By Kellie B. Gormly,- PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

A woman once told country star Jo Dee Messina about a hurtful act someone had done, and Messina replied: "That would have hurt my feelings."

"Really?" the woman replied, going by Messina's trademark sassiness. "You get your feelings hurt?"

That anecdote, Messina says, illustrates the reason for her intimate Music Room Series Tour, which she is bringing to Munhall on Saturday. With a smaller audience, Messina will sing on a simple stage with just a piano and a few backing musicians. She will talk to the audience in between songs, take requests, answer questions and share stories about her life and music.

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"People know the music, but they don't know me," she says. "I wanted to go with this cut-down version. The stage was like the music room with my house. When the audience comes out, it's pretty much like they're coming to my house to hang out for the night.

"It allows intimacy. It allows me to give the stage to them ... and open it up to the audience," Messina says. "Every night, it becomes about the fans, not me. The audience dictates wherever the show goes."

Messina's biggest hits in the past -- including "Bye Bye," "My Give a Damn's Busted" and "Lesson in Leavin' " -- have shown the fiery, outspoken side of Messina's personality. Rather than sappy love songs, the Boston native is known for "you go, girl" songs about standing up for oneself, not tolerating disrespect, and ending bad relationships. Yet Messina has been through many life changes since her last album, "Delicious Surprise," five years ago. She got married to Chris Deffenbaugh, and had their son, Noah Roger.

Her new and unexpected path in life has taken her by surprise, Messina says.

"When I met my husband, I wasn't looking," she says. "I sat there and had a conversation with him and barely saw his face. Then I saw his eyes and I'm like, 'Dude, you have great eyes. Icy-blue eyes.'

"They are always the biggest blessings: the ones that just pop out of nowhere," she says.

Motherhood has been a thrill, but a learning experience in progress, Messina says.

"To say that I'm a mom, that usually applies to my mother; that applies to the people who took care of me," she says. "Mothers have to be perfect, and I'm far from that."

In Messina's upcoming album -- "Unmistakable," which is set for release on April 13 -- fans will hear her usual style, but Messina also has added a softer side with some of the song topics, as a reflection of the changes in her life. The title track, a sensual waltz, is about the joys of being certain about love, for instance.

But Messina fans needn't worry, she's still her usual bold self.

"I've still got the sass in there, sister," she says, laughing. Messina's music is "still pretty rocking."

"The first three songs, they rock pretty hard. Then we sauce it up with a couple slower songs," Messina says, describing "Unmistakable." "It's full of energy. It's just really neat to see all these songs, and how they fit together."