CARRIE UNDERWOOD: PLAYING BY HEART
October 24, 2009
With New Co-Writers And Confidence From Two Multiplatinum Albums, Carrie Underwood Gets Personal With 'Play On'
Deborah Evans Price
Carrie Underwood just spent several hours sitting in Audio Productions—a Music Row radio and TV production facility—doing interviews with radio stations across the country, but she looks fresh and relaxed as she prepares for her final chat of the day. She talks with the engineer about how excited she is to hear Miranda Lambert's new CD, "Revolution." And when someone offers to give her a copy, Underwood sweetly protests, "Oh, no, I'm going to buy it."
It's that combination of girl-next-door charm and a killer set of pipes that has made Underwood the most successful artist to come out of "American Idol" in any genre. Since winning the fourth season of the Fox competition, Underwood has released two albums, the 2005 "Some Hearts," which has sold 6.8 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and the 2007 "Carnival Ride," which has sold 2.9 million. She's won four Grammy Awards and numerous other accolades including three Country Music Assn. (CMA) female vocalist titles and three Academy of Country Music female vocalist honors. Last spring, she took home the ACM's entertainer of the year award, becoming only the seventh woman in the show's 42-year history to earn that accolade.
With such impressive accomplishments just four years into her career, one might expect Underwood to feel a little pressure before the Nov. 3 release of her new Arista Nashville album, "Play On." Instead, she radiates a quiet confidence.
"I feel like the second album had the most pressure for me," she says, acknowledging that she felt the first one had a shot at succeeding because of her built-in "Idol" audience. Then it exceeded expectations. "It kept going and kept going and kept going and the next thing it was like triple-platinum and quadruple-platinum and five-times-platinum and it was like 'Oh, my gosh!' "
Looking svelte in a black sweat shirt dress with a red belt, red bracelet and red Marc Jacobs flats, 26-year-old Underwood is the epitome of casual chic—but don't mistake laid-back for unambitious.
"I want to be somebody in the music business, not just somebody that [people say], 'Oh, yeah, five years ago she won that. Where did she go?' So making ["Carnival Ride"] was pretty stressful, but on this one I feel like I'm home," she says. "I'm in the music business. When people mention names like Kenny Chesney and Keith Urban and Brad Paisley, sometimes my name is in there too."
Sony Music Nashville chairman Joe Galante feels Underwood's confidence has translated into a more personal body of work on "Play On."
"It already has scored a victory because it represents growth for her sonically, vocally and from a lyrical standpoint," he says, seated in a conference room at Sony Music Nashville's headquarters. "We had more fun on the last album with some of the things that she was writing. With this, there is a balance between the fun Carrie and also one that is revealing more about herself, her views about life." UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
"Play On" features 13 tracks, seven of which were co-written by Underwood. "I'm not an easy person to get to know, and I feel like I keep a lot of myself closed off to the world," she says. "It's really nice to be able to scratch the surface and to be able to open myself up a little more."
In recording "Play On," Underwood once again worked with producer Mark Bright, who produced "Carnival Ride" and seven tracks on "Some Hearts." "Over the summer, we spent more time with arrangements, and Carrie experimented more than ever with vocal textures," Bright says. "What came out on the other side is extraordinary. I think we got it right."
Underwood says she trusts Bright and that makes recording a more comfortable process. "I've known him now for five years," she says. "I've worked with him on every album and I trust him and he trusts me. I'm comfortable with him now—whereas in the beginning it was like, 'Oh, my gosh. This guy is a big-time producer. What if I do bad?' I was really afraid to mess up. Now I'm not afraid to screw up. I can screw up royally when I'm in the studio and it's OK. I trust him."
In the past, Underwood co-wrote with a stable of Music Row tunesmiths including Hillary Lindsey and Luke Laird, who co-wrote "So Small" and "Last Name," and Brett James, who co-wrote "Jesus Take the Wheel" with Lindsey and Gordie Sampson. In writing for "Play On," she expanded her circle to collaborate with "American Idol" judge/BMI 2007 pop songwriter of the year Kara DioGuardi; Mike Elizondo, known for his work with Dr. Dre and Eminem; and Raine Maida, co-founder of the rock band Our Lady Peace, and his wife, Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk.
