Carrie Underwood to honor military families during tour

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Country star Carrie Underwood is working with Carnival Cruise Line and Operation Homefront to honor military families throughout her "Storyteller" tour.

Underwood will meet with selected military families in 10 cities, and she'll perform a free concert for hundreds of military families onboard the Carnival Vista on Nov. 4 in New York.

Her tour will come to St. Louis on March 24.

The Grammy-winning singer said in a phone interview meeting military families is a special experience.

"As an entertainer, I get to be onstage, and everybody has to listen to me; well, hopefully they want to listen to me," Underwood said. "But it's really nice to get to talk to people and get to hear their stories."

Fans may purchase commemorative dog tags throughout the tour, with all proceeds going to Operation Homefront, a not-for-profit organization that provides emergency and financial assistance to families of service members and wounded warriors.

"I feel country music has always been very close and very supportive of military members and their families," Underwood said. "I feel like this is just another really cool opportunity to say 'thank you.'"

During the tour, Underwood will be performing in the round for the first time, with the crowds surrounding the stage.

"One amazing thing about having it in the round is I just get to see so many more faces," she said. "It's nice to have moments ... and look into people's faces and see them having fun and see them singing along."

She'll have a special guest along for most of the tour -- her 11-month-old son, Isaiah.

"This will be the first that we've been out for any length of time with him," Underwood said. "It's interesting with a baby. I am going to have to figure out this sleep thing. Being on the road, hotels rooms and stuff like that. It's not his space, but he'll get used to that."