ABC - Music Lounge

Since late 2005, Kellie has been living life in fast forward. Landing a spot on the 5th season of American Idol, Kellie made it all the way to the top six, a finish good enough to guarantee her a place on the American Idol tour. Her unmistakable talent and star quality also earned her a recording contract in Nashville; she barely had time to catch her breath before she was in her new label chief’s office on Music Row, discussing her future as their new artist, a future that was taking off before she even had her seat belt fastened. She had turned 20 the month before.

She recorded her first album in between dates on the grueling 60-city/90-day American Idol tour. “Every day off I was in the studio,” she recalls. “Either they were flying out to meet me somewhere or I was flying back to Nashville to record. I had written five songs for that record—“I Wonder,” “My Angel” and “Red High Heels”—but every song I didn’t write, I had to learn in the studio the day we recorded it. I don’t remember anything about recording that album. It was all a blur.” The album Small Town Girl, a reference to Kellie’s upbringing in tiny Albemarle NC, was released on Halloween Day, 2006.

Her self-titled second album leads off with “Don’t You Know You’re Beautiful,” which is “is more than a song, it’s a statement” says Kellie. Urging inner strength, independence and confidence, the first single from Kellie Pickler introduces Kellie as she is today, a resilient young woman who has wrestled with insecurity, endured tragedy, suffered heartbreak and celebrated triumph on a winding road to maturity, self-awareness and newfound happiness.