"I listen to all kinds of music, all genres," Underwood says. "Bringing somebody from a different world into my world to see what their influence can do in my writing style—it's a lot of fun."
These new collaborations don't mean that Underwood's about to switch genres—she's still a country girl at heart. "I'm promising right now it would never happen," she says.
Several of the songs on "Play On" are standouts: "Temporary Home" is a poignant ballad in which Underwood, a Christian, speaks of her belief that "life on this Earth is just passing through" and heaven is the final destination; and "Mama's Song" is a loving tribute to her mother. "I really am in a good place in my life and I think that does show," Underwood says.
"What Can I Say" features special guests Sons of Sylvia, a trio consisting of brothers Ashley, Austin and Adam Clark. The group won Fox's "The Next Great American Band" contest and are working on its Universal South Records debut. "The lead singer was actually my first fiddle player. I've known him for five years now," Underwood says of Ashley Clark. "When thinking of duet partners, you think of the common names—but I wanted someone that people would say, 'Who's that?' "
SINGLE-MINDED SUCCESS
Judging by the success of the first single, "Cowboy Casanova," "Play On" looks sure to follow the platinum path of its predecessors. In its first week, "Casanova" sold 110,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's No. 6 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. "An unfinished version leaked," Underwood says of the label rushing the finished version to radio. "It was really frustrating, but then it was exciting too. Radio stations were immediately putting it into heavy rotation and it was like, 'Oh, my gosh, this is good.' "
Galante says the track seemed like an obvious choice as the first single. "There's a number of great ballads on this album, but we had just come off of 'I Told You So' and 'Just a Dream' and really wanted to say, 'I'm back and this is different,' " he says. "It just gives her a fresh attitude."
Galante attributes much of Underwood's success to her multigenerational appeal. "Carrie goes from cradle to grave," he says of her fans. "She has positioned herself as somebody that cares about this format deeply. She is a country artist. She's made it very plain."
In the past four years, Underwood has dominated country radio with such No. 1 hits as "Jesus Take the Wheel," "Before He Cheats," "Wasted," "All-American Girl," "So Small" and "Just a Dream." Galante speaks with obvious pride of how Underwood has handled success. "I think it all hit her like a ton of bricks in the first couple of years and now this year has been easier," he says. "Carrie has grown up a lot considering she got dropped into this format on her head, not on her feet, and people were standing on the sidelines going, 'You're not really country, you're a TV show star.' I think she's impressed the heck out of people by her reverence for country music."
Underwood's manager Simon Fuller, chief executive of 19 Entertainment and creator of the "Idol" franchise, has high expectations for "Play On." "I think we'll exceed the success of the last album with this album," he says. "It's stronger in depth and there's more variety. The first single is just a complete smash."
'ORGANIZED STALKING'
Part of the efforts to alert Underwood's fans that there's a new album coming involved revamping her Web site, CarrieUnderwoodOfficial.com. "What we're trying to do with the Web site is give fans a place to go where they could participate with what's going on with Carrie, and that's why the site is set up to be more community-based," says Sony Music Nashville VP of digital business Heather McBee. "They can upload photos. They can participate on the message boards and talk about the project."
One thing Underwood doesn't plan to use is Twitter. "It just sounds like organized stalking to me," she says. "I'll be in a restaurant and I'll get home and somebody tweeted and talked about what I ordered and what I was wearing. In some cases that could be dangerous because you don't want everybody to know where you are in every second of every day." (There's someone posing as Underwood on Twitter, in the comments on her Web site and on MySpace, and she warns fans that it isn't her.)
McBee says the label has planned special promotions with iTunes to roll out new music from the album. Starting Oct. 3, a track will be released each week exclusively through the retailer, leading up to a "Complete My Album" promotion when the full album is released Nov. 3. "People have already paid for those first four tracks, so it's about getting them to buy into the album because obviously the album is the experience we want people to have," McBee says.
