Carrie Underwood’s ‘Denim & Rhinestones’ concert brings country & pop chops to Rupp

Carrie Underwood wants the world to know that Loretta Lynn kicked her butt.

Well, maybe “kicked” is a bit excessive. But of all the stories and tributes that began pouring in following the recent passing of the Kentucky-born country music legend, few were more human and endearing as Underwood’s remembrance.

“The first time I met Loretta Lynn was at the Grand Ole Opry at the beginning of my career,” Underwood posted recently on Instagram. “I was chatting in the corner with another artist and someone walked behind me and smacked me on the rear end. I turned around and there she was ... in a big sparkly dress ... laughing as she continued to walk down the hall at what she had just done ... This is one of my most favorite stories to tell. I think it sums up her personality pretty well.”

You could say Lynn knew a star, even if it was from a posterior view, when she saw one. Along with Reba McEntire, Underwood joined the iconic singer to cut the title track for what became the final album released during her lifetime, 2021’s “Still Woman Enough.”

Underwood went on to reference Lynn as “a cantankerous little pistol ... friendly and sweet ... never afraid to be herself and speak her mind. Over the years, I have had the honor of singing for her ... and also with her ... in some of the most special moments of my career. Thank you, Loretta, for showing us how it’s done.”

Of course, it has been Underwood that has shown the rest of the music industry – country or otherwise – how to get the job done ever since her debut single, “Inside Your Heaven” became a No. 1 pop hit in 2005. Yes, pop hit. A few months prior to the song’s release, Underwood was crowned the Season Four champion of “American Idol.” From there, everything skyrocketed.

For the past 17 years, Underwood has been a staple of the country and, quite often, pop charts with songs bolstered by smalltown sentiments and big city production. Drawing the distinction between where the country inspiration stops and the pop accessibility takes over is often difficult. Sure, the duet hits she has scored through the last two decades with Randy Travis, Brad Paisley, and Jason Aldean reveal a modest traditional accent. Ditto for newer works like “Hate My Heart” and “Crazy Angels,” two of the standout tracks from Underwood’s June-released “Denim & Rhinestones” album. You may have to dig a bit on some these tunes to find country sensibilities underneath the shimmering, pop-conscious arrangements, but they’re there.

Then there are the times when Underwood sheds any hint of country as many of us know (or knew) it and goes right for the groove. You hear it in the electric roar behind the 2014 romp with Miranda Lambert “Somethin’ Bad” (and its accompanying video where the two stars spend much of the running time in a police lineup) and the after-hours blues soul sway of 2019’s “Drinking Alone.” And if you really want to hear just how far Underwood lets herself stray from vintage country comfort, just tune into NBC every weekend from September through January, where she belts out the theme for “Sunday Night Football” with full rock star gusto. This fall, she began her 10th season in the role. It’s been a full decade, but she’s still waitin’ all day for Sunday night.

While it would seem the modern music world has long been in Underwood’s confident grip, there have been a few curious turns. Name a superstar, though, who hasn’t missed a step or two even when the commercial appeal of their career was at an apex.

For Underwood that came – sort of – in December 2013, when she took on the role of Maria in a live televised update of “The Sound of Music.” Critics, by and large, gave her a pass on singing, trashed Underwood’s turns as an actress but generally yielded to the fact that it was her star power that was responsible for the TV version getting made in the first place.

“Theater lovers mocked her on Twitter but the only reason we got to see this Rodgers and Hammerstein masterpiece on TV was Underwood,” wrote Mark Kennedy of Associated Press at the time. “No one is about to build a live network musical around a Broadway star, alas.”

That was nine years ago, so what about now? To that end, Underwood is about to make a lot of noise. Her newest tour, fashioned around “Denim & Rhinestones,” will have played only three cities by the time it hits Rupp Arena on Oct. 20. Her opening act for the entire trek, which is scheduled to run through March 2023, will be Jimmie Allen. The Delaware-born singer is only the second African-American to be honored as New Artist of the Year by the Country Music Association (CMA). He won the award in 2021.

Amazingly, this will be Underwood’s first Rupp outing since 2010. At the time, her post “American Idol” career was a mere five years old. Still, she was already a proven hitmaker on the charts, an accomplished performer who could handle any number of high-tech production effects (Underwood is big on platform stage pieces that rise, rotate and, sometimes, fly her into the air) and, most importantly, a world-class belter.

In a New York Times review of a Nassau Coliseum show held only months after the 2010 Rupp outing, critic Jon Caramanica referred to Underwood as a “monster vocalist” after making this observation: “Every few minutes during this show she delivered a knockout blow — a series of huge notes sung flawlessly, the stuff that has made this young country singer a worthy heir to Martina McBride, a belter par excellence.”

That was 12 years ago. Underwood long ago overtook McBride on the charts, but has she become the better belter? We won’t have wait long for an answer. Before October winds down – a mere nine days, in fact, after Underwood’s Lexington return – the mighty McBride will play Rupp as part of The Judds’ much publicized Final Tour.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your bets.

Carrie Underwood and Jimmie Allen

When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20

Where: Rupp Arena, 430 W. Vine.

Tickets: $39.50-$165.50 through ticketmaster.com.

Lexington concerts this week: Margo Price, Jeff Tweedy

▪ Like Underwood, Americana empress Margo Price, also guested on Loretta Lynn’s “Still Woman Enough” album. She delivered a spirited duet update with the Kentucky country giant of the 1971 hit “One’s on the Way.” An extraordinary performer and expert songsmith whose recordings include the masterful 2016 debut “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter,” Price will be back in town Oct. 17 to discuss and sign copies of her memoir “Maybe We’ll Make It” at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington Green. The event gets underway at 7 pm. For more information, go to josephbeth.com.

▪ Not enough? Then how about the first Lexington performance by Jeff Tweedy since his famed band Wilco played the Singletary Center for the Arts in April 2003. Wilco wrapped up its touring year earlier this month, but Tweedy will head our way for a solo acoustic show Oct. 19 as part of the Kentucky Theatre’s 100th anniversary celebration. Tweedy recorded his fourth and finest solo album, “Love is the King,” in 2020 during the height of the COVID 19 lockdown. Curiously, this won’t be his first Kentucky Theatre outing. Wilco played there in July 1995, a mere four months after the release of Wilco’s debut album, “A.M.” St. Louis songwriter Le’Ponds will open the 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $64 and $89 through etix.com.