Fri. September 9, 2011
New York, NY -
Born and raised in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, actress/songstress Kristin Chenoweth goes back to her country music roots with her new album "Some Lessons Learned" which will be released this Tuesday on Sony Masterworks.
All of the songs on Chenoweth's new album are very personal and explore her life experiences as a woman. Chenoweth's debut single, "I Want Somebody (Bitch About)" is a song about finding unconditional love.
"Some Lessons Learned" was produced in Nashville by the legendary Bob Ezrin (Peter Gabriel, KISS, Pink Floyd) and it features songs by elite pop and country songwriters including Diane Warren, Desmond Child, Tom Douglas, Hillary Scott, Jodi Marr, Victoria Shaw, Dolly Parton, Eric Bazilian, Gary Burr and Shane McAnnally. Chenoweth herself contributed two songs, "What Would Dolly Do?"-- written in honor of her hero Dolly Parton -- and "Mine To Love," about a woman who struggles with an emotionally unavailable man.
This is Chenoweth's fourth album on Sony. "Look at my recording career and it's kind of funny. It's all so different!" says Chenoweth who counts Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline, Trisha Yearwood, Reba McEntire and Linda Ronstadt among her major influences. "This album is more along the lines of what I grew up singing, like the music I sang in church in Oklahoma. When I was hired at nineteen to sing at Opryland in Nashville, that's what I wanted to do. I never anticipated my career going in all these great directions --which I'm grateful for! I'm finally getting to do what I want."
"Some Lessons Learned" is the culmination of a natural progression for Chenoweth as a recording artist. She singles out the title track "Lessons Learned": "It's about what we learn and how we learn -- and what we do with it."
Chenoweth relied heavily on one of contemporary pop's most prolific songwriters, Diane Warren, who wrote a number of songs on the album. "I feel so lucky to be able to have worked with Diane. Her songs really capture who I am. She pushed me and gave me confidence to go for it!" says Chenoweth. Warren also hooked her up with Ezrin, "and it became a great partnership," she adds. "On paper you wouldn't think of having Pink Floyd's producer, but it really worked!"
Ezrin has certainly succeeded in bringing out Chenoweth's hopeful, humorous, and inspirational qualities. Additionally, Some Lessons Learned showcases the work of "some of the best songwriters and musicians in Nashville," notes Chenoweth, who also points to her sole duet, "What If We Never," with Randy Travis, not to mention the cover of Dolly Parton's "Change."
"I'm so glad that as an artist, I'm in a position to work with such incredibly talented people," Chenoweth concludes. "I've always wanted to make this album, especially in Nashville, where the musicians are amazing and everyone is so wonderful to work with. I can't wait to go back!"
In November 2010 she was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for her achievements. She won a Tony Award for her role as Sally Brown in the Broadway musical "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown," and is also celebrated for originating the role of Glinda in "Wicked." In 2010, she appeared as Fran Kubelik in "Promises, Promises" alongside Sean Hayes.
Chenoweth won an Emmy Award for her performance as Olive Snook in the television dramedy Pushing Daisies. The actress is best known on TV for playing Annabeth Schott in "The West Wing", and most recently as April Rhodes in "GLEE", a role for which she was Emmy-nominated last year. In that role, she was able to use her multi-faceted voice on covers like "Last Name" (Carrie Underwood) and "Alone" (Heart). This season she reprised her role singing "Dreams" (Fleetwood Mac). She also had her own TV series, Kristin. Her film credits include Bewitched, The Pink Panther, Running With Scissors, Stranger Than Fiction, Four Christmases and RV.
Her debut album "Let Yourself Go" (2001) centered on show and movie musical classics including the title track, from the 1936 Fred Astaire film Follow the Fleet. It was followed in 2005 by As I Am, an album of Christian music, and in 2008, a holiday album A Lovely Way To Spend Christmas.
The singer/actress documented her life in her 2009 memoir "A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, And Faith In Stages."
Chenoweth will star as Carlene Cockburn in the a new ABC drama series, "Good Christian Belles," alongside Leslie Bibb, David James Elliott, and Annie Potts.
This month, Chenoweth will appear on QVC (Sept. 8), Jimmy Kimmel (Sept. 9), ABC News Whats The Buzz on ABCNews.com (Sept. 12), The View (Sept. 13), Fox & Friends/Gayle King Radio Show/Piers Morgan on CNN (Sept. 14), Grand Ole Opry in Nashville (Sept. 17), The Grove in LA (Sept. 21).
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