New Music
KELLIE PICKLER SHOWS HER COUNTRY ROOTS
Whether it’s true or false, some see American Idol as a pop music contest. So when Kellie Pickler left the show in the spring of 2006 for Nashville, most observers expected her country to be closer to pop than traditional. Her most successful song to date was her 2008 duet with Taylor Swift: “Best Days of Your Life.” But her third CD, released on January 24th, is the most traditional country record she has ever done. We spoke with Kellie in Nashville about “100 Proof.”
It’s been 3-1/2 years since your last album. What’s happened in that time? ”A lot has happened in my life off stage, and a lot of that is in this record. I needed some time to work on me. I got picked for American Idol when I was 19 and green. As soon as I got that golden ticket to Hollywood, my life did a 180. I’ve just now had time to let the emotions catch up with the motions. I’ve been pulled in 100 different directions by 100 different people. I needed some time. I was worried about people forgeting about me. I’ve been off the radio a long time. My most successful song on radio is my most pop. So with this record, I didn’t make anyone else’s record. I made MY record, and you can tell from the first guitar lick. The people who know Kellie will recognize this record. It’s a big risk to take, but I’m happy with it. I want to make this record. I grew up listening to traditional country music. I love Tammy Wynette and I love the fact that my album kicks off with “Where’s Tammy Wynette.” This is definitely Kellie country. I wasn’t scared to be myself on this record, and it shows. I called Dean Dillon, because I wanted to write with him. This record would not be this record if those writers had not been a part of it. They breathed life inside the songs.
You recorded this album in an historic place: RCA Studio A in Nashville. How did that influence this record? I had everyone close their eyes in the studio and I said, ‘I want you to go to a place, if this was the last time you were gonna place, where would you be? I want you to go there.’ So we did. We took ourselves to that place. We made the music, finished the song, and everyone shared where their place was. We had so much fun making this record. Tammy Wynette recorded in that studio. Some of the guys who played on her records played on my record. One of the great compliments is when one of her musians compared me to her. It’s amazing. That’s better than any award. That means a lot to me.
Which song means the most to you on this record? “The Letter” is the most personal song I’ve ever written. I’ve got a lot of songs like that, but haven’t released them. That song is so special, I’m a daddy’s girl regardless what anyone thinks. I love my dad and I understand the demon he’s been fighting, and it’s hard. He’s sober today, and this song is about that. My dad & I spent a lot of time corresponding through letters, and I have every single letter he wrote to me in a shoebox. I’ve never found more closure than any song, and the fact that I got to write it with Dean Dillon and Dale Dotson is the icing on the cake.
On another subject, you just celebrated your first wedding anniversary with your husband, Kyle Jacobs. Where did you go? We went to St. Lucia, and it was so beautiful. I had never been there, he hadn’t either. The hotel was so beautiful, like a treehouse, the room just had three walls, the fourth was open to a rain forest. We went deep sea fishing, we didn’t catch anything but a sun burn, but we had fun. We got to spend time with the people on the island who like George Jones and traditional country music. I have never in my life had more people come to me if I’ve met George Jones. What’s so funny, they place his songs with their island feeling. Country music is everywhere, and people love it. George Jones is famous in St. Lucia, I don’t know if he knows that, but he is. They don’t know as much about the current music, but they knew the classics, and I thought that was cool.
MIRANDA LAMBERT: FOUR THE RECORD
How do you feel about an album, is it a body of work? Yes, this album is a bunch of different songs, but when you put them together, it’s cohesive, it’s a journey. It breaks my heart to think somebody would buy songs off this record. It’s a 14 song album and every song has a place. I’ve been saying, Do not buy one song and feel it represents what the record sounds like. This is who I am as an artist now, and where I am in my life. It’s a journey and I want people to take that journey with me, and really get to know me more.
So tell me about the journey: I collected the songs over the last few years. I also wrote some of them. The way I like to record is go into the studio and just get holed up. That’s how it becomes a project, because we share the feeling. It just comes together. I don’t cut singles, I cut songs I love, and some are put on the radio, and some aren’t.
Revolution was such a life changer, but as you come off of that, what were you thinking about? Revolution pushed me to another level. But I can’t make Revolution again. That record was that record. So I went into this process of making this album with an open mind. I didn’t have a theme or a message, just the songs I loved. The songs led this record into where it is.
Let’s talk about the album cover, where you’re in front of a burning car. Tell me about that: It’s a real car on fire, and I was standing right there next to it, and I had tons of hair product on me at the time, and I thought, “I’m gonna blow up,” but they had the fire marshalls out there. I thought I was gonna get to light the car on fire myself, but they wouldn’t let me.
