Gretchen Wilson Starts Her Own Label

Gretchen Wilson, who made headlines yesterday after parting ways with Sony Music Nashville, has already found another label to call home: her own. Tentatively called 'Redneck Records,' the new venture gives Gretchen a chance to do things her way.

"I'm on Cloud Nine," says the Grammy-winning singer. "I can't wait to get moving and get started. It's really exciting to think how fast I can move and how quickly I can do things. I feel like I'm reborn."

While Gretchen is grateful for her years at Sony, which spawned three No. 1 albums, she says the label just isn't what it used to be when she signed with them in 2003.

"Today, maybe three of those original people I was working with are there," she says of Sony. "It started feeling like it wasn't my family anymore. I didn't feel as comfortable as I wanted to."

On the strength of her breakthrough hit, 'Redneck Woman,' Gretchen sold more than five million copies of her first album, 'Here For The Party.' Her sophomore CD, 'All Jacked Up,' also received platinum sales certification. But her last album, 'One of the Boys,' sold just over 250,000 copies, which may have prompted her split with the label. Still, Gretchen has no regrets.

"As a songwriter, it was something I had to go through," she says. "You live and you learn."

Gretchen hopes that by starting her own label, things will progress much more quickly than when she was tied to a major Nashville record label. "I'm high-strung," she says. "I move fast, and I'm the kind of person who, when I start something, I don't like to walk away from it until I'm finished."

Gretchen's first CD on Redneck Records, 'I Got Your Country Right Here,' is a gritty Southern rock album that she promises will be worth the wait. "I think it's exactly what my fans want and exactly the record I wanted to make," she asserts.

There's no word yet on a release date.