Carrie Underwood’s got the write stuff for new album
Songwriting: Underwood co-wrote seven of 13 titles on her New album, ‘Play On’

BY BRANDY McDONNELL Comments 2
Published: November 6, 2009

Between the No. 1 hits and the TV appearances, the magazine covers and the red carpet fashions, music fans can be forgiven for forgetting that country music superstar Carrie Underwood was once an aspiring journalist.

In this CD cover image released by 19 Recordings Limited / Arista Nashville, "Play On," by Carrie Underwood is shown. AP Photo

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But the credits for her new album, "Play On,” serve as a pointed reminder that the Oklahoma native was sharpening her pen long before she won "American Idol” in 2005.

"I got a lot of practice writing in general, especially in college. You know, in high school I wrote for the school paper; in college I wrote for the school paper and was always busy writing stories,” she said in a September news conference at her Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame induction in Muskogee.

Underwood, 26, co-wrote seven of the 13 songs on "Play On,” her third album. She helped pen four tracks on her second record, 2007’s "Carnival Ride,” and one on her 2005 debut "Some Hearts.”

"This one, I had a lot more time to do a lot more writing, and I feel like I’m a lot more comfortable in myself as a writer. That just happens — the more you do it, the better, the easier it gets, I suppose,” said Underwood, who received her mass communications degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah almost a year after she won the reality TV singing contest.

While she is best known for belting out feisty breakup songs, uplifting anthems and soaring ballads, Underwood is demonstrating a knack for helping craft her hits. Three songs she co-wrote for "Carnival Ride” — "So Small,” "All-American Girl” and "Last Name” — topped the country charts.

For "Play On,” she set out to stretch her songwriting skills.

"I kind of branched out and wrote with a lot of people that I’ve never even met before — people that weren’t even necessarily involved in country music,” she said. "We’d take like me and a good friend of mine who I’d written with before who is a staple in country music and then kind of bring another element to it, which was a lot of fun.”

For instance, she penned "Cowboy Casanova” with respected Nashville songsmith Brett James (who co-wrote her Grammy-winning hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel”) and hip-hop writer/producer Mike Elizondo, known for his work with Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent. The saucy lead-off single zipped into the top five in seven weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.

"This is probably the fifth song I’ve written with Carrie, and she’s just delightful. She’s a fantastic person, she’s a fantastic singer, obviously an amazing singer, and she’s a really, really great songwriter,” said James, who grew up in Oklahoma City and Cordell.

The songstress also wrote with rockers Raine Maida of My Lady Peace on the lovely ballad "Unapologize” and Zac Maloy, former front man of Oklahoma City band The Nixons, on the spiritual tearjerker "Temporary Home.”

"I had to be a fan,” she said of Maloy. "I was like, ‘I saw you when I was in high school.’ So, it was a lot of fun for me to work with him.”

Underwood, who counts fellow Oklahoman Garth Brooks as one of her idols, remains unapologetic for making rock- and pop-flavored country music.

"Right now in country music is a great time for a lot of different kinds of country music,” she said. "If you turn on the radio you can find something you like, whether you like things that are more kind of contemporary country, or you find more things that are traditional country or more kind of rock-influenced.”

But she acknowledged her mix-and-match approach to choosing songwriting partners didn’t always work.

"Sometimes we’d get things that were like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is new and fresh and awesome,’ and sometimes it was like, ‘Whoa — what have we done?’” she said. "Most of those you’ll probably never hear — that’s why they were ‘whoa, what-have-we-done moments.’ But it was a great learning experience.”

Among the collaborations that didn’t make it onto the album were songs she co-wrote with fellow Oklahoma native and Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill.

"It was still an investment in somebody you like, and a neat kid who’s got her head on straight. And you just root for her,” said Gill, who sings on her new track "Look at Me.”

"She’s all things good.”

Contributing: Assistant Entertainment Editor George Lang.