Martina McBride said that when she signed her first record deal, she hoped to get 10 good years out of her entertainment career. Almost three decades after signing that first deal, McBride packed the Grandstand of the Freeborn County Fairgrounds on Saturday night.

“I promised some old stuff and I also promised some new stuff,” McBride said to the crowd.

The “new stuff” she was referring to was her newest album, “Reckless,” which has been out since April 2016.

McBride has earned more than 15 major music awards, including four wins for Female Vocalist of the Year from the Country Music Association and three Academy of Country Music Awards for Top Female Vocalist.

McBride seemed to cater her music and her stance to the women in the audience. She told the crowd that when she was recording “Reckless” in the studio, she was singing it for herself, her three daughters and “for every woman out there.” She played the song “Diamond,” which seemed to get a positive response from the women in the crowd.

“I feel like as women we wear a lot of hats. We are a lot of things to a lot of people, we take care of everybody around us, we try really hard to be perfect — which we are most of the time,” McBride said. “But this song is about the fact that it is OK not to be perfect all the time. You’ve got to let that go and just love yourself for who you are.”

She played the single “Reckless” from her newest album. McBride also played a few of her hits from the ’90s and early 2000s, including, “When God-Fearin’ Women Get the Blues,” “Concrete Angel,” “Wild Angels,” “This One’s For The Girls,” “Anyway” and “Blessed.”

The artist explained a little of her background growing up in Kansas. She said as a farm girl, she grew up listening to the country classics such as Merle Haggard, Hank Williams and especially Loretta Lynn. The crowd was enthused when she played her take on Loretta Lynn’s “You Ain’t Woman Enough.”

McBride, who works diligently with organizations fighting to end domestic abuse and cancer, introduced her song, “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” — a ballad about the relationship surrounding someone diagnosed with cancer. The song came about one week after the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, which was also held at the Freeborn County Fairgrounds.

Saturday was the first time McBride and her crew had ever performed in Albert Lea, and although in recent years she has vowed to slow down and focus on her family, she said, “I promise to come back if you promise to come back.”