10 Questions with ... Lauren Alaina

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

Born and raised in Rossville, GA, Lauren Alaina started her Country music career in a unique way compared to most. At the young age of 16, Alaina appeared on the 10th season of FOX-TV's "American Idol" and walked away from the show as runner-up. Alaina signed with Mercury Nashville, released two albums, toured with acts including Alan Jackson and Martina McBride, and last year earned her first-career #1 single, "Road Less Traveled." Now, Alaina starts 2018 as a CRS "New Faces" performer, while her current single, "Doin' Fine," climbs the charts. She chatted with All Access about what the "New Faces" show means to her, being brave and vulnerable with her music, and how thankful she is for Country radio.

1. Can you tell us what it means to be chosen for "New Faces" at CRS and whether you'll prepare differently for the performance?

We're definitely not structuring it the way we would a normal show, and it's going to be a bit emotional. I have been around for a few years, so I think it makes it that much more special they've chosen me and have given me this shot. Country radio - it's really opened up the doors to my future. In the last year, my life completely changed; I went from feeling very frustrated, scared, and worried about my future, and last year, they put their faith in me and gave me "Road Less Traveled." I got a #1 song because of them, and now I'm hopeful, looking at the future. I'm excited to share those 15 minutes - or, whatever I get - with them on that stage, because everything that I get to do this year - the tours I'm gonna be on and the opportunities - I owe that to them, because having a #1 song changes everything in your career. It's going to be an emotional performance for me, but also a grateful performance, because I mean that - they've really changed my life. For a female in Country music to get a shot, six years after trying with a major label deal, it's unheard of! I don't know if that's ever happened. I'm just really excited and grateful, and I can't wait to share that moment with them.

2. Where were you when you found out that you had been selected as a "New Faces" performer, and how did you react?

I was in Raleigh doing a radio show, and I got the call from [Mercury Nashville VP/Promotion] Damon Moberly and [UMG Nashville SVP/Promotion] Royce Risser. It was actually kind of funny, because they don't both call me very often, and I was thinking that they were calling to give me bad news for whatever reason. I don't know why my head went there. Royce said, "Hey, Lauren, it's Royce. I'm here with Damon, and we've got something we want to talk to you about." I'm like, "Oh, my gosh! They're gonna pull my single," which is so funny, because we broke Top 40 now, which I'm so excited about. Then, they said, "You've been selected for the 'New Faces' show at CRS!" And, I just paused. I got a little emotional. It was so rewarding in that moment. In the past year, I've gotten a few calls from Damon, like when he called me when "Road Less Traveled" went #1. It's been a year of good phone calls! It's such an honor, really. I remember Maren [Morris] being one of the "New Faces," and I was thinking, "Of course. She's next-level." I respect the artists that they've picked in the past so much that it makes it even cooler that they've picked me now.

3. What did you listen to growing up, and who would you cite as your biggest musical inspirations? Also, what other genres - if any - do you pull from when creating your own music? I'm asking this, because your generation seems to have listened to just about everything growing up, thanks to the wide availability of music.

My dad is a big Rock and 80s Hair Band fan. My favorite band of all-time is Poison, and I grew up listening to FireHouse, Cinderella, and all of those bands. And, I grew up listening to Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and Shania Twain. So, I feel really fortunate. My parents were really into music, and they got me into all different types of genres. My mom and dad have similar taste, but they were different enough that I was exposed to all types of music. I fell in love with music at a very young age. My grandmother was a really big Elvis fan, so I listened to Elvis almost every day of my life. I opened up for an Elvis impersonator in Gatlinburg [Tennessee] when I was younger. I also grew up doing 60s shows, and I sang Brenda Lee and Patsy Cline. And, one year for Halloween, we dressed up as KISS! I was all over the place. So, now I get to pull from all of those different styles, and I kinda formed my own style by taking a little piece from all of them. Then, of course, I grew up listening to traditional Country. Country music is my heart, but I always like sharing the other people I grew up listening to, because I think they're a little bit shocking.

4. I've also had this conversation with other young artists, and bow it's your turn! Would you call yourself a part of the iPod generation, or more a part of the streaming/playlist generation in terms of discovering and curating music you like?

