Jessie James Decker is preparing for an album release and her first major tour in more than two years -- and she said this time it's "a family affair."
The singer told UPI she had intended to tour following the release of 2017's Country Girl City Lights, but there was a major complication -- she found out she was pregnant.
"I don't really do well touring pregnant because I get really nauseous and I always grow big babies and I'm a really petite person, so I knew it wasn't going to be able to work," Decker said.
Decker and her husband, Eric, took some time to focus on their third child, Forrest, born March 31, but the crooner said she is ready to put her focus back on her "absolute first love," music.
"I think my fans will be really surprised to hear what I've been working on," she said. "I'm still the same artist, but you will hear quite a transition into this next record."Decker said that new record will feature a "singer-songwriter style" with which she's long wanted to experiment, but only recently gained the confidence to tackle.
She said another difference between her new music and the songs she released when she first started recording at age 19 is her target audience, which now includes her children.
She said Forrest and his older siblings, Vivianne "Vivi" Rose, 4, and Eric Jr., 3, will have plenty of time to enjoy her new songs while accompanying her on the 20-stop tour that begins April 12 in Denver.
"We make it a family affair," she said. "I will be having two buses. That way, one bus can just be for me and the kids and they can pick out their bunks and just be with us," she said.
The kids don't seem to think there's anything unusual about going on tour with their mom, Decker said.
"I don't really think they understand it that much," she said. "I think they just think that this is what your parents do and they love it."
Decker said her new tour is part of her New Year's resolution to focus "100 percent on music" in 2019, but that doesn't mean she doesn't have other projects on her plate, including opening a Nashville store for her clothing brand, Kittenish.
"You will definitely see us on TV, but just in a different way," she hinted.
Decker, whose first book, Just Jessie: My Guide to Love, Life, Family, and Food, hit the New York Times bestseller list after it was released last fall, said she also plans a cookbook due out next year.
In the meantime, Decker said she is finalizing the new album, making tour preparations and taking on a new role partnering with Jack Links -- a development she said happened independently of her pre-existing love of beef jerky.
Decker said she is careful to ensure her packed schedule still leaves her with plenty of time for just "being a parent."
"They're only little once and one day they'll ... flee the nest and it'll just be us again," she said.
Decker's new album is expected in mid-March. A list of tour dates is on her website.
