Carrie Underwood

Proud To Be A Mama's Girl

Wendy Newcomer

Carrie Underwood Photo Courtesy of Arista Records

She went from American Idol to country star at warp speed--yet Carrie Underwood still calls home to talk to her mom. "I talk to her every day," Carrie tells GACTV.com, "sometimes multiple times a day." So close are mother and daughter that when Carrie first heard her current single, "Don't Forget To Remember Me," she knew she had to record it. "I've always felt like that was mine and my mom's song," she says. And when it was time to film the video, mom Carole wanted in on the action.

"I told her not to get mad if we had to hire actors and actresses to play my family," recalls Carrie. "And she was like, 'Well, I could do it.' So I was laughing about it with my manager and she said, 'That would be a great idea!' Word got around to the video director and everybody thought it was a great idea. So I was like, 'Alright mom, be careful what you wish for!'" she laughs.

Carrie reports that Carole was a natural in the role. "She's her toughest critic," says the singer. "I guess that's where I get that from. She said, 'I kind of overdid it, huh?' I said, 'No, you did a great job!' Everybody thought she was a hired actor. Then she said, 'Tell the people at the awards shows that I could be up for supporting actress!'"

Carole has always played a big part in Carrie's life. "I think we have the same sense of humor," she shares. "If you get us together--like if we go shopping or something like that--all the people in the stores always laugh at us because we'll be kind of smart alecky to each other. We can go back and forth with stuff like that.

"I went to college an hour away from my hometown, so on the weekends I'd drive home and see my family," adds Carrie. But then a little TV show called American Idol--and selling three million copies of her debut album--changed all that. Now, Carrie's lucky if she gets home once a month.

"My mom is really worried worried that I will leave and never come back, and become a completely different person," she admits. "So most of the advice that she gives me has to do with staying who I am and keeping me grounded."

Staying grounded will probably be easy for this seemingly level-headed rising star. But staying in one place will be next to impossible. Carrie's latest achievement? Being asked to join superstar Kenny Chesney on his summer tour.

"I actually saw him in concert when I was a sophomore in high school," says Carrie. "It was right after 'She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy' really hit it big. He had this giant lighting display onstage that kind of looked like a tractor. It was fun. It was visually good. We've been talking quite a bit about stuff that's gonna go on this summer, about a couple of interesting things that we're gonna be doing together. He's a cool guy."

Carrie's planning on taking mental notes during the tour. "There are always people who do things better than you do, you know what I mean?" she says. "There are always certain things about people that I look at and go, 'Man, I want that.' Like, 'I wish I could talk to people like they can,' or 'I wish I had that stage presence or vocal ability.' So it's really cool for me to see other people's shows so I can see what they do differently and try to bring myself up to their level."

Winning two Academy of Country Music awards last month certainly brought Carrie up to another level. In addition to her tour with Kenny, she'll be doing a lot of music festivals this summer--"somewhere between 40 and 45 festival dates," she reports. "That's gonna keep me really busy!"

But never too busy to call home to mom, assures the small town girl with the big time career. "If I haven't called her by the afternoon, she'll call me," laughs Carrie.