Jeremy Bradley- Nikki McKibbin, the first, I guess the American Idol rocker chick, the pioneer, the veteran, the very first one is joining me. How's it going today, Nikki?

Nikki McKibbin- It's going good.

JB- Let's start out with that. I mean, what do you think of all the ladies that have sort of taken a crack at rock since you've been on the show? Did you pave the way? Were you a role model?

NM- Well, I think so. I think that everybody's view on me on the show was that I was really gracious and really sincere in taking all the comments from the judges. That rock is a hard genre to get into, you know. So I think it, definitely as far as the hair and the clothes go, I paved the way. I think if I wouldn't have done rock the first season I don't know if anyone would've done it the second season. I think it may have taken a few more seasons before somebody stood up and said, "Well, I'm just going to go in there and do rock, 'cause that's just what I love."

JB- Do you think in terms of the hair or the clothing or whatever, do you sort of think "So and so is doing" . . . are you watching this season?

NM- Um, here and then. You know, now and then.

JB- So do you think that, let's say Carly is sort of. Do you see any bits of you in what Carly's doing?

NM- Just the music. She's obviously got more range than I do. She's got a beautiful voice, and I think she's an amazing singer. She's just an amazing girl, and I definitely think she's got more range than I do, but I have to look at it, like, "Maybe if I hadn't done it she wouldn't be willing to do it now."

JB- Now, many of the contestants go on the show knowing already the type of artist that they want to be. I mean, Carly would be an example of that. When did you get involved with rock music? Was it at an early age, or was it just something as Idol came up?

NM- No, it was . . . I sang country for years and years as a kid. Performed at all the oprys and stuff around town, the jamborees, all that country stuff. I fell into doing pop and rock at about 19 when I was doing karaoke for a company when I started actually KJing. Then I decided, well, I'll try this, because people are always asking, "Can you sing this song?" or "Can you sing that song?" or "Can you sing that artist?" So I kind of got into the groove of trying some stuff out, and that's when I realized I really, really loved it.

JB- You mention country. Is it true that your first managers wanted you to do a country album?

NM- Yes, RCA, when I was first with them, when I got my recording contract after the show that's what they suggested - was that I do country. I guess just 'cause I'm a Texas girl with a really strong southern drawl, but I don't think that really came out in my music, and I didn't want to sell out. I mean, my fans liked me and kept me there, you know, millions of votes because I was rock girl, and I looked at it, like, "I think I'll be turning my back on my fans if I go country." I didn't want to sell out.

JB- At the same time, and we were just talking before we went on the air, you could sing about tornadoes.

NM- Yeah, no kidding. There are lots of them here. (laughing)

JB- So would you ever take a crack at a country album? I know you're saying that it wouldn't be true to yourself and your fans. But . . . or maybe even a different type of album?

NM- Well, my first album that I have out right now is industrial metal. So I feel like I've already accomplished getting that out. I think I would be getting to do, well, not a pop album, but maybe a country-rock album. Something, like . . .  "Before he Cheats" by Carrie Underwood's an amazing song, and I really like it. I sing it a lot. So I think if I could stay with songs in the country genre, or something like that or like Janis Joplin - she was pretty country - then I would probably do it.

JB- We'll talk about your album you just mentioned in a little bit, but going back to the genres. Each week on American Idol the contestants have to perform different genres, and really almost change how they perform, and they're encouraged to leave their comfort zone. Do you think that's right to do that to someone, like, that sort of knows what sort of music you want to be making?

NM- I think it shows versatility. I think that the choices nowadays are a lot better than they were on my season. (laughing) No big band or stuff like that that's completely out of everybody's comfort zone. They do a lot of, "Sing a song by Mariah Carey," or country week or rock week. Stuff like that. I think the choices are a lot better nowadays. But it shows you're versatile. I would've been more than happy to sing something country on season 1 than I might've taken them up on their offer to sing country music, 'cause people would've had the chance to say, "Oh, wow, she's really good at that." But, like I said, it was just not my thing.

JB- I guess because, as the seasons go on, people are going into the auditions and then we're seeing them progress on the show with their, sort of, "I'm the rocker," "I'm the country," "I'm the Broadway singer."

NM- Right.

JB- That wasn't so much the case of the first season, so where do you think that's sort of come along? Where did that come from?

NM- Well, I don't know. I think that the first couple of seasons were just hit and miss. That it was a new show. They really didn't know what they wanted to do, and they thought that they choices they made were going to be the best for the show, and over the years they've decided that obviously some of the choices they made weren't the best for the show. There are a lot more celebrities, more people are into it, more people are giving up their songs. It was really difficult the first season to get someone to approve the song, because they thought American Idol was a joke - a lot of people did, the first season. So people were very reluctant to give up their songs for this crazy talent TV show.