It was nearly a year ago that Patty Loveless dropped a bombshell on country music fans. She finally admitted that she had been married for the past year-and-a-half to Emory Gordy Jr., the man who helped produce her first two albums.

The couple had married in February, 1989, yet, Loveless kept the event secret as she felt their earlier artist/producer association ould have looked as if she was leaning on him.

"We kept it secret mainly because I wanted to come across as a strong herson, a strong artist, and get established on my own," she said at the time.

Now that the news is out, Loveless is reveling in her marriage to Gordy. Once again, he is acting as co-producer with Tony Brown on her newest MCA album, "Up Against My Heart." He had not worked on her last two album and the reason why was not a lover's tiff.

"Three or four years ago, his contract came up with MCA and he decided not to re-sign," she says. "He wanted to be a freelance producer and start producing other acts. As a result, he lost those artists he was working with at the time. That right there kinda of scratched that whole idea of us being able to work together again."

Their musical reunion came at the hands of Brown, who suggested Gordy with with them on the progect. "I said, 'You've got my vote.' Emory and I did pre-production to get the songs more prepared before we went in and started cutting tracks." she says.

The question many will ask is how the couple keeps their personal and professional roles in check. The conflict never entered Loveless' mind.

"I tend to be able to separate it in the studio," she states. "I don't look at him as my husband in the studio; I look at him as my friend, my producer, someone who I admire and respect as far as his work and the way he puts songs together. I trust him totally and it feels good to be working with him again."

While Gordy,45, added his bass licks to her album,don't look for him to be added to her road band. "He wont work for me. He says I would be too hard to work for," Loveless teases.

"I'm not going to expect him to come out and play bass for me just because he is my husband," she says. "He's had his share of the road. If he chooses to be home more often, if he chooses to want to be more in the producer's seat, or if he wants to be playing bass on sessions or writing, I feel that's what he needs. I would love to have him, but I would never force something like that on him or make him feel guilty because, hey, he doesn't make me feel guilty about being a wife."

With their dual careers and Loveless being on the road, seeing eachother is difficult. Also consider the fact that Loveless' residence is in Nashville, while Gordy's is in Dallas, Ga. "The Dallas, Georgia home is kind of like an escape for me to be out in the country. Very seldom do I get to visit," she says. "Emory moved back from California in 1983 and that's been his home ever since. Even though Emory says we are married and this is my home, I can't make it home yet."

For Loveless, to make it her home would take some time where she could hang up her guitar, take her shoes off and do some housework. "That's when I will consider it to be a home to me. As much as I'm out on the road and as little time I spend in the apartment, I don't get to be a housewife. I can't be a housewife right now. That is a totally separate job. Women work very, very hard in the household and I see right now my work is out here on the road and making music on stage."