''Kellie Pickler'' is the second studio album by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

singer

Kellie Pickler Kellie Dawn Pickler (born June 28, 1986) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of ''American Idol'' and finished in sixth place. In 2006, she signed ...

. The lead-off single, "Don't You Know You're Beautiful", was debuted at the 43rd Academy Of Country Music awards and peaked at number 21 on

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

. The album was released via BNA Records/19 Recordings on September 30, 2008. Since the albums' release, three more singles have charted; " Best Days of Your Life" at number 9 (which Pickler co-wrote with singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

), "

Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You "Didn't You Know How Much I Loved You" is a song written by Chris Lindsey, Aimee Mayo and Troy Verges, and recorded by American country music artist Kellie Pickler. It was released in August 2009 as the third single from her Kellie Pickler (album), ...

" at number 14 (a re-recording of an album cut from Pickler's debut album '' Small Town Girl'') and " Makin' Me Fall in Love Again" at number 30.

Critical reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' contributor Ken Tucker gave praise to "Somebody to Love Me" and "One Last Time" for being "aching and sincere with production to match" and highlighted "Best Days of Your Life" as "one of the album's best cuts." He later called Pickler's record "another solid step toward country stardom." Chris Neal of ''

Country Weekly ''Nash Country Weekly'' was an American lifestyle weekly magazine about country artists and their music. It was in circulation between April 1994 and May 2016. The publisher, Cumulus Media, now maintains the site ''Nash Country Daily''. Overvie ...

'' also called it "a confident step forward that finds her developing as both vocalist and songwriter, especially with the clutch of alternately sad, angry and funny post-breakup songs that dominate the album."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

cited "Rocks Instead of Rice" as a "choice cut", indicating a good song on "an album that isn't worth your time or money."

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

was critical of the record, saying it was devoid of the cornball charm and girl-next-door ennui that encapsulated '' Small Town Girl'', and was replaced with overly produced country pop tracks that bring out Pickler's limitations as a vocalist.

Track listing

All tracks are produced by

Chris Lindsey Christopher Marsh Lindsey is a Grammy nominated American country music songwriter and record producer. He has created major hits for Taylor Swift, The Civil Wars, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, Kellie Pickler, Keith Urban, Tim McG ...

Personnel

* David Angell –

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

Tom Bukovac Tom Bukovac is an American session musician and producer. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in nearby Willowick, Ohio. He has been a Nashville-based musician since 1992. He previously owned 2nd Gear, a used music consignment shop in Sou ...

–

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

* John Catchings –

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

* Lisa Cochran – background vocals * Perry Coleman – background vocals *

J.T. Corenflos Jerry Troy "J. T." Corenflos (November 6, 1963 – October 24, 2020), was an American session musician and country guitarist, who played on an estimated 75 Number One hit records as well as hundreds of other recordings and hits. He received 14 n ...

– electric guitar *

Eric Darken Eric A. Darken is an American percussionist, composer, and programmer. Biography Drawing inspiration from his grandfather, a band leader. Darken began playing drums at age 12, and played timpani and mallets in high school. Darken attended ...

–

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

* David Davidson – violin *

Dan Dugmore Dan Dugmore is an American session musician known primarily for playing the pedal steel guitar Born in 1949, Dugmore was raised in Pasadena, California. Influenced by the Flying Burrito Brothers, he learned to play steel guitar after Flying B ...

–

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...

Shannon Forrest Shannon Forrest (born August 22, 1973 in Easley, South Carolina) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. As a session drummer, he has contributed to the work of many well-known artists, and he is also a pr ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion * Paul Franklin – pedal steel guitar * Tony Harrell –

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

* Mark Hill –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Troy Lancaster – electric guitar *

–

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

, electric guitar, horn arrangements, synthesizer arrangements *

Gordon Mote Gordon James Mote (born October 25, 1970) is an American Christian country/ southern gospel singer, piano virtuoso, and worship leader. He was born blind. He has released eight studio albums. His album ''Don't Let Me Miss the Glory'' (2007) was ...

– Hammond B-3 organ, piano, synthesizer * Jimmy Nichols – Hammond B-3 organ, piano, synthesizer *

– lead vocals *

Karyn Rochelle Karyn Rochelle (born in Wilmington, North Carolina) is an American country music songwriter and vocalist. As a songwriter, she has written or co-written songs which became hits for Trisha Yearwood, LeAnn Rimes, Ronnie Milsap, Sunny Sweeney, and, ...

– background vocals * Pam Sixfin – violin *

Jimmie Lee Sloas Jimmie Lee Sloas is an American session musician, producer, and songwriter, who plays bass guitar. History Jimmie Lee Sloas, born in Ashland, Kentucky, grew up in Fairborn, Ohio and Isonville, Kentucky. His father, Dave, was a member of the p ...

– bass guitar *

– background vocals on "Best Days of Your Life" *

Ilya Toshinsky Bering Strait was a Russian country music band, whose style was sometimes called "redgrass". In 2003, the band was nominated for a Grammy Award and appeared on the TV show ''60 Minutes''. The group disbanded in 2006. The lineup on their first alb ...

– acoustic guitar * Kris Wilkinson –

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

, string arrangements *

Glenn Worf Glenn Worf is an American bassist known mainly for his work as a session musician. He has recorded with many major country music acts and also tours with Mark Knopfler. Early life and education Worf was born in Dayton, Ohio, and grew up in Madis ...

– bass guitar

Promotion

To help promoting the album, ''Kellie Pickler'' was released in a regular edition (which only includes the CD) and a Deluxe Edition, including the normal CD, along with a special DVD with 30-minute footage from Pickler on her tour and behind the scenes of the recording process (called "A Day on the Road"), and the music video for "Don't You Know You're Beautiful". The Deluxe Edition features three bonus tracks if bought on a digital retailer (such as iTunes); "Anything But Me", "Happy," and a cover of

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music singer and songwriter. During his career, Whitley released only two albums but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and 7 more after his death. ...

's "Don't Close Your Eyes".

Chart performance

The album debuted at number nine on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling about 43,000 copies in its first week. The album has thus far spent 48 weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and has sold 440,000 copies as of December 22, 2010.Idol Chatter 12-22-2010
/ref> It debuted at number one on the U.S. Top Country Albums chart, her second consecutive album to do so.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kellie Pickler (Album) 2008 albums BNA Records albums Kellie Pickler albums Albums produced by Chris Lindsey 19 Recordings albums