March 13, 2008 - Posted by Marnie
If Kellie Pickler had to describe her current state in only three words, it'd most likely be the simple phrase, "Life is good." Only a couple of years ago, she was a fan of Rascal Flatts, like many others. Fast forward to 2008, and she's just finished touring with the popular country band. As Kellie said, "My life has done a complete 180." She loved the experience and even said that she and the band members became like one big family.
Since appearing on American Idol, Kellie has not only toured with some huge names, like Brad Paisley and Rascal Flatts, but she's also done quite a bit of humorous correspondent work on television. While that might have been a direction she was headed at one point, she said that doesn't want to "stray too far from country music." She's invested so much time and hard work now and, although she enjoys the work on TV, she really would like to establish herself as a country artist above anything else. She also doesn't plan on headlining tours any time soon either. She joked that it would be awful to book a huge arena and have two or three fans show up...although we doubt that would happen! Again, though, Kellie said she'd rather establish herself before taking on her own tour.
Kellie has carved out time from her busy schedule to do something that is near and dear to her heart, the USO tour. She flew to Iraq and did two to three shows a day for various bases while she was there last year. While she called the tour "exhausting," she said it was the most amazing thing she's ever done. The hectic schedule was worth it, and she walked away from that with a greater appreciation for life. She's in the midst of planning her next trip to Iraq for more shows.
Another thing Kellie still makes time for is her AI peers. In fact, she said that she and Katharine McPhee are like sisters. She was just a bridesmaid in Kat's wedding, and even plans on seeing her again next week. Despite her insanely busy schedule, she also said she's caught a couple of episodes of "Idol" this season.
Kellie has also received some very prestigious nominations in the past year. She has an ACM nomination for the Top New Female Vocalist award. As she stated in the press release, "This is really awesome. A few years ago when I was a roller skating waitress at Sonic I was never nominated as employee of the month but maybe that was because I spilled a lot of the food on the cars. Now I'm doing what I love and to get recognized for it is even more special." She also has three CMT nominations: Breakthrough Video of the Year, Performance of the Year, and Tearjerker Video of the Year, all for the song "I Wonder." When asked about her emotional performance of "I Wonder" at the '07 CMA Awards, she said that she knew she'd be emotional, but she had no idea she would really break down the way she did. She made it through rehearsals with no problems, but she admits there was a lot going on behind the scenes. She said she had a lot to take on stage, and was also overcome at sharing that stage with so many amazing performers. She called it quite the "reality check" for her, and even said she could barely believe it was actually happening.
Kellie fans will be thrilled to know that she is currently working on her sophomore album, and she has big plans for it. Her absolute favorite part of the whole process is the songwriting, and she always lets the songs reflect what's going on in her life at the current time. However, with her debut album, she was a little bit more cautious. She plans on taking more risks and having even more fun with this one, and she has a new producer to help her do just that. She wants it to have a very universal feeling...so much so that her fans will feel as if each song was written expressly for him or her. As she said, her fans can still expect the fun, sassy songs, the ballads, and girls' anthems..."the whole shabang!"
Kellie's style changed tremendously throughout season five, and even more so since her time on the show. Check out her Transformation Gallery!
Exclusive Interview With Kellie Pickler - American Idol News
