Lee Ann Womack Is Pure Country

Country music's finest will be honored Tuesday night as the Country Music Association awards are handed out for the very first time in New York City. This year's top female nominee is Lee Ann Womack. She's up for six awards including female vocalist, album and single of the year.

"Things change so much in this business from one year to the next, from one project to the next," Womack told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "I tell everybody I watched the show last year from my couch at home in my pajamas."

This year, she was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Video of the Year, and two Vocal Event of the Year nominations for duets recorded with George Strait and Willie Nelson, respectively. She is also performing.

"I'm going to be doing a song that I wrote from my new album. It's called, 'Twenty Years And Two Husbands Ago,' " Womack said, adding that it is 100 percent autobiographical. "Those are my favorite kind of songs. I think that's what sets country music apart from a lot of other genres. It's stuff about real life."

She said this single is about, "looking back on what you didn't know when you're young, thinking about the twists and turns of life, and realizing with all the wrong turns that I took, I'm right where I should be."

Her album is "There's More Where That Came From." It also features songs such as "Stubborn," which she performed for The Early Show, and "I May Hate Myself In The Morning (But I'm Gonna Love You Tonight)."

This last song is about calling up that person that you know you shouldn't, but can't help calling and is nominated for Single of the Year.

In essence, the album only includes pure country songs making it a favorite since its release.

"I think it's real important to make those records every once in a while and remind people of what country music is," Womack said. "The roots where it came from, where we got what we have. This is sort of a throwback to Dolly, George Jones, Merle Haggard. That's my favorite kind of music. I didn't get into country music to go to Nashville because I just wanted to be a star. I went there because I had such a passion for that kind of music."

Womack has sold over 4.5 million albums. She has two Grammy awards and five nominations. She has earned four Country Music Association Awards and countless Academy of Country Music Awards. Past CMA wins are: 2000 CMA Song and Single for "I Hope You Dance;" 2001 Female Vocalist of Year; 2002 CMA Vocal Event of the Year for "Mendocino County Line" with Willie Nelson. And she has charted seven Top Ten hits and enjoyed four No.1 hits.

The 39th annual CMA Awards airs at 8:00 p.m. ET, 7:00 p.m. Central on CBS.