I think we all have to adapt to whatever's going on at the time. I haven't bought an actual CD in a store in a long time, except my own - or unless I'm a super-fan of someone, then I'll go buy an actual CD. I typically buy music on my phone. If I'm passionate about an artist, I like to actually buy their records, because I appreciate that, as well. But, I use Spotify and Pandora a lot. I just like music, so any way I can listen to it, I will. Part of my job is to create playlists, so I have playlists on my Lauren Alaina Spotify account that I share with my fans so that they can know what I'm listening to. It was so funny, because I really had to learn how to do that. I am young, but we didn't have that growing up. I was listening to CDs my whole life. I remember, when I was little, listening to cassette tapes in my dad's truck. Then, all of a sudden, my mom got a CD player in her car, and we were like, "This is so cool! Look at this disc!" My manager told me this really funny story. She gave her nieces - who love my music and are the sweetest kids - my CD, and I signed it, and the younger one said, "What is this?" I think we all have to adapt to how people are consuming music, or we won't hear it! Every time I'm in the car, I listen to the radio. I try to know what's on the radio, because it's such a huge part of what I do. I have all the stations in Nashville programmed in my car. I find music on the radio, then go and listen to them over and over on Spotify or my phone, or I'll Shazam it while I'm in the car. But, I mostly find music on the radio, unless Spotify suggests songs for me.

5. We normally ask "New Faces" artists about things they learned while on radio tour, but your introduction was very different. Coming off "American Idol," you were on a national tour playing arenas before you really met a lot of Country radio programmers. Did you sense that they perceived you differently than other new artists when you did get to know them?

I didn't really know; I've never been around them with other artists. It was a completely foreign life to me - everything about it. I went from being a worker at CeCe's Pizza to, all of a sudden, playing in arenas and meeting all of these people. I was so young. I didn't really know what was expected of me, and I didn't really have the team that I have now to prepare me well. Overall, at first, I was pretty overwhelmed, and I didn't know what I needed to be doing. I'm a people person, so all I did was try to create relationships with these people that I knew were going to be important in my life, and that I knew I was going to keep seeing. But, I had no preconceived notion about what that would be, so I had no idea how it was for other artists - it's just how it was for me. I kind of did a radio tour in 2012, then I did another one two years ago, and it was the best thing I ever did. Even though I knew most of them - I've gotten to know most of them over the past five or six years - but, it was important for me to go out and share this new album with them and show them that I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I've sang in their living rooms, I've had pizza with their listeners, I did the actual radio tour that every artist does, and it was really important to me. Like I said, at first, I didn't understand that people do that, then I had artists and friends of mine going on radio tour, and I had kind of done one, but it wasn't like the ones they were doing. So, when the new album came out, I went to the label and said, "I know I know most of these people, but I'd really like to do a structured radio tour, and I'd like to go in and do what other artists do and have that experience." I wanted them to completely rebrand me as a new artist, like I've never met them before, and that's what we did, and it paid off.

6. Knowing what you know now - seven years after your deep run on "Idol" - do you feel being on that show is possibly a double-edged sword for a new artist, as compared to the usual trajectory of radio promo tour, radio shows, and establishing yourself as a new artist?

I would not trade it, but I think this is what happens: you become so popular that you can't even walk through the airport without getting stopped, and I think you become a familiar face and a household name, but you don't become an artist - that's not developed yet. The older people [on the show] are more developed, like my friend Paul McDonald. He was on "Idol" with me, and he's been in bands since he was younger than I am now and younger than I was then. But, he never wanted to do the mainstream thing - it's not his thing - but, I think if you want to be a mainstream artist, and you have mainstream tendencies and skills, and you go on a show like that, you become really famous overnight. The problem with being "famous" is the fast-paced lifestyle. Most people become new artists, and they put an album together, and they spend years putting it together, and they find a label that they're passionate about working with, then the label ships 'em off to radio tour to set them up properly and gets the world ready for them. With shows like "American Idol," it happens instantaneously. Then, you have to play catch-up, because you want to capitalize on that momentum to get your music in as many hands as you can. But, at the same time, the creative process suffers a little bit. A lot of people think, "Why didn't this work? I'm selling all of these records, but don't have radio success." And, it's frustrating. But, I think a couple of things were on my side in that process; I was young - I was 16 - I had a label that was super-passionate about me and stood with me through all of that, knowing I was capable of more than what we had first delivered the first time, and I was willing to do the work. You don't have to be young; I just think that helped me, personally. I think you have to be willing to do the work, and if it doesn't work the first time, you have to be willing to take the blow and be willing to work after that. My label was really helpful in that, and Country radio gave me the opportunity. Other artists also took care of me when they really shouldn't have taken me on tour, and they did any way because they believed in me. All of those things lined up for me, but it can be a double-edged sword. I had no idea what being in the music business was like; Rossville, GA doesn't really set you up for what I do. My parents are really hard workers, and I was very fortunate that my dad was raised with nothing, and he's now gotten a promotion and moved with his job. I was raised with that mentality: if you don't get it the first time, you keep going. Not that other people weren't raised that way, but it has to line up correctly, and fortunately for me, it did. That's why I'm so excited about "New Faces," because everything in the last year kind of lined up for me. I don't have a backup plan; I didn't go to college, because the years that I could've said, "This isn't working for me, I've got to go to college and get an education," I wrote with every person in Nashville that would possibly write with me, and I did every free show I could possibly do. I lived in Franklin when I moved to Nashville - I lived in a very nice condo - and, I lived this luxurious life. Then, three years ago, I had no money left, and I completely lost everything I had. A lot of people would go home if that happened to them, but I just couldn't. I believed in my dream too much. It was probably foolish, but it worked out now. Giving up was never an option for me.

