Gretchen Wilson... country's true redneck woman.
I had noticed every week I was focusing mainly on cowboys (I can't help it, I love them) so for this week's blog I thought I'd feature one of country music's rough and rowdy cowgirls - Gretchen Wilson. Gretchen was born in Illinois in 1973 and has not had an easy life since then. She lived with her mom, moving from trailor to trailor, and by the time she was 12 she was working full time at a bar to help pay for living expenses. She never thought she'd make it in the music industry until country stars Big and Rich ("Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy") heard her singing at a local bar. Now a few years later, Gretchen, who is also a mother, has two hit albums and is a strong female icon for many women. After listening to her music, you can tell that she has gone through some rough times but in the end those are the things that made her stronger. She's proud of who she is, where she comes from, and everything else that goes along with that!Gretchen is still new to the country music industry. Her first album "Here For the Party" was released in May of 2004 and really took off with the release of her first hit single "Redneck Woman". Even though"Redneck Woman" is a little wilder than most country music, especially by female artists, it was a huge success! I'm sure almost all of you have heard the song by now and just like many of her other songs it has a catchy tune and humurous lyrics. Another one of my favorites is "Homewrecker" - you can't listen to it without blasting it and singing along. Gretchen's newest single, "All Jacked Up", is a typical Gretchen Wilson song - fun, wild, and a mix of rock and country. She does have alot of mellow songs too though. Some of my favorites are "When I think about Cheatin", "Holdin You", and "What Happened". These songs show that Gretchen isn't as much of a hard ass as she seems to be at first, she has a soft side too. Her latest album, "All Jacked Up", was just realeased a couple of weeks ago. I haven't had the chance to listen to it yet but I'm looking forward to it!
In response to people's comments...
Meg- I'm not sure if there is anywhere to go country line dancing around here. I tried looking it up but I couldn't find anything. I have a friend from home who does it and she always talks about how much fun it is. If you find a place though, let me know, I would love to try it - what can be better than dancing with cowboys?
K Ricker - I love the song "Austin"! But I'm not sure if it is Brad Paisley who sings it. I always thought it was Blake Shelton, but maybe I'm wrong. When I looked it up on Google it had both names as singing it, so who knows. I also love Dierks Bentley - I'm sure his concert was amazing!
posted by Abby at 11:41 AM
7 Comments:
Gretchen Wilson is an amazing artist and role model. She really rose to the top by working hard and not giving up. She is who she is and does not pretend to be some pop-star with hits. She is true to her roots, honest, and doesn’t give a damn what people say about her. I really admire her. Her music is catchy, fun, and awesome! I love all her songs and have illegal downloaded all of them. Gretchen, like a few other country singers, has also built up non-country fans. For example, I have friends that do not listen to country, but know who Gretchen is and adore her songs. My boyfriend and I love the music video for All Jacked Up~ it’s hysterical! I truly look forward to seeing her in concert one day!
I'm not gonna lie, I think Gretchen is pretty sexy. She is one of the few females that tries to bring out the rock n' roll in her music. Her music is different from that of other female artists, and I see that as a good thing. I'd have to agree with Jackie that her "All jacked up" video is pretty hilarious because typically that would be a guy busting out his window to get into his truck, not a woman. I personally like song, "Here for the party." The line that says, "I may not be a ten but the boys say I clean up good, and if I gave them half a chance for some rowdy romance you know they would" had me thinking you can sign me up for a chance. Overall I think she is a well-rounded artist because she can portray herself as the wild one and the somber serious person quite well.
I absolutely LOVE Gretchen Wilson. She is probably the first country singer I would like to meet. She seems so fun and easygoing as well as down to earth and happy. I knew that she had a somewhat rocky childhood, but I had no idea that she was working full time at the age of 12...let alone to help with living expenses! That is so tough to have gone through - no longer she has such confidence and character. She has been through so much and has made such a name for herself and I think thats just so awesome. I love her "All Jacked Up" albulm - I'm curious to see which songs make it big off of that album because if it was up to me I'd make all of them singles! She is definately a strong female icon and it is so great to have a female in the entertainment industry that serves as such a role model and doesn't care what anyone thinks or says because I think we all need to be a little big more like that. All I have to say is THANK YOU Big and Rich for bringing Gretchen into the world of country music.
Ok...so I just wrote a comment and it didn't save! GRRR....let's try this again.
I agree with KRicker and think that she is very sexy. More than her good looks, I think she has a great personality. It's not like I know her on a personal level or anything, but from interviews and her music she seems like a really down to earth women.
As for her music, I really enjoy it. Redneck women is a great song. When it came out I remember thinking that Gretchen was going to be a big star. The video for that song is awesome too. Gretchen and her friend riding around on four wheelers and stuff. That is redneck for ya! I was somewhat skeptical about if she would be able to pull off a slow song as a hit, but she proved me wrong. She really has an amazing voice. Also, I didn't know that she is a mother. That is crazy. I really admire her for being able to juggle a singing career and parenthood. CHEER TO GRETCHEN.
Gretchen Wilson is definitely cool. She seems really down to earth, and isn't caught up in the fame.
Her one song called redneck woman, makes me laugh every time because all the things she says are the perfect description of my hillbilly neighbors in New York.
Her story of getting scouted by big names in the industry and turning herself from a small town country girl to a famous country STAR is awesome.
it's always great to hear of these country stars who started off so poor, and hit it big. i feel like it's very rare that people come out of poverty like that, but music seems to be one way that it's possible.
She always seems to have a song or two on the country stations, it's got such a catchy tone to it, that it's easy for even bad singers like myself to sing along with. i think it's the rock style county about her music that is really appealing to me. also, her music insn't twangy like a lot of females county music is. she's one of the few female artists that i listen to
The best part about Redneck Woman is that ANYONE can, and will, sing alone. We played it at my brother's wedding, and we were singing at the top of our lungs!! Everyone was together and dancing and having a great time- and we had guests from AZ, NY, DE, NC, etc. No one cared. We weren't all rednecks, but its still a GREAT song- really upbeat and everyone loves it!
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