Paul Barnabee, senior VP of sales and operations at Sony Music Nashville, says retail is eagerly anticipating "Play On." "It's been amazing to see our retail partners embrace this long-awaited release so passionately," he says. Underwood will participate in Wal-Mart's Soundcheck program, and Barnabee anticipates more opportunities since Underwood and labelmate Brad Paisley will co-host the CMA Awards the week before her album is released.
Another opportunity that should help drive sales is Underwood's first TV special, slated to air Dec. 7 on Fox, with guests including Paisley, Dolly Parton and David Cook. "It's a variety special featuring Carrie and that's something we've not done before," Fuller says. "As Carrie develops more as an artist, we can do things like this. Carrie has potential to be an actress as well, so who knows what is coming in the next few years?"
Though plans are still in the works, Fuller wants to expose Underwood's music internationally. "We've got a shot at actually breaking out of America and having a run at a couple of other countries around the world," he says, adding that he plans to first focus on Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany. "The world needs to discover Carrie Underwood, so that's something exciting to come. Carrie always said that she'd love to take country music to the world and that would make her very proud."
For the immediate future, Underwood is just looking forward to co-hosting the CMA Awards and embarking on her new tour in 2010. "We'll go into rehearsals early next year, but it's going to be bigger. It's going to be awesome. We're pulling out all the stops," says Underwood, who was the top-ranked female country touring artist of 2008, according to Billboard Boxscore, grossing $27.1 million from 90 shows.
"I don't need to make any money, let's just do this," Underwood jokingly told her handlers about the tour. "Let's just step it up. I know everybody is going to say, 'Oh, my gosh. This cost what?' But, shoot, we can come back next year with an acoustic tour. This year let's just go for broke."
"I don't need to make any money, let's just do this," Underwood jokingly told her handlers about the tour. "Let's just step it up. I know everybody is going to say, 'Oh, my gosh. This cost what?' But, shoot, we can come back next year with an acoustic tour. This year let's just go for broke."
Is this the same girl who said "What if nobody wants to come to my shows?"
Cary: Did you just type this all up? I'm assuming there's no link because you didn't post one. Or is it up at billboard.biz?
If you typed it all up, extra thank yous!!!!
I LOVE that this starts off talking about how she's going to buy Miranda's album.
Most interesting parts of the article IMO:
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In recording "Play On," Underwood once again worked with producer Mark Bright, who produced "Carnival Ride" and seven tracks on "Some Hearts." "Over the summer, we spent more time with arrangements, and Carrie experimented more than ever with vocal textures," Bright says. "What came out on the other side is extraordinary. I think we got it right."
This is something I've wanted from Carrie and I'm excited she went for it!! I can't wait to hear what came out of it!
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"Play On" features 13 tracks, seven of which were co-written by Underwood. "I'm not an easy person to get to know, and I feel like I keep a lot of myself closed off to the world," she says. "It's really nice to be able to scratch the surface and to be able to open myself up a little more."
IMO a little mystery's a good thing and I like that Carrie's been able to open up at her own pace and to the degree she wants.
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"What Can I Say" features special guests Sons of Sylvia, a trio consisting of brothers Ashley, Austin and Adam Clark. The group won Fox's "The Next Great American Band" contest and are working on its Universal South Records debut. "The lead singer was actually my first fiddle player. I've known him for five years now," Underwood says of Ashley Clark. "When thinking of duet partners, you think of the common names—but I wanted someone that people would say, 'Who's that?' "
That's a great attitude to have IMO.
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Galante attributes much of Underwood's success to her multigenerational appeal. "Carrie goes from cradle to grave," he says of her fans. "She has positioned herself as somebody that cares about this format deeply. She is a country artist. She's made it very plain."
I love hearing them reaffirm this. I also love Joe Galante's comments about how Carrie's handled success.
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"I don't need to make any money, let's just do this," Underwood jokingly told her handlers about the tour. "Let's just step it up. I know everybody is going to say, 'Oh, my gosh. This cost what?' But, shoot, we can come back next year with an acoustic tour. This year let's just go for broke."
Love it! She really is feeling more comfortable now.
I LOVE her comment about Twitter too. Good for her for standing her ground on it!
