Carrie Underwood's career is the stuff of dreams. Possessed of
that rarest of combination -- undeniable talent, an extraordinary work
ethic, and girl-next-door likeability -- she blossomed as a national
phenomenon before tens of millions of viewers by winning American Idol,
captivated by both her vocal talent and personality. The artistic growth
that has accompanied her subsequent rise into the upper reaches of the
entertainment world has placed her among the foremost artists of her
generation.
Hers is superstardom with a human face. Press, fans and peers alike
have recognized that beneath the fairy tale gowns there still beats the
heart of a dreamer, and her grace amid the extraordinary demands of such
a public rise has given each accomplishment added luster.
Those accomplishments have been myriad. With just three albums behind
her, Carrie has built a career that would be the treasured work of a
lifetime for most artists. The breadth and depth of her work speaks for
itself -- songs like "Jesus, Take The Wheel," "Before He Cheats," "So
Small," "All-American Girl," "Last Name," "Just A Dream," “Cowboy
Casanova,“ “Temporary Home,” “Undo It,” and “Mama’s Song,” among others,
have been a rich part of the new millennium's musical soundscape. She
has passed the thirteen million mark in CD sales and was the first
country artist in history to achieve ten #1 singles from her first two
albums. She scored three more #1 singles from Play On bringing her total
to 13 #1 singles. She is a two-time ACM Entertainer of the Year
recipient, the seventh woman in the show's 42-year history to take that
crown and the first woman in history to win the award more than once.
She was both ACM and CMA Female Vocalist of the Year for three
consecutive years, and her list of awards includes five CMAs and ten
ACMs, as well as five Grammys and a host of others from People's Choice,
Billboard, the American Music Awards, Teen Choice, CMT and many others.
She has three times been chosen co-host of the CMA Awards, and she was
the top-selling country female touring artist of both 2008 and 2010, as
both her headlining "Carnival Ride Tour" and “Play On Tour,”
respectively, played to more than 1 million people each year.
Among Carrie's most treasured milestones is her induction into the
Grand Ole Opry. Despite all her accolades, travels from New York to Los
Angeles, all the entertainment shows and magazine covers, she remains
firmly rooted in country music. She was invited to join by one of her
idols, Randy Travis, whose "I Told You So" she took to the top of the
charts in 2009, and inducted by another, Garth Brooks.
"The induction award they gave me says, 'Hey, you're a part of the
family,'" she says. "It means a lot to me because it's the heart of
country music, the church, the sacred place, the super-elite club that
says you love this music."
Her love for music is evident throughout her most recent album, Play
On, as is her arrival as a mature artist, confident, fully in command of
her extraordinary vocal skills, and tackling a wider artistic range both
lyrically and musically. Equally important, in co-writing seven of the
CD's thirteen songs, she emerges as a songwriter of real depth, opening
a wider window into her creativity and allowing her fans their most
intimate look at Carrie the artist and person.
"Because of my songwriting," she says, "I feel like somebody can
listen to this album and get more of a sense of who I am. They can
listen to certain things and think, 'This is really sincere. This is
really emotional. She was a writer on it, so this comes from something
that was deep inside of her heart.' I do feel like people can get to
know me a lot better from Play On."
Carrie's songwriting has already brought her four awards from BMI,
the performing rights organization, for "All-American Girl," "So Small,"
“Last Name,” and “Cowboy Casanova.” The public's first glimpse came with
Play On's first single, "Cowboy Casanova," which Carrie co-wrote with
Mike Elizondo and Brett James. The song, with its high-energy look at "a
snake with blue eyes" roared into the Top 10 in just four weeks.
Much of the album is in fact concerned with the ups and downs of
love, the good and bad among the world's men. Songs range from "This
Time" and "Mama's Song," two takes on the best that love has to offer,
to "Undo It" and "Songs Like This," which lay it on the line for the men
in relationships gone wrong, and from "Look At Me," which features vocal
help from Vince Gill and deals with the pure exhilaration of falling in
love, to "What Can I Say," a song of regret featuring Sons of Sylvia.
One of the true vocal highlights is "Someday When I Stop Loving You," an
exquisitely sung exploration of sadness in the wake of a failed
relationship.
Carrie's own experiences let her infuse both ends of the spectrum
with the sting of truth. "I've seen a lot in the dating world," she
says, "and it's not one-dimensional, where I'm in love all the time or
hate men all the time. I've been everywhere in between, and through my
own experience or that of friends, I've seen every kind of guy, and I
think some of these songs capture the everywhereness of being a woman."
But there is much more to be found on Play On. The title cut is an
exhortation to persistence in the midst of obstacles, sung with the fire
that has marked so much of Carrie's work. "Temporary Home," penned by
Carrie with Zac Maloy and Luke Laird, is one of the strongest
representations of hope ever committed to CD, as Carrie tells the story
of a boy in foster care, a young mother in crisis, and a man facing his
own mortality.
Given Carrie's emergence as a force for social good in terms of
charitable work and humanitarian causes, "Change" is in a very real
sense the album's cornerstone.
"This is a world so big it can break your heart," she says. "It just
seems like there are so many problems. What do you do? Where do you
start? Well, there are opportunities every day, so many things around
you where you can make a difference. Sometimes it's the smallest
thing--the person in this song had just 36 cents, you know?--and I'm
really anticipating being able to do some good with this song."
For all the variety in its subject matter, for all the musical
avenues it explores, Play On is an album that will resonate for its
energy, its celebration of life, and its reflection of Carrie as an
artist hitting stride.
"There's a little more mature subject matter on certain songs for
sure," Carrie says, "but I like to think I'm still young enough to keep
the fun and the sass and things like that. I'm also in a good place
where I do feel a lot more grown-up, more confident in my writing and in
my ability to open myself up a little bit more."
By now the particulars of Carrie's early years are well known. She
grew up in Checotah, Oklahoma, "playing on dirt roads, climbing trees,
and, of course, singing," something she did in church, and in grade
school musicals and talent shows. She attended Northeastern State
University in Tahlequah, OK, majoring in broadcast journalism with an
eye to a practical career. Her sorority sisters at Sigma Sigma Sigma,
though, urged her to sing publicly, and she overcame her shyness enough
to sing at a Branson-style show that included singing, dancing and
comedy. "It was mainly there," she says, "that I learned what it was
like to be in front of a crowd." During her senior year, she heard about
auditions for American Idol, and the magic that accompanied her tryout
has been unfolding before the eyes of the American public ever since.
Carrie still treasures the upbringing that has helped her keep her
feet on the ground while her life and career have soared. She visits
family and friends in Checotah when she can, and she has established a
foundation called C.A.T.S. - Checotah Animal, Town, and School
Foundation to focus charitable efforts on her hometown community.
"I felt like it was a really good time to start something that could
do good for others," she says, "because I've had so much good fortune
just poured on me over the past five years that it's definitely time to
give back."
Giving back has become a big part of her life, from traveling to
Africa with American Idol's Idol Gives Back, to visiting troops in the
Middle East, it is her giving spirit that she sees as the cornerstone of
her legacy. While she is working to make meaningful and lasting art, she
is working to keep that quest within a larger context.
"Everybody has the power to do something, to be a contributing
force," she says, "and I would rather people look back on my life and
say, 'She made the world a better place.' We can all do things like
that, and I believe that when opportunities arise for you to do good,
you should do good."
Her commitment to that goal, like her incredible accomplishments as
an artist, has made Carrie synonymous with all that is best in modern
music. With Play On, she takes both her life and her art another big
step forward.
