Your latest album [Crazy Ex-Girlfriend] has been met with rave reviews not typically bestowed upon country releases. How aware are you of that cred?
Oh absolutely, I’m aware of it. It’s so scary to release an album, especially a second album following up one that had success like Kerosene, and I’m not one to read my own reviews, because it becomes a bad habit. But I couldn’t help it this time around—every single review that came in, basically, was so great, so complimentary, in huge magazines and from huge writers. It’s a really awesome feeling, because it’s one thing for the fans to love it, but when you get that much critical acclaim from people that normally wouldn’t even notice country music it just means so much to me as a songwriter.
You’ve spoken about how you prefer your country music to be more gritty and real than what’s typically popular. Do you feel like your acclaim proves a lot of other people feel the same way?
I definitely think so. There’s room for all of it, but I think this part of music in general has been kind of lacking. To me, it’s what Merle Haggard and David Allan Coe and Hank Williams wanted country to be, and I think it’s strayed away from that a lot, but I think it’s coming back around. And I hope that I’m one of the catalysts to help bring it back.
A lot of what’s been written about you paints a picture of a gun-toting, revenge-seeking rabble-rouser. Are you enjoying that, or has it gotten a little bit overblown?
It is me ... well, part of me. I’m from Texas, so it’s natural. But some people think I’m mean and angry, and I’m like, “No I’m not! I’m a 23-year-old girl and I cry all the time. I love puppies and makeup.” I still have that girly side. After Kerosene I didn’t want to get put in that box of, “She’s this badass chick, don’t mess with her.” That is part of who I am, but I think that’s in every girl. And I think on this album I’ve really showed both sides of myself.
Opening for Toby Keith, with Flynnville Train. September 8, 8 p.m., $67-$117. Mandalay Bay Events Center, 632-7580.