Kellie Pickler released her second album this week — a eponymous, relaxed, and occasionally humorous set of tracks where she got to take her sweet time and call her own shots. And, frankly, it’s amazing.
I’ll be honest: I loved Kellie on AmIdol, but I wasn’t a big fan of her first album. I’ve been listening to her sophomore effort for a couple days now, and I LOVE it. It’s a fantastic country album, and she has a lot to be proud of.
“It was so rushed and, honestly, now that it’s out and I can be honest about it, there are songs on there I would never even cut,” says Kellie of her first album, Small Town Girl. “It’s so good to finally say ‘Here I am! This is the real me, the real deal.”
Kellie co-wrote half the tracks on the album.
“I started songwriting after ‘Idol.’ I tried before but I hadn’t mastered it,” she said. “I think the key is to be real, to be honest. When we started to pull things from my journal — whether it was a bad breakup or a fight with a friend or a personal struggle with my family — that’s when everything started to click. When I tried to make up some fictional story, I wasn’t good at it. The only thing I’m good at is being me.”
She penned the melancholy “Somebody to Love Me” after a particularly painful split.
“Everything in my personal life was crumbling. I’d go out and sing in front of 50,000 people and then get on my tour bus and cry. I was lonely. I just wanted someone to love me,” said Pickler, who had a well-publicized relationship — and breakup — with Jordan Tootoo of the NHL’s Nashville Predators and is now dating one of her co-writers, Kyle Jacobs.
Anyway, I really can’t say enough good things about this album. I’m really digging it, and I think she did a great job. Congrats, Kellie. I always knew you had it in ya.
Jordin Tootoo is a douchebag anyway.
I really can’t stand Kellie Pickler but it was good she lost that dead weight.
what do you mean? she was not fat!
DUDE kelli pickler is straight up hot just like that carrie underwood!!!
Kellie lives on her own terms always, good for her but i guess she should be a bit flexible at time. However I am a big fan of her, she is an awesome singer and a gorgeous lady.