American Idol’s Kellie Pickler appears in A Christmas Tour with country music star Phil Vassar on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ.
Pickler, who grew up in the small town of Albemarle, North Carolina, gained fame at the age of nineteen when she appeared as a contestant on the fifth season of TV’s American Idol. Since her stint on Idol, Pickler has gone on to release four country albums.
In 2006, she released her debut album, Small Town Girl, which produced three hit singles — “Red High Heels,” “I Wonder,” and “Things That Never Cross a Man’s Mind.” It also sold over 900,000 copies. She followed that up with her self-titled sophomore recording, 2008’s Kellie Pickler, featuring “Best Days of Your Life,” a song she co-wrote with Taylor Swift.
Pickler’s 2011 effort, 100 Proof, was named the #1 Country Album of The Year by Rolling Stone, and in 2013, Pickler released her latest recording, The Woman I Am, featuring a title track co-written with her husband, songwriter Kyle Jacobs.
In addition to her career as a recording artist, since American Idol, Pickler has also become a television favorite, having made guest appearances on Ellen, Good Morning America, Rachel Ray, Today, and other shows. In 2013, she partnered with dance coach Derek Hough to take the top honors on TV’s Dancing with the Stars.
Her hit CMT series, I Love Kellie Pickler — in which she co-starred with her husband, Kyle Jacobs — ran for two seasons, and her new talk show, Pickler and Ben — with media personality Ben Aaron — premiered in September on CMT.
In addition to her television appearances, Pickler also travels the world doing live concert performances. A proud supporter of our troops, she’s completed eleven USO Tours thus far, and she’s also currently in the midst of the aforementioned Christmas concert tour with Phil Vassar.
Spotlight Central recently had a chance to catch up with Pickler and chat with her about her childhood musical experiences, her stint on American Idol, her songwriting accomplishments, and her upcoming show at The State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ.
Spotlight Central: We understand you were born in North Carolina, and as a young person, your major influences were your grandparents. Were they the ones who inspired you to get involved in music?
Kellie Pickler: I wouldn’t say my grandparents really inspired me, per se, to get into music — but as far as playing music in the home, my grandmother listened to music.
[Pauses] Actually, I would say it was Shirley Temple! My grandmother loved Shirley Temple, and we watched Shirley Temple together a lot when I was a kid. And I can remember that being the first time, as a child, when I became interested in music and entertainment — because I loved Shirley Temple!
Spotlight Central: So watching her perform inspired you to become a singer?
Kellie Pickler: Yeah — you could say that, for sure! And, of course, my grandma had lots of records. I loved Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette and Dolly Parton — they put their lives in the form of a song, and I was always just fascinated by that.
Spotlight Central: We read that at your high school graduation, you performed a song by one of our favorite singers, Leann Rimes.
Kellie Pickler: Oh, I did!
Spotlight Central: It was called “On the Side of Angels.” How was that song chosen, and how did the performance go?
Kellie Pickler: Gosh — I was seventeen when I did that. And they asked me to sing at the graduation, and I did — and if I can remember it correctly — I think it went ok!
Spotlight Central: Well, we guess it did, too, considering where you are now!
Kellie Pickler: [Laughs] Seems like only yesterday.
Spotlight Central: When you were nineteen, you auditioned for American Idol, where judge Simon Cowell really liked you a lot. Do you have any favorite memories of your time on Idol?
Kellie Pickler: I just think it went really fast! I remember experiencing so many first-time things with the world, you know? I was so green — I had never been on an airplane; I had never been anywhere. It was just a whole different world going from Albemarle, North Carolina, to Hollywood.
But it was an incredible experience, and I wished that I had journaled then — I wish I had written so many things down and kept notes.
But, overall, my experience was wonderful. I mean, I can only say great things about Idol — it completely changed my life for the better. It led me to Nashville, and it helped my dreams to become a reality.
Spotlight Central: Well, we were all rooting for you! And then, after Idol, you had your first single, “Red High Heels” — which you co-wrote — and for which you even won an ASCAP award for composing. And on your first album, Small Town Girl, you had five songs which you co-wrote. So was songwriting something that you did all the time you were growing up, or was it something you fell into later on?
Kellie Pickler: You know, when I met songwriters Chris Lindsey and Amy Mayo and Karyn Rochelle, they really inspired me and they pulled the songwriter inside of me out. I had written before, but I never thought, “I’m a songwriter” — in other words, I’d written things down when I was younger, but I never thought to put music to those words.
