"Idol" grad Pickler writes from the heart

By Ken Tucker

NASHVILLE (Billboard) - She has domestic turmoil and tabloid-fodder romance in her past, but Kellie Pickler just wants people "to get to know me through my music." It's fitting, then, that the "American Idol" alumna's sophomore album, due September 30, is self-titled.

Pickler's debut album, "Small Town Girl," debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart in November 2006 and has sold 783,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and featured the singles "Red High Heels," "I Wonder" and "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind."

That release was something of a rush job, completed while Pickler was on the "American Idol" tour. The new RCA album, Pickler says, is "a lot more 'me' because we had the time to make it 'me.'"

The first single, the advice-laden and inspirational "Don't You Know You're Beautiful," is No. 28 on the Hot Country Songs chart.

Pickler, who co-wrote five songs on the new album, calls her songwriting "honest." "It's like you're reading one of my journals."

For example, "Somebody to Love Me" comes from "the darkest time of my life," says Pickler, who has spoken in the past about her father's addictions and jail sentence. "It's really personal. Every time I write a song it gives me closure in that part of my life."

"One Last Time," which Pickler calls "my favorite song I've ever written," is another personal revelation. "Writing has been the most healing out of anything I've ever done," she says. "Just writing it down on paper is so much better than going to the therapist."

Pickler wrote the you-should-have-kept-me-when-you-had-the-chance "Best Days of Your Life" with gal pal Taylor Swift when the two were on tour with Brad Paisley last year. Swift adds harmony to the tune.

Pickler, who will appear at the Canadian Country Music Awards September 8 in Winnipeg, will co-host "CMA Music Festival: Country's Night to Rock" that same night with Swift and "Dancing With the Stars" dancer-turned-country-singer Julianne Hough on ABC. She also will hit the road with headliner Sugarland and Ashton Shepherd when that tour kicks off September 13 in Asheville, North Carolina.

Reuters/Billboard