"Idol" grad Pickler writes from the heart

Reuters - USA - NASHVILLE (Billboard) - She has domestic turmoil and tabloid-fodder romance in her past, but Kellie Pickler just wants people "to get to know me through my music." It's fitting, then, that the "American Idol" alumna's sophomore album, due September 30, is self-titled.

Pickler's debut album, "Small Town Girl," debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart in November 2006 and has sold 783,000 units, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and featured the singles "Red High Heels," "I Wonder" and "Things That Never Cross a Man's Mind."

That release was something of a rush job, completed while Pickler was on the "American Idol" tour. The new RCA album, Pickler says, is "a lot more 'me' because we had the time to make it 'me.'"