Carrie Underwood leads a double life, Denim & Rhinestones

American Idol country music superstar, Carrie Underwood, discusses her double life between motherhood and Las Vegas, reflected in her new album Denim and Rhinestones.

Carrie Underwood has earnt her stripes. Nearly two decades since winning American Idol, the country music superstar is making her own rules.

“When we started to make this project, I kind of just wanted to throw the rule book out the window and just make music that I really wanted to make and not overthink it,” Underwood tells Insider.

“I wanted to make songs that I really wanted to sing … I was excited about singing that made me happy.”

The project is Underwood’s ninth studio album, Denim & Rhinestones.

“With the past couple of years everybody has had, I feel like everybody is ready to just be happy.

Keith Urban (L) and Carrie Underwood perform onstage during the 52nd Academy Of Country Music Awards at T-Mobile Arena in 2017. Picture: Ethan Miller

“I know I am, so I really wanted to make music with that in mind and then also think ahead, to hopefully being able to get on the road with it and be able to play live shows again.

“I feel like at this point in my career, you know, I’ve earned that, just making music that I really want to make.”

Carrie Underwood attends the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 03, 2022. Picture: Frazer Harrison

The title sums up the two vastly different worlds Underwood inhabits.

One is a low-key family life at home in Nashville with former professional ice hockey player husband Mike Fisher and their two sons, Isaiah and Jacob.

The other is the glitz, red carpets and glamour of touring the world as one of the top female artists in the genre.

“For me, I need both of them, I need the two to go together. They’re great on their own, but I definitely need the two,” she says.

Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher attend the 54th annual CMA Awards at the Music City Center on November 11, 2020. Picture: Jason Kempin

“I think that is the thing with most country music artists, I love my life at home and I’m a mum packing lunches and making dinner and cleaning house and doing laundry and all that stuff.

“So that is the denim. And I feel like I leave and go and do stuff in Vegas or prepare for a tour and do TV stuff or whatever it is and live this completely opposite life and that is the rhinestones.”

Eight-time Grammy Award winning Underwood co-wrote 11 of the 12 tracks on the album. Ghost Story is the first single, followed by Pink Champagne.

Other tracks include Wanted Woman, Velvet Heartbreak, She Don’t Know and Poor Everybody Else.

“I’ve been doing this for a few years now, I just want to be happy and enjoy where I’m at,” she says about the tone of the album.

Carrie Underwood juggles the double life of both motherhood and touring, saying she needs both.

“I feel you spend so much time trying to climb your way up and work really hard to get to a certain point. I definitely feel like I’m at that point that I’ve been working so hard for so long it is time now to enjoy the fruits of my labour and just get to make music that I really love.”

While the world is quickly moving forward, the creative process of making the album was impacted by the pandemic.

“Every once in a while we’d have to write with somebody over Zoom and had to figure out different ways around things, as did everybody,” Underwood says.

“But I streamlined who I wrote with, I know who I like and who I want to spend time with. We tried a few extra people but I feel like in previous albums it’s like we were just everywhere and I was just writing with a tonne of people.

“This time I didn’t want to waste time potentially and again because I’ve been doing this for a really long time, I know the people that I work really well with and want to be around.”

Carrie Underwood performs onstage during the 64th Annual Grammy Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in April, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Picture: Rich Fury

Underwood is in the midst of a residency at Resorts World Las Vegas. She last toured Australia in 2016 when she supported close mate, Aussie star Keith Urban.

Dates are yet to be locked in for an Australian tour for Denim & Rhinestones.

“I’ve been to Australia and everybody’s always been very welcoming and wonderful to us,” she said. “Right now there’s no plans, or concrete plans, but I’ve always got my fingers crossed.”

Carrie Underwood’s Denim & Rhinestones album is out now, as well as her single, Ghost Story.