Thanks so much for posting Cary... we were waiting for this all last night.
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Instead, she radiates a quiet confidence.
It's been so noticable in her interviews.... and does anyone else notice that she's been positively glowing lately?
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Though plans are still in the works, Fuller wants to expose Underwood's music internationally. "We've got a shot at actually breaking out of America and having a run at a couple of other countries around the world," he says, adding that he plans to first focus on Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Congrats to our international friends... it's finally going to happen!!!!
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"I don't need to make any money, let's just do this," Underwood jokingly told her handlers about the tour. "Let's just step it up. I know everybody is going to say, 'Oh, my gosh. This cost what?' But, shoot, we can come back next year with an acoustic tour. This year let's just go for broke."
Can't wait, can't wait till 2010... then followed by an acoustic tour... that would be AWESOME!!
Wow, thanks Cary for the article. Where is Tee, because she is going to go over the top crazy shen she sees the part about this part: he plans to first focus on Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany.
This is a very exciting time for Carrie and her fans.
It is from Billboard.biz. My typing quality and speed are not to the level that I would type this in manually. It would probably take me all day.
LOL. Well thanks for bringing us the article!
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Originally Posted by lionboy2017
I didn't understand that last comment, are the tikets really cheap, are they going to go broke and what about an acoustic concert
What she's saying is that they're going to do up a big production for the 2010 tour which will be expensive so she was joking that they don't need to make much money off the next tour. She's saying they're pulling out all the stops productionwise for next year's tour and she was jokingly saying that the tour after that could be a much simpler acoustic tour with no production costs if need be. All I take out of it is that next year's tour will be a bigger production than the CR tour. As far as how much tickets cost that remains to be seen but I don't think Carrie's suddenly going to be making her tickets that much more expensive.
I didn't understand that last comment, are the tikets really cheap, are they going to go broke and what about an acoustic concert
I think she is just referring to the cost of the new tour. She wants a big big show and it sounds like it is going to cost a lot of money to put on and she said she does not care and would apparently not care if she made much money if she could get the big show she wants but of course she was kidding and quite sure she will still make money, LOL.
EDIT: Oops, you already commented davilas. I am just so slow.
I didn't understand that last comment, are the tikets really cheap, are they going to go broke and what about an acoustic concert
First the article says Carrie was joking with that last comment. What she was saying was too just go all out with all the bells and whistles (video, lighting, staging, etc) for the tour even if it costs so much that they don't make any money. Then she said they can do an acoustic tour the following year with no frills to make money.
Great article! Well, now. It kind of just lays everything out there for us. Folks, it is certain that we are in for one awesome ride with the Play On era, and that includes our international friends. Amazing! Cannot wait for the 2010 tour!
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Wow, this article confirms so many of our thoughts, hopes and dreams!
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"I'm not an easy person to get to know, and I feel like I keep a lot of myself closed off to the world," she says. "It's really nice to be able to scratch the surface and to be able to open myself up a little more."
I'm so glad Carrie's feeling comfortable enough to open herself up in her music more. Anyone else think a certain hockey player (among other things) has helped her feel more confident in herself than ever before?
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"I really am in a good place in my life and I think that does show," Underwood says.
It most certainly does.
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These new collaborations don't mean that Underwood's about to switch genres—she's still a country girl at heart. "I'm promising right now it would never happen," she says.
That's what I like to hear. I love her branching out and expanding, but she'll always be a true country artist, which is fabulous. She's a great ambassador for the format.
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One thing Underwood doesn't plan to use is Twitter. "It just sounds like organized stalking to me," she says. "I'll be in a restaurant and I'll get home and somebody tweeted and talked about what I ordered and what I was wearing. In some cases that could be dangerous because you don't want everybody to know where you are in every second of every day." (There's someone posing as Underwood on Twitter, in the comments on her Web site and on MySpace, and she warns fans that it isn't her.)
I disagree about twitter, well at least celebs who twitter. You only have to post about what you want to post. But whether Carrie's on there or not, there's always going to be people who take it too far and tweet locations and such. But Carrie having a Twitter account or not will not affect that.
