Access Atlanta > American Idol Buzz > Archives > 2008 > September > 07
Sunday, September 7, 2008
9/8: Kellie Pickler interview in advance of CMA Music Festival on ABC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I hope you all had a great weekend. I enjoyed mine, hitting both a Sean Hannity/Neal Boortz event and Kathy Griffin the same evening. Talk about polar political opposites.
Anyway, I interviewed Kellie Pickler in late July in advance of Monday night’s airing of “CMA Music Festival Country’s Night to Rock” at 8 p.m. She co hosts with Julianne Hough and Taylor Shift. She also sings her current single “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful.”
Since I didn’t feel I got anything that would entail “breaking news,” I decided to wait until today to actually post it. But she’s always entertaining. She’s so conversational and sweet and even when she doesn’t want to answer a question (say, about her boyfriend), she’s nothing but gracious and never defensive. She’s in my top 5 of “Idol” folks to interview. You can tell she’s far sharper than her “blonde” act she does sometimes. She speaks in full sentences and has real opinions. She’s not an empty vessel. As I’ve noted before, she may not know the longest running British monarch but she’s people savvy and knows how to manage her career.
Where are you now?
I’m in Idaho. I’ve been about everywhere. I never really get to see anything. I kind of like come in and sing and get the hell out of here and go on to the next show. It’s a bummer. I go to some great places and don’t have a chance to see them! I’ve been on the road for three years straight!
You’re a new artist. That’s what you have to do, right?
Country music is like that. You see Kenny Chensey touring all year long, every year. It never changes. I’ve looked at pop schedules. They don’t usually tour all year long. They might do 20 or 30 dates. We do like 200 dates a year.
So how’s your second album looking?
I think it turned out real well. This is album is 10 times better than the first one. I’ve been able to spend time with it and really love everything.
[The album is self titled and set to come out September 30.]
What’s the music mix going to be?
They’ll be fun uptempo girl anthems as well as ballads. I think my songwriting has improved a lot. I’ve grown a lot more as an artist. A lot has happened in the last few years since my first record. I have a lot to say!
You’ve worked with Taylor Swift on a song, right?
We did “Best Days of Your Lives.” I think it’s going to be a great record. I feel like I know what I’m doing now. I didn’t the first time around. It was kind of thrown on me. I had to rush to get it done as fast as possible. I didn’t fall in love with every song.
Why do you think Taylor is so hot now?
I think it’s the young demographic. I describe Taylor as the country Hannah Montana. She really appeals to the same crowd and she works really hard. She deserves the success she’s getting.
I hear you’re going to be touring with Atlanta’s Sugarland starting in September.
I just love Jennifer [Nettles] and Kristian [Bush.] We’ve done one show together before. I see them in Nashville when we’re both there. We’ll have a lot of fun. It will be good to spend some quality time to get to know them out on the road. They seem so sweet, so humbled by everything. I’m a big fan.
What’s been the strangest concert date you’ve done so far?
I think some of the festivals get a little crazy, the ones that last all day like Country Thunder [in Twin Lakes in July]. People get here at 9 or 10 in the morning and get their lawn chairs out. By the time I get on late in the evening, they’re all wasted! You get people toted off in handcuffs for hitting somebody’s wife. It’s never a dull moment. I try to look away or I’ll start laughing.
Have you ever really lost it during a song?
I have laughed in the middle of an uptempo song. It’s easier to hold it together during a ballad. People will throw stuff on stage. I’ve had people throw bras! I’m not Kid Rock! I’ve seen people dressed up like pickles with a face and arms. And red heels. People will do the craziest things to get recognized. That’s part of the show.
Are you sick of the whole red high heels thing?
A lot of times girls will throw their red shoes on stage. Anytime people throw anything on stage, they want you to sign it. I’ll sign and throw it back. I have to be careful though. They can lose an eye!
Do you feel obligated to wear red high heels all the time?
People give them to me all the time. I don’t want them. I’m so sick of having red shoes now. I’m just burned out on them. I’ll be at Wal-Mart or a restaurant and people will ask why I’m not wearing red heels. I’m going to have to do a song now about diamonds or a Mercedes!
This doesn’t mean you’re giving up on heels in general?
I actually look better in heels. I walk better. I stand up better. They have never bothered me. I have a big arch in my foot anyway. I did gymnastics for a long time.
Tell me about the CMA hosting?
Julianne [Hough] and I cohosted. We had so much fun! Hopefully they’ll ask me to do more.
What’s the rumor of you doing “Dancing With the Stars” one day?
It’s so funny. I did one interview. They asked me about the future and what I’d like to do. I said Julianne Hough thought it’d be fun if I did “Dancing With the Stars.” I don’t think I have the time now. It’d be fun. But I’d rather sing. Music is more important to me than dancing.
**You just shot your video for “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful” earlier this week. How did it go? You can watch it here. She looks great. Like her hair! The embedding mechanism is disabled. Sorry!
Here’s the “behind the scenes” video at least:
Anyway, here’s her answer to my question: It was a lot of fun. I love the video because it’s so positive. Everytime I see it, I smile. I shot over two days. First, Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital. And we do a scene at a roller rink.
Are you dating somebody?
I’m seeing someone but I don’t talk about him.
Fair enough. How about your favorite TV shows?
I don’t watch TV at all. I have a short attention span. It has to be a good show. One of my friends sent me the DVD box set of “24.” I had never heard of it. I had never seen one episode. But I gave this a try. It’s like a movie where I don’t have to watch commercials [since it’s on DVD.] I’ve watched all of season three and have one more hour of season four. I love “24”!
I know you tend to have trouble keeping your iPod around but do you have any favorite songs?
I have iPods but they’re at home with no songs on it. I actually have 10 iPods. If you want one, just stop by the house! You can have two or three! I actually buy CDs. I’m not a big downloading person. Plus, I want people to buy my records. I buy other people’s records. We work so hard putting in packaging and spending so much money on these photo shoots. It costs more to make CDs. I know that now. I know the expense and time that goes into making an album. I’m going to buy another person’s album before I download it. I want to read what the artist has written in their packaging. I want to see the pictures. I like things to be tangible. I want to see the CD and put it in my car.
How about movies?
I am a movie fanatic. Just in the past week, I saw three movies in the theatre. I saw “Dark Knight.” I thought it was great. I thought everyone did a great job. That was the best I saw this week. I also saw “Wanted” with Angeline Jolie. Really gory! There’s a lot of slow-motion killing. You see the blood coming out. It was a little harsh on the stomach. I don’t recommend eating and seeing it. But Angeline is so beautiful. I can just sit and stare at her. I also watched “Journey to the Center of the Earth” in 3D last night. It gave me a headache! I couldn’t focus. It was blurry and weird.
-Jordin Sparks was up for best new artist on the MTV VMAs Sunday night. Tokyo Hotel won in a surprise victory over the likes of Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus. I have no clue who Tokyo Hotel is, which tells you I’m not quite attuned to the MTV demo anymore. Video of her appearance will probably be up on one of the other Idol blogs in a matter of seconds but I’m posting this Sunday night first. I’ll include it on the next blog entry I’ll put up either Monday night or Tuesday morning.
She also appeared on the “Support the Troops” special on ABC but I didn’t catch it. I’m sure the video on YouTube will be up soon enough.
