Jennifer Nettles has been getting ready and writing for her solo album, That Girl, for about four years, and the time is here for the rest of the world to take a listen. She wrote or co-wrote 10 of the 11 songs on the project, which arrives in stores and online Tuesday (January 14th).

“I really didn’t put any boundaries on myself on how I wanted to write. I just let that happen and I didn’t know what direction it was going to go,” says Jennifer. “I sat down at my piano, and I called old friends, and I made new friends, and all those things just to see from a writing perspective what would come together, and what kind of collection I would make. It got to a point where I decided ‘Alright, it’s time.’”

Fans have gotten a taste of what the new album might hold with the release of the title track, and Jennifer’s wish for her fans is simple. “I hope that fans hear this album and from an ego perspective for me, from an artist also perspective, I hope that they listen to it and go, ‘Wow! She’s a way better songwriter and a better singer than I would’ve ever thought!’ I feel like the work that I’ve done with Sugarland, I’m super proud of it, and yet there are things that I wanted to prove to myself and to my fans and that I still want to.”

This week, you’ll have multiple ways to catch her on the tube. On Tuesday, Jennifer will appear on NBC’s Today Show and CBS’s Late Show With David Letterman. Later in the week, She’ll appear on The View, Yahoo Ram Country and The Chew!

Jennifer Nettles (what she hopes fans take away) OC: …this record. 1:21
“I hope that fans hear this album and from an ego perspective for me, from an artist also perspective I hope that they listen to it and go ‘Wow she’s a way better songwriter and a better singer than I would’ve ever thought!’ I feel like the work that I’ve done with Sugarland, I’m super proud of it and yet there are things that I wanted to prove to myself and to my fans and that I still want to. So I hope that they listen to that and they get to hear a side of me that they hadn’t before and it makes them like what I do as a performer that much more. I hope too that they listen to it and they hear the rawness of that emotion and they hear the humanness of that storytelling and that they connect with themselves and either remember something that they’ve been through that makes them feel empowered to have survived it, or that they allow themselves to connect with a vulnerable place for something that they might be experiencing now that they want strength to move through. Or that they are able to connect with a part of themselves that maybe they don’t like so much but they want to have fun with, and that they want to accept and say ‘Okay yeah we’re all human’ and sometimes you just got to laugh it off and go ‘I’m not perfect’ you know, and I think there are moments of all of that on this record.”

Jennifer Nettles (time for solo album) OC: …May of 2013. :37
“In terms of my art, it was much more open, and I really didn’t put any boundaries on myself on how I wanted to write. I just let that happen and I didn’t know what direction it was going to go, and I sat down at my piano, and I called old friends, and I made new friends, and all those things just to see from a writing perspective what would come together, and what kind of collection I would make. It got to a point where I decided ‘Alright, it’s time.’ I’m starting to amass this, and it’s time to actually record it. That’s what happened last year then, in May of 2013.”