Carrie Underwood Was Afraid People Would Laugh at Her for Producing ‘Cry Pretty’

When Carrie Underwood had the idea to serve as a producer on her latest Cry Pretty album, she wasn’t at all sure other people would support her decision. The American Idol winner had already released five other albums, and felt that she had learned enough to helm her own project, alongside David Garcia, but questioned whether others would agree with her.

“I remember talking to my manager about potentially taking that next step and taking more ownership in my music,” Underwood shared during her talk at Country Radio Seminar. “It was a scary moment, to be honest. Because I’m like, ‘Oh, you know, she would never laugh at me.’ Everybody in my life is so supportive, but there’s always that if they laugh at me moment in so many things that everybody does in life, but especially in something creative.”

Thankfully, Underwood’s fears were unfounded, and her manager, as well as everyone else on her team, was in full support of the idea.

“It was just like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ And, the fact that I immediately had people that believed in me, in that capacity, and for me to go into that role meant everything. And then, David was all about it, and so it was fun. It was fun.”

Cry Pretty, which was just certified platinum, might have been the first time Underwood took credit as a producer, but she has always had a say in all of her albums, which gave her the experience she needed to go out on her own.

“I’ve always been lucky enough to work with people, with producers, who have been very collaborative,” Underwood said. “I won’t hesitate to say what I like, and what I don’t like, and what I think needs to be different, or we’ve got to go back to the drawing board. So, I feel like I’ve always been working towards it, just being in it and putting my stamp on things. But, in this process, I got to work with David Garcia, and it was just such a great musical and, obviously, writing combo, and such a great relationship.”

Garcia might have seemed like an unlikely choice, but was the only option for Underwood, once she decided to produce her record.

“He would do the demos, and they just sounded incredible,” recounted the singer. “I remember thinking, ‘You know, I feel like on this album I have the time,’ and I kind of devote myself fully into that. Because, I will not put my name on something that I didn’t want to do. That’s never in my album. So, it was important to me that, if I really wanted to take that step, that I was all in.”

Photo Credit: Getty Images for dcp / John Shearer