Redneck Revival

April 5, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Country singer Gretchen Wilson aims for a return to the top

Associated Press

LEBANON, Tenn.

Gretchen Wilson the country singer has a lot riding on her new record, “I Got Your Country Right Here.”

Gretchen Wilson the CEO has so much more on the line.

“I feel like pretty much everything is at stake,” Wilson said in a recent interview at her sprawling farm about 30 miles east of Nashville.

Wilson has taken the ultimate gamble as she launches her fourth album and tries to plant a rebel flag at the top of the charts again.

The 36-year-old Grammy winner split with Sony and started her own record label, the aptly named Redneck Records. It’s been a long journey since the release of her last album, “One of the Boys,” in 2007, with plenty of highs (Wilson earned her GED and testified before Congress on the importance of education) and lows (she had to lay off employees and right a career that teetered off- kilter after a blazing start with her signature hit, “Redneck Woman”).

The decision to split with Sony has given the single mother of an 8-year-old daughter a new sense of empowerment, though. She’s in complete control.

Wilson been singing the songs, lining up the musicians, designing the album cover, picking the singles, brainstorming the T-shirt ideas, planning the tour and, most importantly, signing the checks for a venture aimed at making a two-fisted return to the top.

“When I parted ways with my record label, it was the first thing on my mind,” Wilson said. “The agenda that I had was to work as quickly as I could and get this music out. It’s taken a lot of energy and a lot of time, but it feels wonderful to work for myself and to be in control of everything.”

Wilson’s bartender-turned-queen-of-the-trailer-park success story remains a beacon to country music aspirants everywhere. But hidden behind the hit records and the full houses of adoring fans was a little tidbit that might surprise a lot of people.

“I’ve not seen any money on royalties from anything I’ve done yet,” she said.

Wilson has sold more than 6.2 million albums, Nielsen SoundScan says. But she says she split costs with Sony for everything required to send all three of her albums to the top.

“Kind of makes you wonder what that number that we spent is, doesn’t it?” Wilson asks with a wry smile.

A Sony rep said officials were unavailable to comment on Wilson’s claims.