Country star LeAnn Rimes returns to Golden State with her most soulful material.

After her 20-year record deal with Capitol ended a couple years back, LeAnn Rimes made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t self-censor her new material.

“I decided that whatever comes out, comes out,” Rimes says from her Los Angeles home, a few days before her 35th birthday.

Over the last two decades, Rimes has scored a plethora of accolades since making it big as a teen, including Grammys and Country Music Association and Academy of Country Music awards. She’s also sold nearly 40 million records, written two novels, appeared in films and raised millions for charities like the Human Rights Campaign and Salvation Army.

Even with all her success, Rimes felt a bit apprehensive about her first post-Capitol Records release, Remnants. “It was a little scary not having any parameters, but it was also liberating and exciting to create from a such soulful place,” she says.

Remnants, released in February 2017, is a Mississippi-kissed cornucopia of the regional R&B, blues and soul that are ingrained in the singer-songwriter. Tunes like the weepy-eyed piano blues of “Do It Wrong With Me” recall the heart-drenched vibrato of Sam Cooke backed by a gospel choir; on the stripped-down “Humbled,” Rimes channels fellow Mississippian Son House, crooning with rhythmic conviction reminiscent of the Delta bluesman’s “John the Revelator.”

“I’m known for my ballads, but I knew I wanted to work with specific grooves,” Rimes says. “I wanted it to have a pulse and a heartbeat, so a lot of the album is based around drums.”

The months following Remnants’ release – Rimes’ 16th full-length studio LP – she’d ask herself, “Wait, did I do that?” when she listened to the album.

“[Soul] comes out on stage, but I’ve never been able to capture it on a record [like this],” she says.

Rimes admits that she was initially self-conscious about using the word “love” in four song titles. “I thought it was cliché,” she says. “But I felt these songs are what we need right now.”

Rimes’ aptly titled “Love is Love” tour (based on the song “Love is Love is Love,” inspired by the LGBTQ community), stops in Monterey Friday, Sept. 15, and features only acoustic guitar.

“It’s like you’re sitting in my living room,” she says. “People can really get to know me. The singing part is something I never worry about, but engaging the crowd and telling stories is the hardest part for me. When I have an audience that gets into it, there’s a great flow of conversation and music.”

LEANN RIMES Love is Love Acoustic Tour 8pm Friday, Sept. 15. Golden State Theatre,
417 Alvarado St., Monterey. $42-$75.
649-1070, goldenstatetheatre.com