It turned plenty of heads when the news broke that Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow has a country single, but when the heads turned and the ears tuned, people have been cheering Gwyneth’s song, “Country Strong,” as a winner. It’s the first single from the soundtrack to her upcoming film, also called Country Strong, about a country singer named Kelly Canter, played by Gwyneth. In the current Fall Movie Preview double issue of Entertainment Weekly, Gwyneth says that her husband, Coldplay‘s Chris Martin, helped introduce her to such classic artists as Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, but she’s developed her own love of country and bluegrass, too. (AUDIO INFO BELOW)

• Gwyneth told Entertainment Weekly that she had to share a bit of musical enlightenment with a few New York friends who questioned some of her recent listening habits, to which she declared, “I’m like, ‘It’s Miranda Lambert! You need to get into it, people!'”
• Vince Gill and Patty Griffin also lend their voices to Gwyneth’s “Country Strong” single, which will of course be featured on the original motion picture soundtrack to Country Strong, with the album release set for October 26th.
• The feature film, Country Strong, also starring Tim McGraw, Leighton Meester, and Garrett Hedlund, will premiere on December 22nd.

  Gwyneth Paltrow talks about why she enjoys country music so much. (:38)
“The thing I love about country music is I love the authenticity of it. Like, I like how the lyrics are often very stripped-down and just real. And I find it refreshing that there’s not a lot of irony in it, and it’s just, like, straight from the heart. And I also love bluegrass, and I just think it’s…there’s a beauty to it that’s combined with a technical skill that I just find awe-inspiring, and I just…I’m very impressed with the skill level and also with the beauty of the songs.”