I don't really think about having had a hard life. It was just my life, and it's all I knew. It made me who I am - all the good and bad - and it's where all of the songs on Here For The Party came from. I've lived them all.
I got to where I couldn't listen to country radio. Country music is supposed to have steel and fiddle. When I hear country music, it should be country.
It became apparent to me really fast that I wasn't going to be able to make a living and pay my bills playing on Broadway.
What I'm doing is a dream come true but at the same time its work. It's like anything else. The only time it doesn't really feel like work to me is when I'm on stage and doing what I've prepared myself for my whole life which is to stand out in front of a crowd and sing.
Gretchen currently lives in Lebanon, TN.
Gretchen performed at the 2006 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.
Gretchen's mother was only 16 when she was born, and her father left the family when she was only 2 years old. When she was 10, she was forced to help raise her baby brother.
Gretchen has performed live on the 2006 CMT Music Awards, with the song All Jacked Up. in the 2005's ceremony, she performed with I Don't Feel Like Loving You Today.
Gretchen was nominated for the Video of the Year Award at the April 2006's CMT Music Awards, for the song "All Jacked Up."
Gretchen performed as a support act for Brooks & Dunn, and for Montgomery Gentry, in order to advance her first album Here For The Party.
Gretchen was a member of MuzikMafia, an informal Country group, that was meeting every week, writing and singing altogether. She was added by John Rich, ex-member of Lonestar.
Gretchen's first album, Here For The Party, peaked to #2 on the US Albums Chart, and sold 4.3 million copies, making it Platinum x4.
Gretchen was awarded Breakthrough Artist of the Year in the 2004's American Music Awards.
Gretchen tours with a bus called "Bus 27" - 27 is her lucky number, and it's also her age when giving birth to Grace.
Gretchen has a daughter named Grace Frances Penner who was born in 2000. The father is Mike Penner.
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