A year ago, about the only thing country music fans knew about Gretchen Wilson was that she preferred ice-cold beer and Wal-Mart lingerie to sweet champagne and Victoria's Secret.

Her single, "Redneck Woman," was just reaching the charts. The semi-autobiographical song about keeping Christmas lights on outside the trailer, hanging laundry on the clothesline and listening to Bocephus, Kid Rock and Lynyrd Skynyrd hit No. 1 in April 2004.

And so did Wilson's life story. The 31-year-old was raised in Pocahontas, Ill., a small town about 35 miles east of St. Louis. She had worked in and played at a bar there since she was a teen-ager, while her single mother moved them from trailer to trailer because she wasn't able to pay the bills.

Wilson moved to Nashville in 1996, but didn't take the town until she met up with singers and songwriters Big Kenny Alphin and John Rich, who hit it big themselves last year as Big & Rich. The three formed the Muzik Mafia, a renegade band of Nashville musicians that made its presence known.

Since "Redneck Woman" hit, Wilson has struck with the title song from her quadruple-platinum selling album, "Here for the Party," as well as the retro-country throwback "When I Think About Cheatin'."

Wilson has cleaned up in awards as well, being nominated for a best new artist Grammy and winning the award for best female country vocal, as well as the best new artist American Music Award and the Horizon Award from the Country Music Association. She won two CMT Awards and is up for five Academy of Country Music Awards, which will be presented May 17.

She's played the Grammys and the Super Bowl and is currently on tour with Kenny Chesney in a concert coming to Omaha's Qwest Center Saturday and Sunday.

In an e-mail interview, Wilson talked about her past, present and future:

Q: What has the last year been like for you?

A: It's been crazy! Fortunately, everything from my first photo shoot through the recent Australia trip has been documented on video and photos. Everything happened so fast — I was literally going around the world in a matter of months — so I'll be able to go back and look at some of the things I forgot about. I had pretty much been to Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee and Florida before this took off. I'm not sure how many states I've been to, but I've also been to Australia twice, England and all over Europe.

Q: What was the high point of this past year? The low point?

A: The high point was seeing my dreams come true in such a big way, getting to travel, write songs, do TV shows and see and do so many new things. The low point was being away from my daughter, Grace, so much, but this year we have a family bus on the road and she will be with me every day.

Q: Are you working on another album? Are you thinking about the sophomore jinx or worried about the label of being a one-hit (OK, one-album) wonder?

A: I started working on my second album in January because I knew the rest of the year would be crazy, with touring and everything else. I haven't even thought about a sophomore jinx. My second album will be very similar to "Here for the Party" — very real, some fun songs, some stone country songs.

Q: What's your act like opening for Kenny Chesney? Do you feel like you have to rein yourself in because you are an opening act, and are you hoping there are just as many people there to see you as him?

A: I'm still a new artist, so to get on a tour like Kenny's — where he's had to add dates in a bunch of markets, because they've sold out so fast — is incredible. If you've never seen Kenny in concert, he's like a rock star. He has a rock star stage, a rock star production and a ton of people on the road to make it all happen. I learn from him. He's been very generous to give us a lot of space on his stage and a lot of time to do our set. I can't wait to get out there.

Q: Are there more artists out there in the Muzik Mafia? Who are you personally trying to help break into the big time?

A: Everyone in the Muzik Mafia is talented in their own right, whether it's a rapper like Chance, a painter like Rachel Kice, a saxophone player like Max On Sax or an incredible blues guitar player like Dean Hall, who's actually out on the road playing guitar for me this year. Cowboy Troy just got a record deal, and he calls his music "Hick Hop," because he does country rap. Jon Nicholson also just got a deal, and James Otto will probably have a new deal very soon. They're all part of my family, and it's great to see all these great things happening to them.

Q: Your story is one of the biggest successes in Nashville in the past couple of years. For those singers, especially female, who may not feel like they fit into the cookie-cutter image of what the business is looking for, what advice do you have?

A: I felt like things started happening for me when I decided not to try to be like anyone else and just be myself — to write songs I wanted to write and sing songs that were really me. I would advise anyone — male or female — to do the same.

Q: Where do you see yourself in the next five, 10 or more years? Do you want to take this success into other fields, like acting?

A: My main goal is to keep writing, singing and playing. I want my music to be the kind of music people want to keep listening to in 10 years. If some other opportunities come up like acting, I'll look at it, but music's my first love and priority.

Q: How many people are you finding who claim any kind of connection to Pocahontas? Are they crawling out of the woodwork, and do you always believe them?

A: No, I haven't seen anything like that happening. They're wonderful people in Pocahontas, and sometimes I feel bad for the way my success has disrupted the lives of some people in my family. They named a new park with ball fields in my name, and I'm looking forward to getting back up there to do some special things for the town.

Reach David Burke at (563) 383-2400 or dburke@qctimes.com.

If you go

What: Kenny Chesney with Gretchen Wilson and Uncle Kracker

Where: Qwest Center, Omaha

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

Tickets: Saturday's show is sold out; tickets remain for the Sunday show and are available at all Ticketmaster locations for $59.50 and $49.50.