It's a great networking tool for celebrities to connect to their fans, but of course it's completely Carrie's decision, and at the very least I'm happy the article mentioned the fake Carrie's that are all over the place. Unfortunately, some dim people out there will probably still continue to believe the falseness.
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Paul Barnabee, senior VP of sales and operations at Sony Music Nashville, says retail is eagerly anticipating "Play On." "It's been amazing to see our retail partners embrace this long-awaited release so passionately," he says. Underwood will participate in Wal-Mart's Soundcheck program, and Barnabee anticipates more opportunities since Underwood and labelmate Brad Paisley will co-host the CMA Awards the week before her album is released.
This is wonderful to hear. Hopefully this means good things in terms of stores having the album properly stocked, unlike the CR era.
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Another opportunity that should help drive sales is Underwood's first TV special, slated to air Dec. 7 on Fox, with guests including Paisley, Dolly Parton and David Cook. "It's a variety special featuring Carrie and that's something we've not done before," Fuller says. "As Carrie develops more as an artist, we can do things like this. Carrie has potential to be an actress as well, so who knows what is coming in the next few years?"
Much as I'd love to see more of Carrie, I think Carrie's made it clear in the past that at least for now, she's focusing on her music. I think it'll still be a WHILE before we see much acting from her. Maybe a guest appearance here or there, but probably not anything like, for example, Tim McGraw's transition into acting.
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Though plans are still in the works, Fuller wants to expose Underwood's music internationally. "We've got a shot at actually breaking out of America and having a run at a couple of other countries around the world," he says, adding that he plans to first focus on Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany. "The world needs to discover Carrie Underwood, so that's something exciting to come. Carrie always said that she'd love to take country music to the world and that would make her very proud."
GREAT news for international fans! I know there's a bunch of CF-ers that have been hoping and praying the PO era would finally be the time to branch out internationally, and from the sounds of it, that's exactly what's going to happen! Very exciting!!
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Underwood, who was the top-ranked female country touring artist of 2008, according to Billboard Boxscore, grossing $27.1 million from 90 shows.
Just another reason she should have been nominated as EOTY for the 2009 CMAs.
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"I don't need to make any money, let's just do this," Underwood jokingly told her handlers about the tour. "Let's just step it up. I know everybody is going to say, 'Oh, my gosh. This cost what?' But, shoot, we can come back next year with an acoustic tour. This year let's just go for broke."
Wow. The Play On Tour sounds like it's going to be incredible. I don't care if I have to drive hours to another city, I'm not missing this one!
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Thanks for posting. Great read. It's great to see just how great of a team she has working around her.
Some people are going to be extremely happy when they read the part about international exposure. This album era is going to be amazing
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Cary, thanks so much for this article! I know everyone has been looking for it since last night! Is it true that the one in the printed magazine is supposed to be longer? If so, I'll still have to try to find it and buy it.
I also love that she mentioned buying Miranda's album. I do not like it when these two are pitted against each other, when they are both incredibly talented in their own ways. Miranda is a brilliant songwriter and Carrie has the voice. Of course, Carrie continues to grow as a songwriter and Miranda uses her voice very well, so neither has a negative! Anyway, they are both great artists and both deserve lots of praise and recognition.
My other favorite parts were hearing Carrie continue to stand her ground. Our girl is who she is and no one is going to change that. I think she keeps getting more comfortable in her own skin and that is starting to show in interviews and her music. She's not going to do something just because everyone else is doing it and she's always adamant that while she may appreciate and love all genres of music, she is dedicated to being an advocate and representative of country music.
I hope she does get some exposure nationally and can show the world what country music today really sounds like (not country watered down for pop radio). There is no reason Carrie can't be successful overseas - Dolly is as country as it gets and she is famous internationally.
Finally, I can't wait to see this tour and she sure as heck better get an EOTY nom from the CMA's next year. I know I'll be going to see as many concerts as money and distance allow. I do wonder if she'll have SOS as an opening act. It wouldnt' surprise me one bit. I think she'll have them for the opening slot (usually 30 minutes) and then take someone with a little more experience that might get like an hour to play. It's going to be awesome!
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