Kathy Mattea: Girl Scouts Changed My Life

Kathy Mattea said she discovered her love of singing while attending Girl Scouts camp as a kid in West Virginia.

"I loved the sheer joy of singing simple songs in harmony and in rounds," the 47-year-old country music star told The Charleston Gazette. "I also learned to live in harmony with the land and to have a reverence for nature."

Mattea, a native of Cross Lanes, will be the keynote speaker Tuesday for the Girl Scouts Black Diamond Council's annual fundraiser luncheon here. Mattea said she plans to sing and talk about how scouting and music helped her discover what she wanted to do with her life.

"I can say more in three minutes of singing than in 10 minutes of speaking," she said. "The songs facilitate my message."

Mattea has won two Grammy awards and has been named female vocalist of the year twice by the Country Music Association. She also won a CMA Single of the Year award for "Eighteen Wheels And A Dozen Roses."