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With any luck, by the time country singer Ashton Shepherd gets off the road in December, there will still be a few deer roaming the woods around Leroy, Ala., for her to shoot.

At 22, the rising star has a lot to keep her occupied -- a new album released in the spring that peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard country albums chart; tours with big names like Kellie Pickler and Sugarland; a performing schedule through autumn that leaves little time for her to go back home to Leroy.

While she's grateful for and humbled by that success, home is where her heart is. And despite the accolades and wonders that such success has brought, she yearns for nothing more than returning to South Alabama before hunting season ends.

"Probably more so than other artists, I do go back to such a normal life," Shepherd told The Daily Times this week. "We live in a secluded area with our kinfolk right by us; we've got croplands and fields; and we like to go fishing and hunting. I'm just a normal person, and I always feel like such a normal person. I don't really feel like a star.

"It's all very surreal. When I'm on the road, I get homesick. I'm a very big homebody. I enjoy touring, and I love my fans and love being out here, but I really love being home. I've got about a month off around December, and I can't wait for that time -- to be home for that length of time, to go hunting, to be with my family."

Such sentiment is one of the reasons she connects so easily with fans. Born in the small town of Coffeeville, Ala. (population 360), she never strayed far from her birthplace; Leroy, an even smaller community, sits about 40 miles to the south and about 60 miles north of Mobile.

Her parents were musically inclined, and young Ashton was singing not long after she could talk. When she as 8, she entered a country talent competition, singing songs by Patsy Cline. It was the first of many -- she continued singing at country fairs, benefit shows and community events, and by the time she was 14, her brothers convinced her to learn to play the guitar. Not long after she started, the songs started to come.

God-given talent

"I just turned 22 years old, so I'm very young, but I feel like I've always had a little bit of an older soul about myself," she said. "I've always been able to make up songs about stuff I shouldn't know about, and it's always struck a chord with people. I think it's a true God-given talent.

"I can't truly give myself as a human being credit for it. I do kind of feel like an old soul. I like to be silly and have fun, and I'm happy-go-lucky, but in my mind, I feel like I'm 40 years old for some reason. I don't know why; I always have."

At 15, she recorded her first record -- an independent album that she sold on the side at her performances. The next few years were a whirlwind of personal milestones -- marriage, a child and continued performances around South Alabama. She listened to the sounds coming out of Nashville, drifting through tinny speakers and truck stereos across the fields of peanuts, peas and cotton that she helped pick on the family's farm, and thought about what it would be like to hear her own voice on those radio stations.

And then she found out. It was two years ago, and she won a talent contest in Gilbertown, Ala., that offered, as first prize, an opportunity to open for country star Lorrie Morgan at a local concert. She performed, was noticed by a country music executive who happened to be in the audience and got invited to Nashville to record. She got there, had the sense to seek legal representation to protect her interests, found an office online and made a phone call.

Not only was the woman who answered helpful, she put Shepherd in touch with Shelby Kennedy, son of legendary producer Jerry. Shelby brought Shepherd to MCA Nashville, which offered her a recording contract, and less than a year after arriving in Music City, she completed her major-label debut, "Sounds So Good."

Family supportive

"Before that, I was a stay-at-home mom with a little boy and a husband who worked construction," she said. "I stayed at home and took care of my son and cooked supper. I wanted a career, but more than that, I wanted to be married and have children, and I wanted to be home with them. Internally, I was always a little mixed up about that, and I didn't know how I was going to handle it.

"My husband, though, has been incredibly supportive. Some people are sarcastic and say, 'I bet he is real sweet; he's got a great thing going with his wife being a star.' But nobody knew who he was or who I was before this happened -- he was the one bringing home the paycheck, and I was cleaning house and cooking him supper. We shared everything together.

"Over the last two years, it's been a total role-reversal, and he does wonderful with it," she added. "He's never jealous; he never pokes or pries or asks a million questions. I just couldn't ask for a better person."

To her husband, Roland, she's still Ashton Shepherd -- small-town girl with a gorgeous voice and a star on the rise. It may shine brighter in Nashville, where corporate bean-counters and number-crunchers pay far closer attention to charts and sales numbers, but it's still a shining little beacon of wonder over tiny little Leroy.

"Hometown girl does good" -- Shepherd sees it and feels it every time she goes home, and at this point in her career, it never gets any less surreal.

"I get asked for autographs -- friends of the family, wanting their pictures made with me, wanting me to sign things for them," she said. "That's the odd part about it -- I'm like, 'Holy crap! We've known each other for two or three years!' Even in my hometown, when I go to Wal-Mart, people will come up to me asking for an autograph.

"That's the odd part about it -- it doesn't feel like anything has changed, but I guess it has. I still feel like I'm just Ashton, just a normal person, and whenever that happens, I still feel honored. And I hope that never changes."