country Stampede, a big dancehall near Columbia, MO.

She was 20 when she moved to Nashville in 1991. While honing her skills as a songwriter in her free time, Evans was employed as a waitress at the Briley Parkway Holiday Inn. There she met fellow Holiday Inn employee Craig Schelske, and later joined his family band, which enjoyed regional stardom in Oregon. In the Pacific Northwest, she spent 1992-95 opening for such country artists as Willie Nelson, Clay Walker and Tim McGraw. She married Schelske in 1993; and the couple moved back to Music City for another try in the fall of 1995.

Songwriting legend Harlan Howard heard her recording his classic "Tiger By the Tail" late that year and began urging others to listen to her big country voice. His persistence paid off with an RCA contract for her in 1996.

Evans made headlines immediately by enlisting Dwight Yoakam’s producer Pete Anderson for her 1997 label debut. It earned her a "Top New Female Vocalist" nomination from the Academy of Country Music. Norro Wilson and Buddy Cannon took the reigns for No Place That Far, which featured a stellar cast including Martina McBride, Alison Krauss, George Jones and Vince Gill.

In addition to scoring a No. 1 single and video hit in 1999, Evans contributed "I Don’t Wanna Play House" to the Tammy Wynette Remembered album and costarred with McBride, Mindy McCready and Lorrie Morgan in the Girls Night Out album and CMT: Country Music Television national television special. The hit "No Place That Far" earned her several industry nods. Then on August 21st she capped an extraordinary year by giving birth to her first child, Avery.

Evan’s nominations to date include the Country Music Association’s "Horizon Award" and "Vocal Event of the Year" ("No Place That Far" with Vince Gill), Academy of Country Music’s "Top New Female," American Music Awards’ "Best New Country Artist" and the Country Weekly Presents: The TNN Music Awards’ "Collaborative Event of the Year" ("No Place That Far" with Vince Gill).

"Everything has changed," says the Gold-selling artist. "I’ve changed, the music’s changed; I’ve grown up a lot.

"I had not thought of co-producing at all. I never even mentioned it to Paul, because I have so much respect for him. But he called my manager and asked to have that credit put on there because of all the work I put in on this. That was a big surprise.

"I feel that I’m growing as an artist," continues Evans. "I really care about this album - and feel my signature is written all over it."

"It’s not necessarily a traditional country album, but it’s not pop either. It’s just me."