Sheryl Crow may be thought of by many as a mainstream rocker but her heart -- and next album -- belong to country.

Sheryl grew up in southern Missouri, not far from the Tennessee border, and has always loved the music of the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, and Loretta Lynn. Her new album will reflect her enjoyment of those traditional country sounds.

The new songs will "be more old-fashioned than new country," Sheryl tells the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "I'm working on it right now. I'm doing some work with Brad Paisley. I've been doing a lot of writing. Hopefully it'll be out early next year."

These songs aren't exactly a musical departure for Sheryl. "I already had a pretty strong country influence in my music," she says. "You listen to 'Strong Enough,' 'If It Makes You Happy' and 'Hard to Make a Stand,' there's a lot of country influence in there already, but there's just no pedal steel and no fiddle."

Perhaps Sheryl will test out some of her new country-fused music when she tours with Kid Rock this summer. She says she's not the only one in her family looking forward to the trek.

"It's not very often that you get to have a counterpart like [Tammy Wynette] and [George Jones] had, or Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn had. You definitely don't see it in pop music," she said. "I love Bobby [Kid Rock]. He's a great person. He's a good dad. He has an amazing kid.

"Bobby is very excited about spending time with my kids. My son Wyatt loves Bobby. He's been over at his house and jumped off his diving board. It's definitely going to be a fun summer."

Sheryl will tour throughout this month and then join Kid Rock on tour in July. For a complete list of dates and locales, check here.

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