This summer's biggest country tour, pairing Alan Jackson with Martina McBride, should be called the Reluctant Superstars tour.

Both have reached the pinnacle of their profession - Jackson sooner than McBride - but they have retained a sense of humility and a guarded approach to stardom.

Getting the shy Jackson to even talk about his 14 years of million-selling success is a challenge for interviewers. And while McBride says she's thrilled to be raking in awards as Nashville's top female vocalist, she yearns to be viewed as an artist rather than a celebrity.

McBride doesn't write the songs she performs, but she brings down the house with interpretations of wide-ranging material, from her recent hit This One's for the Girls to the classic Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

She has become a beacon for feminism with such songs as Independence Day and A Broken Wing and tackled other social issues, including child abuse and poverty, with Concrete Angel and Love's the Only House.

And last November, when she won her third Female Vocalist of the Year honor from the Country Music Association - a feat shared only with Tammy Wynette and Reba McEntire (who has four) - McBride attained superstar status.

Throughout her 12-year rise, the Kansas-born singer - who performs with Jackson in Phoenix on Friday - has earned a reputation as a down-to-earth, family-centered woman with one of the most pristine voices in country music.

That grounded personality is evident in a recent phone call from the home outside Nashville that she shares with her husband and musical collaborator, John McBride, 38, and their two young daughters, Delaney and Emma.

As the dog barks and the girls interrupt Mom for towels after a swim, McBride is refreshingly direct in discussing the impact of her newfound superstar status on her musical life and family life.

"It can definitely have a fun side to it," she says, but quickly adds, "I'm really crossing my fingers that I don't get to a bigger level (of celebrity).

"We have a comfortable level of celebrity now - I can still go out and do stuff. Besides, do you really need to see yourself on the cover of every magazine?"

McBride and her husband occasionally are sighted around Nashville with another couple that knows all about paparazzi and publicity - Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

Although McBride is seen as a successor to Hill, whose profile has dropped as she's devoted more time to her family and acting, competition never has been part of the mix.

"We're two totally different artists," McBride says. "We talk about our kids and what we're going to cook for dinner."

Asked whether her ascent to the pedestal formerly held by Hill has brought even more demands on her time, McBride is matter-of-fact: "Not really. I don't see it that way. It's the same as always.

"I just try to choose wisely and do everything I can, but still recognize that I can't do everything."

That approach has served McBride well since she went from selling T-shirts for Garth Brooks in 1991 to being the opening act on the country-rocker's arena tour two years later.

It took her five years to score a Top 10 hit, My Baby Loves Me, but her soaring vocals and girl-next-door personality had steadily built her fan base. McBride also developed a sharper ear for material that reflected her values while connecting with radio programmers.

Robert Oermann of Nashville-based Music Row magazine says, "Song for song, she has got more great material than any of her peers."

He thinks McBride's latest album, the rootsy Martina, has been well-timed as Nashville moves back toward traditional sounds.

While Hill and Shania Twain continued to inject more pop into their music, Oermann says, "Martina was closer to country music's heart than they were."

McBride's family holds the strongest grip on her heart. With her daughters now in their elementary-school years, McBride limits her concerts to summers and some weekends during the school year. But she doesn't view that as a limitation.

By scheduling appearances on such popular TV shows as The View and Live! With Regis and Kelly, as well as teaming with Jackson on this 59-date tour, McBride is remaining plenty visible while reserving precious family time.

"I don't think you have to tour 250 dates a year," she says. "I did that (in the '90s), and the person that's sitting at home in Peoria, Illinois, doesn't know if you're sitting at home in Nashville or out there touring."

When McBride is at home, she can record in a studio she built with her husband, John, a respected concert sound man and studio engineer.

John McBride helps his wife with studio work, but she says that "when it comes to the actual music part of it, creating the album and obviously the singing and everything that's intimate, that's my area."

She also finds time to act as a spokeswoman for the National Network to End Domestic Violence, publicizing a victims' hotline at her concerts and participating in fund-raising.

"She's somebody who . . . wants to make a difference in people's lives," Oermann says.

"That's a different thing from just being an entertainer. That's being an artist."

Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8043.