Jennette McCurdy Gets Help From Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts on New Album

Nickelodeon teen star-turned-country sensation Jennette McCurdy recently chatted with US 99.5 about working with Lady Antebellum and Rascal Flatts on her upcoming new album, as well as her longtime role as Sam on iCarly.

McCurdy is kicking off her two-month 'Generation Love for St. Jude' mall tour, in support of her new charitable single with the same name. As 'America's Country Station' DJs Lisa and Ray pointed out, this in-reach promo tour will appeal to a span of demographics -- including Nickelodeon fans and their parents -- which McCurdy sees as a great thing. "First off, I think definitely never disregard any fans that you have 'cause that's what keeps the whole thing going," the 18-year-old singer-actress says. "So you definitely want to be appreciative of them and recognize that they're the ones keeping you able to do what you love."

McCurdy has been acting for 10 years, but it wasn't until she snagged her co-starring role (alongside popstar Miranda Cosgrove) on iCarly that people were able to put a name to the familiar face. But the California native wants fans to know that she's not too much like her character on the show, Sam. "In some regards, really different -- but definitely in some ways similar," McCurdy says. "Obviously you have to have some part of a character in yourself to expand upon that, but I've never been to juvy … so, that's good," she says, adding, "Now I'm 18 so now it'd be jail, so I've gotta watch it!"

If there's one thing that McCurdy does have in common with her television character, it's that she's a true-to-life spark-plug. She laughed along with Lisa and Ray (who made a stab at Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus), and playfully stood up for her friends, Rascal Flatts, when Ray dubbed them the 'three stooges' of country music.

Flatts' Jay DeMarcus is even producing some tracks on McCurdy's forthcoming LP -- but he's not the only big name. The young country songster also snagged Lady Antebellum's Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley to help churn some hits. "Yeah, I've been able to write with Charles and Dave from Lady A, wrote a couple songs for the record on there," McCurdy says casually. "And Jay DeMarcus from Rascal Flatts actually just produced some of my upcoming songs."

While she may not need the help (her 2010 single, 'Not That Far Away,' was critically well-received), it's nice to have friends in all scenes of the entertainment world, and McCurdy says she will always try to do both acting and music. "I don't think push is going to come to shove in that way," she insists. "I think -- you know the saying, 'Where there's a will, there's a way?' I totally believe that and I think that definitely applies here, because I love both of them and I'm able to do both, so I think it's going to keep working out."