Scotty McCreery is ready for a change. The American Idol champ from season 10 is planning a more country-influenced album for his third release. Despite having success as a pop-country sensation, McCreery convinced his record label to let him cut an album more in-line with his influences, Rolling Stone Country reports.
"We just had the meeting with the label and the album is a go," McCreery said. "And I'm going to make a country music record. That's what I had to try to convey to the label and they were all for it. The stuff I grew up with was that kind of music — I want to have some depth and portray a different side."
The singer has snuck a few country tunes into previous efforts, and he even favored the genre while on the FOX competition by singing tracks by George Strait, Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson.
"I have songs like that one where I have Alison Krauss doing background vocals," he added, "and those are my favorite songs I've ever done. So I'll play the game a little, but I'm going to try to stay true to what I love."
The album is due out in 2015, and the singer is planning on co-writing the entire record in Nashville.
"I love songwriting, it's a way to explore what's going on upstairs," he said, citing Ashley Gorley, Ross Copperman and busbee as influences. "These writers are the world's best, and I just try to pick up little things they do. Most of the time, it starts with a guitar."
The record will follow up McCreery's 2013 effort, See You Tonight, which received mixed reviews and hit six on the Billboard 200.