Where did this fascination with fire come from? I don’t know. It’s part of my image now because I sing about it. To get rid of something, you have to burn it. Don’t bury it, push it off a cliff, you burn it. It’s over for good.
Toby Keith Invites You To Clancy’s Tavern
Toby Keith’s 15th is a personal one, as he celebrates his grandmother, Hilda Marie Martin, nicknamed Clancy. It was her club in Ft. Smith where Toby spent his childhood, doing odd jobs, and listening to music. He first told that story in his 2005 hit “Honky Tonk U.” Toby’s grandmother died in 2007 at age 86, and Toby was pallbearer at her funeral. He talked about her inspiration with Country Countdown USA’s Lon Helton: “My grandmother was a widow and lived by herself and my mom would send me to her house for summer vacation. She would go in to work around noon, set the day, then drop me out at the pool for the afternoon. Then she’d pick me up at 4, and bring me back to do chores, like stacking beer, washing dishes, and stuff like that.”
Describe her club, what was it like? “It was called Billy Garner’s Supper Club. There was a tavern in front by day. But if you paid a cover charge, there was a supper club in the back. You could eat steaks, there was dining and dancing, with a side entrance. The front was beer only in the tavern. The back was bring your own. She’d sell set-ups and food. They had live music from a house band.”
How much did that affect you today? “It was a great time to get hooked on music. It was the early 70s, with Margaritaville, Jim Croce, Willie & Waylon, The Eagles, Bob Seger, just a great time to listen to her jukebox. You’d hear these things, all the great Haggard and Jones stuff, it was a great time to fall in love with music.”
Montgomery Gentry To Release Long-Awaited New Album
It’s been a while since we’ve had new music from Montgomery Gentry. But the long wait is over. “Rebels On The Run” will be released on Tuesday October 18. Eddie & Troy were in Nashville last week to talk about their new music:
How have the events of the last year affected this new music? (Eddie) This new record label has been great. They let us do anything we wanted. We went in and it was like doing our first album again, it was a blast. No one telling us we had to change anything, we just were who we are. (T) I think it goes back to original Montgomery Gentry, but lyrically, it’s still all about family and freedom, the ups and downs of everyday life. We pay tribute to our military. It’s just better this time around. Eddie & I were more hands on in the process. (Eddie) We sing about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the party on the weekends. You can hear the energy in the music.
Have you played these songs live yet? (Troy) We’re playing 3 of the songs live now, and after the first of the year, we’ll add more. (Eddie) People are loving them now. It’s awesome when you can play more stuff from the new CD. We want to make something that if someone’s gonna buy it, you can play the whole album from start to bottom.
What are you hearing from the fans on social networks? (Eddie) If you’re talking about Twitter, they’re probably trying to figure it out because my spelling is so bad. T-Roy always says spell-check’s even given up on me. If I’d gone to English class, I would have been alright. (Troy) Everybody’s excited to get new music from us, they’ve been very supportive and very patient, but everybody’s very excited about new music. (Eddie) We had a program director say to us, even though we haven’t had a CD out, our old stuff is still getting a lot of airplay.
One song that seems very appropriate given Eddie’s experiences last year is the song “Empty.” Talk about that one: I wasn’t going to sing that one but Troy talked me into it. When you find out you have cancer on your birthday, and then a few weeks later find out you’re getting a divorce, and it’s right around Christmas time, it’s pretty tough. But I’m glad I sang it, the only thing is it does make you think. I’ve been sitting in my house “empty,” and I know how true it is.
Update us on your health, Eddie:I can’t thank everybody enough for all their cards, letters and emails. They check on me all the time. They want to know how the divorce is going, and I can’t wait til mine’s done.
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One of the new names in our Countdown belongs to Hunter Hayes. His song “Storm Warning” is the first from his self-titled debut album. We caught up with the 20-year old star at the Nashville premiere of the movie “Footloose.”
The album will be released October 11th. How do you feel? Stoked! I’m stoked. I worked on this record for 6 months and I’ve been writing this record for my entire life. They say you prepapre your entire life for your first record. I did that, I lived my first record. I’m going to have to check it out in a store to believe it.
You play every instrument on this album. Explain: I followed a process out of necessity from doing my songwriting demos, which is I did them myself. I asked for studio gear for Christmas, and I never came out of my room after that. So we followed that same process in making the record.
Talk about touring with Taylor Swift: Touring with Taylor was the experience of a lifetime. It was a stunning thing to watch. The girl puts on a show! I’m a big fan.
