Carrie Underwood Gets Back to Work With Play On

Part 1:

Carrie Underwood knew she needed to finish a new album this year. Luckily, she viewed the writing and recording process of Play On as a labor of love, rather than just one more thing to check off her huge to-do list. The album will be released Tuesday (Nov. 3).

"I hate deadlines," she says. "I love projects. I love things that I love to do. If I have a project that I am totally into, and I love it, then I am all about it. I will go above and beyond and do crazy stuff. I was always the kid in class that would bring something that was really extravagant and had way too much effort put into it. Everybody else would do theirs just enough to get an A, and I had mine that was like ... awesome."

That attention to detail paid off with "Cowboy Casanova," the elaborate first video from the project. Filmed in New Orleans with a cast of glamorous dancers, its sassy demeanor is in direct contrast to "I Told You So," a traditional country ballad written by Randy Travis, who reached No. 1 with his own version in 1988. The popular remake brought him a CMA nomination for song of the year, while he and Underwood are contenders for vocal event. In addition, Underwood is in the running for her fourth consecutive female vocalist trophy. No pressure, but she's also co-hosting the CMA Awards on Nov. 11 with Brad Paisley and a two-hour variety special on the Fox network on Dec. 7. And as show times approach, she's seemingly taking it in stride.

"Deadlines, especially on things that I'm not so fond of, I'm not great with," says Underwood, who won the American Idol crown in 2005. "I just want to do things to be creative and have fun with it."

In the first half of this two-part interview with CMT.com, the upbeat Oklahoma native explains the country influence in her voice, her creative collaborations with American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi and why it's sometimes tough to write with guys.

CMT: When I was listening to "Mama's Song," I could hear some Reba McEntire phrasing in there. Did you have many of her albums growing up?

Underwood: Oh, for sure. I mean, she's an Okie girl. I think I'm really lucky that I really did listen to all kinds of people and all kinds of music. I've had other people ask me questions like that -- 'Did you listen to Martina growing up?' 'Did you listen to rock music growing up?' -- because in some song somewhere, they can hear that influence in my voice. I take that as a huge compliment because who doesn't want to be like Reba?

Can you hear it in your own voice?

I think it's harder for me to hear it in my own voice because I hold these other women up so high. I can never be like Reba. And I'm not trying to be, either. You know, I want to be true to myself, but that was a compliment you just paid me, so thank you.

>> More at CMT.com

Carrie Underwood announces more TV appearances

Superstar Carrie Underwood is celebrating the release of her new album "Play On" in a big way in the Big Apple this week, with appearances on several morning and late shows.

Today she also announced additional television appearances set for the week after she co-hosts the 43rd Annual CMA Awards on Nov. 11 with Brad Paisley.

1. But first, she kicks off a week of country music superstars tonight on "The Late Show with David Letterman." The show starts at 10:30 Monday on CBS, local channel 6.

2. Her album, "Play On," hits retailers Tuesday. Tuesday morning, she will appear on "Good Morning America" live from outside Lincoln Center, on ABC, Tulsa channel 8.

3. Thursday, she will appear on "Live! with Regis and Kelly," at 9 a.m. on NBC, Tulsa channel 2.

4. On Nov. 11, she and Paisley will host the CMA Awards on ABC.

5. Later this month, Underwood will make her debut appearance on "The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien" on Nov. 16.

6. She will also debut on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" with an outdoor performance on Nov. 19.

7. On Nov. 18, Underwood will take over the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" with special live performances, talk time and more.

8. To wrap up that week, Underwood also will perform Nov. 22 on the "American Music Awards" live from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. She is nominated as Favorite Female Artist in the country category.

9. During the week of the CMA Awards, on Nov. 10, Underwood will make her second appearance on "Good Morning America," live from downtown Nashville. Later that evening, she will be featured on Robin Robert’s ABC Special "In The Spotlight with Robin Roberts: Bright Lights. Big Stars. All Access Nashville."

10. On Thursday, Nov. 12, the A&E network will debut "Biography: Carrie Underwood."

11. On Dec. 7, Underwood will headline her own variety television special on Fox at 7 p.m., and she will perform new tunes from her upcoming studio album "Play On," as well as previous hits and holiday classics. Musical guests will include Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley and Oklahoma native David Cook.

The 26-year-old Checotah native was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in September.

To date, Underwood is the best-selling "American Idol" winner in the U.S., with album sales topping 10 million.

Source: TulsaWorld

It's a busy time for Carrie Underwood

It's a busy time for Carrie Underwood

NASHVILLE — Every interview with a country singer should start like this: Walk into a room just as the fresh-faced, all-American girl confides to a friend, "I fell off the wagon – hard!"

But Carrie Underwood didn't go on a bender worthy of the character in her 2008 hit Last Name, who wakes up married to a man she doesn't know after an alcohol-induced blackout.

No, she had a milkshake. With Oreo bits. And, she whispers, "It was good."

For the slender, famously vegetarian Underwood, 26, the creamy treat – which came with fries and a veggie burger during a recent visit to a Las Vegas burger joint – was a serious indulgence. "I don't do milkshakes often," Underwood says. "I probably haven't had one in years, to be honest."

After all, she'll be doing all sorts of TV appearances over the next few weeks to promote her third album, Play On, out Tuesday. She starts with a performance tonight on Late Show With David Letterman and a Good Morning America outdoor concert at New York's Lincoln Center Tuesday morning. On Nov. 11, she and labelmate Brad Paisley will host the 43rd Country Music Association Awards, for which she's nominated in two categories, including female vocalist of the year, which she has won the past three years.

In other words, she needs to stay healthy, and she has dresses to fit into.

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For Underwood, there's no holding back on 'Play On'

NASHVILLE — This time, Carrie Underwood feels as if she has some room to play.

She has a healthy string of chart-topping singles under her belt since winning American Idol in 2005. Her latest, the almost-urban Cowboy Casanova, is in the top five on USA TODAY's country singles airplay chart and climbing. Her first two albums have sold well enough that a good first week for her third –Play On, out Tuesday – could push her past the 10 million mark.

"I wanted to get out of my comfort zone," Underwood says. So she took familiar Nashville co-writers and added outside influences such as Idol judge Kara DioGuardi, fellow Oklahoman Zac Maloy (who once fronted the rock band The Nixons), Canadian singer/songwriter Chantal Kreziazuk and her husband, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida.

I'd take some other small element and bring it into our world to see what we could do with it," Underwood says. "Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't, but I think it ended up being different and progressive."

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