And as for songwriting? I think anybody can do it if you’re just honest — you just write down your life in the form of a song, like you’re writing in a diary or a journal — and, then, that can become a song. So Chris and Amy and Karyn really helped me to discover that writer inside myself.
Spotlight Central: One of the most emotional performances we’ve ever seen by anyone was your performance of your song, “I Wonder,” on the Country Music Awards show. And not only did you get a standing ovation from the entire world of country music for that, but you also received another songwriting award for that number! So how difficult was it for you to write that piece, in which you talk about your relationship with your mother.
Kellie Pickler: Yeah. You know, at the time, I was nineteen — and green — and I was just coming off of the Idol experience. We were in the middle of the Idol tour, and I was in a very vulnerable place in my life. A lot had changed — my whole world had changed, really. And it’s at that point in your life where you’re in the transition from being a young girl into a young woman, where you’re not quite grown yet, you know?
But “I Wonder” has really been a song that’s hit a lot of people — so many people identify with it. Whether it’s their mother or father or whomever — maybe they were adopted — who knows? — everybody has a story. So it really was one of those songs that just happened to be a true story that, unfortunately, many can people relate to.
And, really, I think that’s what music is supposed to do — to bring people together. We have those songs that we run to when we need to celebrate the good times. And we also have those songs we run to when we need to mourn in sad times — when we need closure for whatever reason.
And I’m so amazed at what that song did, because when we wrote it, I had no idea that we were even going to record it! Joe Galante, who was the head of Sony Music in Nashville at the time, heard it — and it was just a little work tape; that was it — and he just said, “This is it for you. This is a hit.” And he called it.
Spotlight Central: It’s just an extremely powerful song and an extremely powerful performance, too.
Kellie Pickler: Thank you so much.
Spotlight Central: And you wrote your song, “The Best Days of Your Life” with Taylor Swift.
Kellie Pickler: Yeah — many moons ago! We were in the middle of the Brad Paisley tour. It was my first tour after Idol — around 2007 — when we wrote it, but it didn’t come out on an album until later.
Spotlight Central: Was it fun writing with her?
Kellie Pickler: Oh, yeah! We were both opening up for Brad — it was Taylor and Jack Ingram and myself, and it was the best tour — we had so much fun! Brad’s never a dull moment [laughs] so we always had to keep our eyes open for pranks — but it was a great tour. Everyone on the tour was a songwriter, and Taylor and I wrote that after a show one night. I ended up recording it — I guess a year or two later — on my second record, but it was just great creating it with Taylor; she’s an amazing songwriter!
Spotlight Central: We heard you co-wrote the title song from your latest album, The Woman I Am, with your husband, Kyle Jacobs. What’s it like writing songs with your husband?
Kellie Pickler: Oh, it’s wonderful — nobody knows me better. He’s an incredible songwriter and composer, and he plays every instrument, so any time we sit down at a piano we know we’re probably gonna write. And it’s really neat that we are able to share the same passion for music and for putting our lives into songs — so he’s definitely my favorite person to write with, for sure!
Spotlight Central: You’re going to be starring in the A Christmas Tour concert on December 20 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ, with Phil Vassar. Can you tell us what audience members can expect to see and hear at this show?
Kellie Pickler: Yeah! Well, Phil is amazing — he’s an incredible entertainer — and he has so many hits. I forget how many hits he’s written until I’m sitting there watching the show and I’m going, “Oh my, gosh, I love that song, and that song…” you know?
And, of course, he wrote “Naughty List,” which we recorded, and which we perform together out on the road. We love it — it’s so much fun — and the crowd seems to really enjoy it, too. And it’s really a fun show — it’s so full of energy — so there’s never a dull moment!
Spotlight Central: Do the two of you perform your hits together in the show?
Kellie Pickler: Well, first, we come out and perform together, but then I’ll perform a few songs, and then Phil will come out, and then I’ll come back out and join him. So, yes, we do a wide variety of songs — and then the two of us will finish the show together.
Spotlight Central: And with all the great hits you have together, it sounds like it will be a really special evening!
Kellie Pickler: Yeah — and you just never know what to expect!
Spotlight Central: [Laughs] So is there anything else you’d like to add?
Kellie Pickler: Yes, just to say we’re really looking forward to this show! We hope to see everyone there….‘cause we’re all gonna have a really good time together!
A Christmas Tour show with Phil Vassar and Kellie Pickler will take place on Wednesday, December 20, 2017 at 8pm at The State Theatre, 15 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ. Tickets range from $35–75 and are available by clicking on https://www.stnj.org/events. For more info, please call 732–246–7469, Mon. through Fri. between 10am and 6pm or on Sat. from 1pm to 5pm.
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