Kellie Pickler Tackles Tradition on Upcoming Album

While Kellie Pickler has made a significant impact on the charts with feisty pop-country hits including 'Red High Heels' and 'Best Days of Your Life,' the singer has a little secret. She's aching to infuse her next album with a more traditional flavor, to showcase her love of classic country music by legends such as Dolly Parton, Merle Haggard and Loretta Lynn.

"On the first two albums I worked so hard trying to make everybody else happy, that I haven't made myself happy," Kellie tells the Raleigh News & Observer newspaper. "You shouldn't have to try to be yourself, you should just naturally be yourself. In my shows we play some of my favorite classics. I don't worry if younger fans don't care for it. You know what? Shame on those parents for not exposing them to real music!"

As her career continues to unfold and blossom, Kellie is also anxious to expose herself to new horizons and foreign cultures, far beyond the boundaries of her little hometown of Albemarle, North Carolina.

"I'm from a small town, but I don't think small town," says Kellie. "I've always thought bigger. I've always wanted to travel the world, and learn about other cultures and their religions, and how they live. I've always been interested in the world. I think my biggest fear in life has always been to settle - to settle with a career and a lifestyle that I'm not completely happy about."

Hoping her fans will never settle in their own lives either, Kellie has her own sincere, homegrown advice.

"There's nothing wrong with staying in a small town. But if you get a chance to step outside, go ahead and do it. That small town is always going to be there."

Kellie will do plenty of stepping outside next year, as she teams up once again with pal Taylor Swift on the 2010 version of the phenomenally successful Fearless tour.