Thread: Tennessean Blog: Carrie Underwood Comes Out of Her Shell

Credit to Desi for finding this.Great article!

http://blogs.tennessean.com/tunein/2...-of-her-shell/


Carrie Underwood comes out of her shell
Published by Peter Cooperon November 6, 2009in Awards, CMA Awards and Features. 0 Comments
Tags: Carrie Underwood, country, feature3.


Click to see a slide show of Carrie Underwood photos (this photo: Sanford Myers/The Tennessean).
Carrie Underwood, 26, is a big, fat onion. And if you don’t believe it, you can ask her.

“I’m a big, fat onion,” she said. And by that, she means she is a multi-layered person, not that she grows in the soil or induces crying jags.

Since winning American Idol in 2005, Underwood has become one of contemporary country’s most celebrated female vocalists, notching three consecutive top female vocalist prizes at the Country Music Association Awards — for which she’ll serve as co-host with Brad Paisley on Wednesday — and also at the Academy of Country Music Awards. On Tuesday, Nov. 3, Sony Music Nashville released the reigning ACM entertainer of the year’s third album, Play On, and after its first week it will likely top the country charts and the pop charts.

The first country female to score 10 No. 1 hits from her first two albums, Carrie Underwood is well known, and yet not known.

“I was talking with someone, and they were telling me about a conversation they had with someone I dated,” Underwood said. “The guy I dated said, ‘People don’t know her.’ I never really thought about that until this person told me about the conversation. I’ve had people say, ‘Hey, there’s really a personality in there. Don’t be afraid to be funny in front of people.’ I’m getting better with that, but when you open that book and let people in, there’s something scary about that. I guess I’m used to keeping people at a distance.”

At times, that distance is a must. During public appearances, Underwood is nothing if not on-point, and being on-point involves calculation and a professional calm and control. Most people don’t glad-hand at the office.

“When Carrie’s at work, she’s at work, but when you’re with her in a position where that’s not going on, she’s super cool,” said Chris Tompkins, who co-wrote Underwood’s smash “Before He Cheats” and who also co-wrote “Change” for Play On. “I’m glad I’m not an artist, with people coming up to you all the time, no matter where you are or what kind of mood you’re in.”

In conversation, Underwood is funny. Maybe not Bill Cosby funny, but the Cos doesn’t have her vocal range, either. She’s quick, though, and sharp. And she’s correct that those qualities don’t always come across in on-camera interviews. On American Idol, she learned quickly that being benign could be an asset.

“Oh, I never said anything on there,” she said. “Whenever judges would critique me, I’d keep my mouth shut. When I watch the show now and see someone talking back, I think, ‘There you go, you’re going home. I learned to keep the book shut when I was on Idol, because everything you do is so scrutinized. It kind of scares you into your shell.”

‘She’s a real human’
Underwood sees Play On as a concerted attempt to come out of that shell. She co-wrote more than 25 songs for consideration, and wound up recording six of those. The styles and subjects vary as wildly as those things can vary in the country genre, as Underwood ricochets between anger and thankfulness in a way that seems fully suited to a single singer in her mid-20s.

Two songs use the word “jerk.”

“I didn’t write either of the ‘jerk’ songs — those were both expressing other people’s feelings,” she said. “But I feel like I’m like everybody else: I’m a sea of thoughts and feelings. There’s ‘Jerk’ and ‘I love you’ and everything in between. I feel like the album is really diverse, and I feel lucky that I’m not one-dimensional. I don’t want to make the same album over and over again. I grew up listening to everything, and I want everything. I don’t want people to listen and say, ‘She’s complicated,’ but I would like them to say, ‘She’s a real human.’ ”

Underwood is in fact a real human, though she’s been shot into the fame-o-sphere through some unreal marketing scenarios, thanks to her ability to sing with passion and conviction and technical virtuosity. Six years ago, she was a college student in Oklahoma, studying broadcast journalism.

“One thing I learned in school, which is amazing, is that they teach you ethics,” she said. “You learn about printing what actually happened and what people actually said. Now, I’ve learned that’s a big joke: It doesn’t mean anything. I’ve read the most amazing things, not just about myself, but about other people.”

To duck or not to duck
Underwood inspires precious few tabloid headlines, but there was a day last February when she attended a Nashville Predators vs. Ottawa Senators game, noticed she was on camera and sought to avoid the camera by ... ducking down while on camera, thus assuring herself a spot on Perez Hilton’s Web site and on ESPN’s SportsCenter.

“I’d been to Preds games before, and they tend to put me on the JumboTron five minutes in,” she said. “And then everyone knows where I am, which means I get to meet people but not to watch the game. This was a Predators game, but my boyfriend (Ottowa Senators’ center Mike Fisher) was on the opposing team. I saw the camera, and ... I’m stupid, so I ducked. I have no excuse. One of my friends told me, ‘Anything you could have done would have been better than ducking.’ But ... I thought it was funny. I’d duck again.”

The old Carrie Underwood might have thought that was funny, but she wouldn’t have admitted to it. And she wouldn’t have ducked again. These days, Carrie Underwood ducks away, and she avoids reading any tabloid commentary in favor of the things fans write on her Web site.

“I don’t buy the magazines that have not-nice things to say,” she said. “I stick to my fan club site, because I know they’re going to be positive. I’m my own worst critic, and I don’t need any more negativity in my life. So I go to my Web site and see good reviews and things that make me feel good. Need a confidence booster? Just go get a fan club.”

IF YOU GO
What: The 43rd Annual CMA Awards, hosted by Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood
Where: Sommet Center, 501 Broadway, downtown Nashville
When: Airs live Wednesday, Nov. 11 7–10 p.m. Central, on ABC, WKRN-Channel 2
Performers: Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Kenny Chesney and Dave Mathews, Billy Currington, Vince Gill and Daughtry, Kid Rock and Jamey Johnson, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, Darius Rucker, George Strait, Sugarland, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, and Zac Brown Band.
Tickets: $110-$464.50. Available through www.ticketmaster.com; 1–800-745‑3000; or in person at the Sommet Center box office, 501 Broadway (corner of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, in Nashville).« MUTEMATH's Paul Meany talks starting from scratch with 'Armistice'
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