How did a girl from Framingham, Mass., become a country music star?

“That's always the first question everyone asks,” Jo Dee Messina says. She's calling from a tour stop in Kansas City, Kan., before a gig Wednesday night at the McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert.

From the age of about 8, Messina says, she decided that she wanted to be a country singer.

“Alabama was hot at the time, so was Hank (Williams) Jr.,” she said of the music that captured her heart as a youngster. “I've always thought that the music was so real and relatable.”

The singer, who hasn't had an album out in nearly five years, says she is looking forward to the release of “That's God” in January as the first single from her upcoming disc, “Unmistakable.” The full album is due in stores shortly thereafter.

“We've been in negotiations with the label on getting (this album) released,” she said of the time between releases. “I guess we're finally ready.”

“Ready” seems to be Messina's way of life. At 19, “my friend's and I had all just graduated from high school,” she recalled. “They were all getting ready to go to college and there was nothing left (in Framingham) for me to do.”

College wasn't in Messina's future, so she set off for Nashville. Messina worked at whatever jobs she could find to support herself, including singing at open-mic nights.

That eventually led to a gig on the syndicated “Live at Libby's” radio show. That's how she was discovered by Byron Gallimore, who became her first producer.

Gallimore, who was working with Tim McGraw, liked what he saw in Messina. He sent her his card and a note asking her to call, “but I threw it away,” she said.

Ignoring the card nagged at Messina, “and I finally gave in and called him.”

Over the next couple of years, with Gallimore's guidance, Messina scored nine top 10 hits.

She also found herself in rehab for her alcohol use.

“I needed to take a break and look at my life,” she said of the self-imposed timeout. “I was real young and had tons of employees,” Messina said. “I mean, it wasn't all on my shoulder, but it felt that way. I needed to take a step back.”