Carrie Underwood Interview

Dec 27, 2006

By: Sindy

Carrie Underwood has been a busy girl ever since she was crowned the American Idol. She recently released her debut CD, Some Hearts, which quickly reached the top of the Billboard country albums chart, and performed her first single, Jesus, Take the Wheel at the 39th Country Music Awards! Find out what else Carrie Underwood has been up to!

Sindy: Hi Carrie, congratulations on the new album!
Carrie Underwood: Thank you very much.

Sindy: How does it feel to have your CD out in stores?
Carrie Underwood: It feels good cuz it's done.

Sindy: Are you happy with the finished product?
Carrie Underwood: Yeah, it's great!

Sindy: What was the recording process like?
Carrie Underwood: I really enjoyed it very much just because it's what I like to do, go in everyday and sing - I was in heaven!

Sindy: Was it what you expected?
Carrie Underwood: Yeah, I had the easy job. I'd just go in and sing, but there was a lot more involved than I thought there was - the musicans and the producing and doing little extras to make it sound great.

Sindy: What would your favorite song on the CD be?
Carrie Underwood: I don't have a favorite. There's stuff about every one that I love very much that's all different, but I can't really pick out a favorite.

Sindy: How would you describe the sound on the album?
Carrie Underwood: Contemporary country meets everything else. There's a lot of influences on there and I think I fill in a little bit of everything. We have some pretty rockin' songs on there, we have some country songs on there and we have some inbetween songs - just everything.

Sindy: Cool! Who were your big musical influences growing up?
Carrie Underwood: I was exposed to pretty much everything growing up. I listened to country of course and I listened to '80s music - just everything. Reba McEntire I've always looked up to, and I got to listen to things like The Beatles of course, and Creedence Clearwater Revival from my dad - just everything!

Sindy: If you could collaborate with anyone in the industry, who would you choose?
Carrie Underwood: I'd pick somebody from a different genre. I think that'd be really interesting to have some one from rock music or something, kind of like the Loretta Lynn/Jack White thing.

Sindy: Who's been the coolest person you've got to work with so far?
Carrie Underwood: Oh goodness! Just the level of producers I got to work with was really cool. I got to work with Mark Bright and Dan Huff who have both had huge success with a lot of people. And of course Dan Huff is a wonderful musician, so it was really cool for me to work with such wonderful producers.

Sindy: What was your favorite part of the American Idol process?
Carrie Underwood: Winning! Learning just the new stuff about myself, it really was a wonderful learning experience. Our vocal coach on the show kept calling it star boot camp. It was just cool to see how the whole show process went down. And of course I got to sing all the time, that was great.

Sindy: Did you have a least favorite part?
Carrie Underwood: The least favorite part was after I'd sing a song and having to stand there and listen to what the judges said.

Sindy: So how do you take criticism, especially when it's on live TV?
Carrie Underwood: I don't take criticism well. If it's coming from somebody who knows me and who loves me, like my mom, then it's fine cuz I know she's telling me out of love. Some people though, it's very hard to take criticism from just because it's hard to stand there and have somebody tell you that you didn't do a good job. I think anybody would have a difficult time with that.

Sindy: Did it get any easier as the show went on?
Carrie Underwood: A little bit just because you kind of got to expect it after awhile.

Sindy: How has winning American Idol changed your life?
Carrie Underwood: Everything about my life is completely different. My life went from being laidback and all about school and friends to crazy and TV and singing everywhere.

Sindy: So how do you adjust to the change?
Carrie Underwood: Just go with it. That's the only advice I could ever give to anybody - don't get too stressed out about anything.

Sindy: What's the coolest thing you've done since you won?
Carrie Underwood: I got to perform on the CMAs - that was really awesome.