7. You went through some deeply personal challenges leading up to your second album - your parents split, your revelation about an eating disorder - opening up about what that is bold and brave, and you did so at a young age. How did you decide to share those life events with the rest of the world, rather than face them privately?

It wasn't really from a brave place - it was more of a broken place. I was doing all of these writes, and like I said, it was a really hard time. I was trying to overcome an eating disorder, my parents went through a divorce, I had vocal cord surgery, I had to move, I had to downgrade my living lifestyle - there was really not a lot of hope at that point. I feel bad to even say that, because I know that people have way worse situations out there, but each person deals with their own struggles. It was my two years of struggle and constant disappointment. Meanwhile, I'm trying to write this album, and at some point, I was like, "I can't go in these writes and try to write hit songs anymore. I'm heartbroken, and I'm dying inside," and that's when I wrote "Doin' Fine" about my parent's divorce, and that's when I wrote "Road Less Traveled" and all of these songs that started becoming the album, accidentally. I wrote them, because my soul could not possibly write another song that was trying to be hit. I was going into these sessions bawling my eyes out - I'm sure everyone in Nashville thinks I'm an emotional basket case, but I was. I spent so many years writing for the record that I was with friends, and when you're going through hard times, you need your friends. Luckily, my friends were people who could help me write it and sing it out loud. It was such a healing process for me. Every song on this record got me through those years. I didn't write this record for anyone else, really, I just started turning them in, and the conversation started pivoting. I almost didn't put "Doin' Fine" on the record. There were a few songs that scared me to death, but I had been gone for so long that I had to tell people where I've been and tell them that I'm not this perfect girl on TV.

8. As a "New Face," you have a bright future ahead of you in the industry. If you were to look into a crystal ball, where would you hope to be - both personally and professionally - by CRS 2025?

I have so many goals, but I just want to be able to sing and write music for the rest of my life. I know that's a lame answer, but that's the truth! My goal is to sell out arenas by myself. I don't know if I'll get there in seven years, but I wanna get to a place where I can take artists out on the road that feel the way I felt two years ago. I have two really amazing tours lined up for this year, and these artists are able to take me out on the road, because they've worked really hard. When you get a call that you're going on a tour with someone you look up to so much is one of the most inspiring and exciting calls you can get, and I want to be one of those calls that make new artists feel that way someday.

9. Looking at other "New Faces" in the industry, who are the guys and gals that are up-and-coming who impress you? If you were to go out on a headlining tour this year with supporting acts, what "New Faces" would you like to bring with you on the road, and why?

That is a great question! There are some people in Country music right now that I am so excited for, I can hardly contain myself. One of my buddies that I've gotten to know really, really well and written with him a lot is [Atlantic/WEA's] Devin Dawson. I think he's gonna be a superstar, and I think his brain - if I could open up his head and look inside - would have cigars, whiskey, and the best songwriting in the world in it. I'm so inspired by him! Another person I feel the same way about is [Arista Nashville's] Seth Ennis; I wrote some of my favorite songs with Seth that are probably going to be on the next record, and I think he is so, so good. I think [Warner Music Nashville's] Bailey Bryan is really good and different. She's one of the nicest girls I've ever met. We did the "CMT's Next Women Of Country" event together, and she got emotional on stage, and I cried with her. I love to see people that are passionate like that. I'm obsessed with Jordan Davis; I think he's crazy good, and "Singles You Up" is my jam. I'm also a big fan of [BMLG Records'] Danielle Bradbery's new record ["I Don't Believe We've Met"]. It's bold and took a lot of guts to do what she's done. Jillian Jacqueline and Morgan Wallen, too. There's so much good music coming out of Nashville right now. I love that Country music is evolving, and the new artists are a big reason why it's evolving; they're coming up with the stuff that nobody's heard.

10. After being on a high-profile television show, as well as countless radio visits and radio shows, is there anything that radio does NOT know about you that you can - or would like to - share here?

I feel like I've opened up my diary for them, but I'm sure I'll find new things to tell them in the next album. We're starting to write that now, and it's such a different process, because I'm in love and happy right now. So, everybody's gonna get to learn the happy, in love Lauren!