Gretchen gives the inside story behind the songs on her new album, All Jacked Up.
ALL JACKED UP: "The sound is a cross between ZZ Top and CDB. It starts with the licks of ‘The Devil Went Down to Georgia’ and ends with ‘The South's Gonna Do It Again.’ And then there's some other stuff in the middle. It's bookended with Charlie licks ... I've gotten to know him. (They're both Wilson County residents, Charlie outside Mt. Juliet and Gretchen outside Lebanon.) The first day I met him he gave me a hug and said, ‘Welcome to Wilson County.’ He said, 'I know everyone out there, I know all the good ones and all the bad ones. If you have any questions, call me.'“ ... "I don't know how (fans) will react. I hope they'll love it. I love it enough to make it the title track and make it the first single and to be preparing for a video on it. I think it's funny, and I think it is going to bring people exactly back to that. They're going to think Charlie Daniels. They're going to think ZZ Top. They're going to think good ole rockin' American country music hopefully, and they'll dig it. The video's gonna be a monster. (Deaton-Flanigen is producing. But I wrote the script again. I wrote it for Redneck Woman, too. I just kind of go in there and pop open a beer and say, 'Now here we go, boys. This is it (laughs).' And when I told them I wanted to drive a truck through the barroom wall they just about s---. they said, 'Oh, my God. That's really gonna drive the price up.' And I said, ‘Are you kidding me? That's one trip to Home Depot and a piece of drywall.'
CALIFORNIA GIRLS: "Now this song we wrote in about 10 minutes. (laughs) I know that sounds insane. (Laughter continues). We were mixing the first record, so before the record was even finished, we were waiting for Joe Scaife, the co-producer of the first record, to show up at the studio. And we sat in the control room and John (Rich) said, 'I've got this idea this ... you remember that Beach Boys song about California girls and how I wish they all could be California girls? He said, 'Everybody's kind of out of that trend now. Everybody's sick of that. Women just want to be real and be themselves. If there's ever been a woman who preaches that to the fullest it's you. ... And everything else you say on this record, just be proud of who you are, and be themselves. You know, we should write a comedy like, 'Ain't you glad they are NOT all California girls?' I thought it'd be a cute idea, and, he ... John's one of those kind of guys, he just gets so excited about a song, and he'll just start going in to it and he'll rhyme a couple of lines, and then he'll just kind of look over at whomever else is in the room writing with him, and you'll contribute the next two lines that rhyme and before you know it you've got a song ... Paris (Hilton) was the one person that John and I both thought of at the same time. John said, 'We need to pick that one person you don't want your daughter to be like when she grows up.' That's harsh, isn't it? But that's what I said, I said, ‘I don't want her to grow up to be like Paris Hilton.' ... I don't know her. I do know that John and I looked at each other and I said, 'Can we do that?' Is it OK to do that?' And John said, 'Everybody else in the free world is making fun of her. I don't think she's gonna care if you do.' But, I would love to meet her some day. And tell her it wasn't any offense, and hope it didn't make her mad, and then I'm gonna ask her to be in the video (laughs heartily). Can you imagine me and Paris Hilton mud-wrestling in the video for California Girls? That'd be great!"
FULL TIME JOB: "Definitely when I write, I like to write about more empowering things. Like Full Time Job. That's a song about being the hardest-working person in the world and I'm a stay-at-home mom. To recognize that this is a full-time job right here. That's kinda what that song is all about. Which ... I stayed home a lot when I was pregnant, and Mike worked, and then toward the end of my pregnancy is when my demo work finally started to pick up, and we kind of switched roles. He became a stay-at-home daddy, and I went out and started workin'. But spent a few months barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen and doin' nothin' but laundry, never goin' out, never goin' nowhere. And really started feeling like, God ... I'm worth something. I just need to put some makeup on and get out of the house.' ... I tell you what, I'm a full believer in one parent staying home, if you can do it. I think too many kids are being brought up in daycares and stuff like that. I certainly don't wanna try to be a part of a social movement or anything, but .. I couldn't do it myself."