Capitol Nashville

If you’ve seen Carrie Underwood‘s current Cry Pretty Tour or her previous Storyteller trek, you know there’s no doubt the Oklahoma native can put on a show.

What you probably didn’t realize, however, is how early she started — and what an expert in pyrotechnics she aimed to be.

Carrie traces it all back to Independence Day during her childhood.

“I think my favorite Fourth of July memory would be going to the fireworks stand and picking out which fireworks I wanted to do,” she explains. “I must’ve been, like, 7 or 8, and then I came home and I made a list of what order I was gonna do them in, because I wanted to put on a show for Mom and Dad.  And of course I couldn’t wait until it was dark outside,” Carrie adds, laughing.

In retrospect, the “Southbound” hitmaker figures her efforts may not have been all that impressive, but there’s no doubt it was good practice for the superstar career that was to come.

“I made my mom and dad get the lawn chairs and come out to the backyard and watch some not very dramatic fireworks at, like, six o’clock in the evening,” Carrie remembers. “But I was so proud of myself, and I was so proud of the show that I put on.”

“So, I feel like that was a little training for what I do now,” she points out. “You know, putting on shows, figuring out how it’s all gonna work out.”

This July 4, Carrie will have a chance to show off those skills as she wraps up the U.K. leg of her Cry Pretty Tour in London, England. By Saturday, she’ll have traveled to Prince Edward Island in Canada to play the Cavendish Beach Music Festival.

Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.