It took three years for Carrie Underwood to record Cry Pretty, released in 2018. Her last album before that was Storyteller, which did, in fact, tell a lot of stories, but not as many as Cry Pretty. Her latest set of tunes marked the first record Underwood co-produced (with David Garcia), and came after a lot of personal heartaches, including her three miscarriages and fall outside her home. The result of all of her personal growth became Cry Pretty, which earned the Oklahoma native a CMA Award nomination for Album of the Year.
“I feel like between Storyteller and Cry Pretty, there was definitely a lot of growth for me as a person – emotional growth and spiritual growth and my family,” Underwood explained, via her record label. “And I feel like just kind of taking more ownership in my thoughts and my feelings and my wants and my creative abilities, and just taking more ownership over all of those things, and wanting that to translate into this album. I like to take time between projects. When do you have time to live the life you’re writing about? It’s so important to me.
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“I like to go on tour and when I’m out, I’m out,” she continued. “I’m on the road. We are working hard. We’re killing it. We’re doing what we do. When I write, I want to write. I want to immerse myself in that. Whatever I’m doing, I want to completely immerse myself in and that includes living a life. I just feel like that’s so important. And for me as a mom and as a wife and as a friend and daughter and all of those things, it’s just important to take a minute to live a life worth writing about.”
Underwood is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year, as well as the night’s biggest honor Entertainer of the Year. For Entertainer, Underwood is the only female, in a category that includes Garth Brooks, Eric Church, Chris Stapleton and Keith Urban, but Underwood isn’t hiding the fact that she wants to walk away with the coveted trophy.
“I personally feel like Entertainer, it’s everything,” Underwood acknowledged. “So, I feel like people kind of narrow it down to tours, but I feel like there’s so many more components to it. And, you know, I’m blessed and lucky to be nominated, obviously, and fantastic company. It would be amazing, but of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want it. Sorry boys.”
The 2019 CMA Awards will air live from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
Photo Credit: Getty / Taylor Hill
