Carrie Underwood‘s hotly anticipated fourth album, Blown Away, is only days away from its May 1st release, and fans aren’t the only ones excited about the big day — so is Carrie! Talking with us about her new album, Carrie says she loves to keep her fans guessing about what to expect from her, musically speaking, and it’s that sense of fun and surprise and adventure that helps make things fresh and exciting for Carrie — and hopefully for her fans, as well. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)   

• Carrie co-wrote eight of the 14 songs on Blown Away, including the smash first single, “Good Girl,” and from the music to the artwork and everything else, Carrie says she always wants each new album to reflect a sense of growth and change. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• With Blown Away being Carrie’s fourth album, she no longer feels like a baby act, but at the same time, she still doesn’t see herself in quite the same place as some of the artists she grew up admiring. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)
• Did you catch the feature about Carrie on Wednesday’s edition of Nightline? If you missed it, you can check it out here!
• Carrie leads all artists at the 2012 CMT Music Awards, scooping up five nominations this week! Carrie is up for Female Video of the Year and all-around Video of the Year (both for “Good Girl”), and she shares a second Video of the Year nomination as well as Collaborative Video of the Year with Brad Paisley, both for their chart-topping hit, “Remind Me.” Finally, Carrie and Steven Tyler share a nod for CMT Performance of the Year for “Just a Dream/Dream On” from CMT Crossroads: Steven Tyler & Carrie Underwood from the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam. Fan voting is going on right now for the awards, and you can cast your votes here, at CMT.com! Voting in all categories continues until the morning of June 4th, with the final nominees for Video of the Year to be announced and voted during the show. Catch the 2012 CMT Music Awards when the show airs June 6th, at 8pm, ET, on CMT and CMT.com.
• Keeping up with Carrie: Carrie is set for an incredibly busy round of upcoming appearances in support of her new album, and here’s a snapshot of some of the places to be looking for her!
  April 30: Good Morning America interview, Late Show with David Letterman performance, as well as a performance on the Live on Letterman webcast concert series streaming that night.
  May 1: Good Morning America live concert performance in Times Square, with an iHeartRadio Live streaming performance online that night.
  Also be sure to watch for performances May 3rd on American Idol, May 9th on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, May 10th on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, May 15th on Dancing with the Stars, and May 20th on the Billboard Music Awards!
• Want to hear Carrie’s Blown Away album right now? It’s available for exclusive streaming on iTunes here: http://smarturl.it/blownawaystream.

  Carrie Underwood says that keeping her fans guessing about what to expect is part of the fun of making a new album. (:59)
“I love all kinds of music. I love all influences of music, and I feel like you can listen to my albums, especially Blown Away, and find different influences in different songs. And it’s so much fun to not sing the same song for 14 tracks. (laughs) And it makes putting together a tour so much fun because you think of all the things visually you can do, creatively you can do, the clothes you can wear, different sections you can have with different kinds of songs in them, and I really feel proud in the fact that you don’t know what you’re gonna get from one of my songs. You don’t know, you know, ‘Oh, her next song’s coming out. What on earth is it gonna be like? Is it gonna be some giant ballad? Is it gonna be something that makes me cry? Is it gonna be something angry? Is it gonna be something sweet?’ Like, you just don’t know, and I’m proud of that. I love that. I have fun with that. And that’s what it’s all about. As long as I’m still havin’ fun and loving what I’m doing, I have to think that other people will, too.”

  Carrie Underwood tries to make each new album a progression. (:56)
“I feel like each album and album cover and album songs and album title — everything about every single album has been different from the last. I want that progression. I want you to see the album covers, you know, side by side, and get a feel for what the album is and get, I don’t know, they just need to all look very different. I don’t want to make the same album over and over again, just like I don’t want to have the same pictures taken over and over again. Like, it’s…you know, you work at trying to think of new things to do and trying to somewhat reinvent yourself and stay true to yourself but also stretch and, you know, do things that, you know, are different than you’ve ever done before. So, not completely change and, like, flip everybody out and do crazy stuff, but definitely grow and change a little bit, you know, every time you step forward and make a new album.”

  Carrie Underwood says that she’s more assured as an artist, but still doesn’t see herself like the artists she grew up admiring — and she still gets nervous about big things like an album release. (:38)
“I don’t feel like a new kid on the block anymore, but I don’t feel like, when I think of the people that I grew up listening to, like the Rebas and the Martinas and people like that, I don’t consider myself one of them, either, so I definitely feel like I kind of have a handle, and I know what I’m doing now. And this is my fourth album, and I do feel like I’m all the time figuring out who I am and who I want to be and what direction I want to go into as an artist, but I don’t feel like it’s old hat yet, which, you know, it’s still exciting, and I know I always want to be nervous before an album comes out or before an award show performance. But it is nice to, I guess, feel like I know what I’m doing a little more.”