People: Barbara Bailey Hutchison

BARBARA BAILEY HUTCHISON: SNUGGLE UP TO HER VOICE

She may have the best known voice in America. As singer and songwriter Barbara Bailey Hutchison, a Grammy award nominee, has reached a far wider audience than her six albums might suggest. Hutchison, you see, is also the voice behind countless jingles that seem ubiquitous on television. 'My greatest hits include 'When You Care Enough To Send the Very Best,' 'I Like it Smooth . . . I Like it Slow,' and (in a duet with Michael Bolton) 'Good Times Great Taste,'' she frequently jokes while on the college circuit. Indeed, national advertisers like Hallmark, Heinz, McDonalds, Stouffer's and United Airlines have all relied on Barbara's All-American voice.

Her current album on Dakota Records, Snuggle Up, a collection of lullabies for contemporary families, has been nominated for a Grammy award. And for four years in a row, Barbara, a regular performer at the Michigan Festival on the MSU campus, was named 'Campus Entertainer of the Year.'

Her tremendous success, she recounts, started in 1972 when she was a freshman at MSU. 'I was living in Phillips Hall and someone dragged me from my room downstairs to play at a coffeehouse party,' she recalls with laughter. 'That's how it started.'

Before long, she started performing at local bistros and bars. Then she opened for legendary performer Josh White, Jr. 'To sparkle on stage like Josh became my dream,' she recalls.

So she married her most loyal fan, Chris, and the two hit the road. A native of Grosse Pointe Park, Barbara and her husband now on their 60-acre estate in Nashville, TN, and spends most of her time writing, recording and jogging. Her music is a fusion of folk, light rock, country and jazz. 'You can't pigeon-hole it,' she explains. 'If I can cause my audience to think a little, laugh a little, feel good about themselves, and even sometimes cry a little, then I have accomplished what I set out to do.'