Gretchen Wilson to start record label

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Gretchen Wilson plans to start her own record label, and she'd like to call it, naturally, Redneck Records.

Wilson, who became a country sensation with her 2004 down-home anthem "Redneck Woman," said Wednesday that if things go well she'll release a new single in September and a new album in November.

"I feel like I've learned so much in the last four or five years," she said by phone from Deming, Wash.

Wilson's longtime label group, Sony Music Nashville, announced Tuesday that she and the company parted ways after three albums. Sony described the split as mutual.

Wilson, 36, said she's grateful for her time at Sony, but after the company merged with BMG in 2004, the team of people who'd worked with her began turning over.

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

By starting her own record label, Wilson thinks she'll be able to move faster to get her music to fans.

"I'm high-strung," she said. "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."

"I'm on Cloud Nine," she continued. "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."

Wilson's 2004 debut "Here For the Party" sold 5 million copies and produced several hits including "Redneck Woman," "Homewrecker" and "When I Think About Cheatin"'.

But her next two albums -- 2005's "All Jacked Up" and 2007's "One of the Boys" -- didn't sell nearly as well and produced only one Top 10 single between them.

"One of the Boys" failed to go gold, selling about 251,300 copies. Wilson describes it as one of her best records artistically, but not what fans wanted to hear from her.

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

The Pocahontas, Ill., native says her upcoming disc, "I Got Your Country Right Here," has a gritty Southern rock feel to it.

"I think it's exactly what my fans want and exactly the record I wanted to make," Wilson said.

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On the Net:

http://www.gretchenwilson.com/