Jennette McCurdy (album)

Jennette McCurdy is the only studio album by American singer, writer and former actress Jennette McCurdy, released on June 5, 2012, by Capitol Records Nashville. McCurdy was 19 years old at the time of the release and co-wrote six of the ten songs on the album. The majority of the album was produced by Paul Worley, who also produced her debut extended play, Not That Far Away (2010), while Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts produced the album's first two tracks. One single was released from the album, "Generation Love", which charted for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, peaking at number 44.

Upon its release, the album failed to chart. McCurdy left Capitol Nashville shortly after the release of the album.

Background
McCurdy developed an interest in country music after her grandmother introduced her to Patsy Cline's music when she was seven years old. At age eight, McCurdy appeared in Faith Hill's music video "The Way You Love Me". In 2007, at age 15, she won the role of Sam Puckett on the Nickelodeon series iCarly. When she was not on set, she would write songs. In an interview, McCurdy said: ""After work every day on set, I would go write with people. Then on the weekends, I would go record demos. I continued that process for a couple of years until eventually signing my deal. It wasn't like one day I just up and said, 'I'm going to do this.'""

Music and lyrics
Jennette McCurdy consists of 10 tracks. A bonus song "Broken Umbrella" was available exclusively on McCurdy's website as the eleventh track. Paul Worley produced the majority of the album, while Jay DeMarcus produced "Generation Love" and "Don't You Just Hate Those People". Both Worely and DeMarcus produced "Broken Umbrella". Numerous popular country songwriters including Liz Rose, Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood of Lady A, and Eric Paslay have writing credits on the album.

Songs
The opening track, "Generation Love", is a country pop ballad where the song's female narrator laments on the modern generation, which is seen as selfish and caught up in mainly the technological world. It is contrasted with the early generations of the Great Depression, War veterans and the post-World War II generation that performed feats such as landing on the Moon. "Don't You Just Hate Those People" is a fast-paced country song where McCurdy sings in the perspective of someone who is jealous of all the couples around them, hoping they too will fall back in love soon. In the country rock song "Break Your Heart", McCurdy sings in the perspective of a girl who recently had a breakup, who says she will break her former lover's heart on the radio with the song she wrote. "Better" is a stripped-down country song about a recent breakup where McCurdy reminisces their time together by seeing his things in the corner of her room and looking at old pictures.

The fifth track, "Heart of a Child", is a ballad where McCurdy wishes she was an innocent child again, feeling time is slipping away and that she wants to take every chance given in the past. "Love is on the Way" features a prominent banjo where McCurdy assures to not give up and to trust love. The seventh track, "Stronger", is about McCurdy's mother and her battle with cancer. McCurdy reassures that her mother is not alone and that she becomes stronger with each battle. The genre-crossing song "Put Your Arms Around Someone" is an up-beat song about bringing positivity to those who need it most.

With the ninth track, "Place to Fall", McCurdy sings that she feels alone and that she needs a place to let it all out. The final track, "Have to Say Goodbye", draws influence from R&B where McCurdy sings soulfully about falling in love. The bonus track "Broken Umbrella" is told in a perspective of a female who will stay by her partner's side, regardless of the situations they face.

Release and aftermath
Shortly after the release of the album, McCurdy confirmed that she had left Capitol Nashville, citing conflicts with a new series in which she was cast. In 2022, McCurdy described her music career as "a much-regretted country music blip".

Personnel
Credits adapted from album's liner notes.
 * Jennette McCurdy – lead vocals, background vocals, songwriting
 * Paul Worley – production, electric guitar
 * Jay DeMarcus – production
 * Chris McHugh – drums
 * Mark Hill – bass
 * Ilya Toshinsky – acoustic guitar
 * Tom Bukovac – electric guitar
 * Charlie Judge – keyboards
 * Paul Franklin – steel guitar
 * Russell Terrell – background vocals
 * Jonathan Yudkin – fiddle, mandolin, strings
 * Hillary Lindsey – background vocals
 * Chad Cromwell – drums
 * David Huff – drum loop, digital editing
 * Micheal Rojas – piano, B3, synth, accordion
 * Alison Prestwood – bass
 * Rob McNelley – electric guitar
 * Chris Rodriguez – electric guitar, harmony vocals
 * Biff Waston – acoustic guitar
 * Tania Hancheroff – harmony vocals
 * Wes Hightower – harmony vocals
 * Bruce Bouton – steel
 * Kenny Greenberg – electric guitar
 * Erik Hellerman – assistant engineer
 * John Naiper – assistant engineer
 * Adam Ayan – mastering
 * Andrew Mendelson – mastering
 * Steve Blackmoon – mixing assistant
 * Andrew Bazinet – mixing assistant
 * Sean Neff – digital editing
 * Daniel Bacigalupi – mastering assistant
 * Natthaphol Abhigantaphand – mastering assistant
 * Shelley Anderson – mastering assistant
 * Paige Conners – production coordination
 * Justin Niebank – mixing
 * Drew Bollman – mixing assistant
 * Mike "Frog" Griffith – production coordination
 * Jeremy Witt – production assistant
 * Clarke Schleicher – mixing
 * Joanna Carter – art director
 * Michelle Hall – art production
 * Kristin Barlowe – photography
 * Bibi Bielat – design