On Saturday, 2011 American Idol runner up Lauren Alaina made her long awaited return to the UK after three years away. She made up for lost time with her headline set at the inaugural Dixie Fields festival and will now set off on an 8 date UK tour over the next two weeks - concluding at London's free country music festival, Nashville Meets London.
CITUK: Saturday you headlined Dixie Fields festival, how has your first time back since C2C (Country 2 Country) in 2016 been?
LA: It was amazing, the crowd was really great, it was kind of like my reintroduction here again because I haven’t been here since 2016 so I was a little nervous because it is a first time festival and I was headlining it and so I was like ‘oh goodness’ but it went really well and people there are really nice, the crowds were unbelievable, they sang my songs really loud. So that’s the best thing as a singer/songwriter when people got get to sing your songs and after singed after it was great. So, now I’m really excited after headlining the festival and can’t wait for the next set of shows.
CITUK: You’ve created/developed #becomingBritish on your Instagram page. How’s that going?
LA: [Laughes] I’m working on it, I was just quizzed and I did really well, I got all the British questions right but they were really, very, very easy. I’m working on it, follow along on my Instagram.
CITUK: Yesterday, fans got to hear a new song you appear in with Chris Young titled ‘Town Ain’t Big Enough’ is this another indication to an upcoming release?
LA: So, I just went into the studio for my 3rd album before we came here, what’s happening right now is that the band is tracking some of the songs while I’m out of the country and then when I get back home I’ll record my vocals. so, we’re getting there, new music soon, we are a whole lot closer than the last time I answered that question. I’m so excited about the Chris Young duet that is coming on his album, it’s an awesome breakup song. Everybody needs a good breakup song!
CITUK: Your previous record ‘Road Less Traveled’ featured songs from 2016 self-titled EP at some time it also showcased you as the primary songwriting along with others, what leads you to continue co-writing?
LA: I’ve been working with a lot of new cool people and someone I just started working with is Amy Wadge who I believe is from Wales and she’s amazing. She wrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’ with Ed Sheeren, she’s written a lot of really huge songs and I really wanted to write with her for a while and I finally got in with her and wrote ‘Ladies in The 90’s’ with her. So, she’s amazing and I’m really excited about that. I love songwriting, it’s my favorite thing to do, people always ask me what is your hobby and I’d say writing songs, but it just so happens it worked out for my job too. I’m constantly thinking about songs, I walk around and I see something and put it on my phone and think of an idea for a song, it’s a constant thing. I love collaborating with other people because it only makes the song better that’s the way I express myself and I love it.
CITUK: With a string of personal recollection through the years, fans got to witness changes you’ve been through first hand. Does It get easier through letting them out there to the world?
LA: I think the last album really taught me how to write songs, I learned how to feel a feeling and put it into a song. I’m a very emotional person so doing that even though it was difficult to write those things, it defiantly made it much easier for me now. I’m able to process more than before. Today, I’m more open in writing about what is actually happening, more personal stuff. When I write songs they are normally for me, whatever I’m going through and I’m like tarpped in an emotion of a breakup or whatever it is, it can be a happy feeling, it can be a sad feeling whatever but every time I go through something hard I have to write a song about. That’s the way I process things, it’s my therapy.
CITUK: In terms of collaborations, anyone in mind you’d want to collaborate with in the future in terms of co-writing?
LA: I would write with anyone in the Old Dominion band, they’re all amazing and I love all of their music and I think they do such a solid job with their production. It’s understated but it’s just right! I’d write with any of those guys
CITUK: Let’s talk ‘Ladies in The 90’s’! latest single so far and it’s a massive throwback to an eclectic string of girl power artists during that time including Deana Carter’s ’Strawberry Wine’ Dixie Chicks’ ‘Cowboy Take Me Away’ and of course Spice Girls ‘Wannabe’
LA: Sometimes when I go into a room I don’t have an idea that I’m super sure I want to write but that day I knew I wanted to write ‘Ladies in The 90’s.’ I get asked alot of the times about why aren’t there more women on the radio. It’s a constant question and my response would be ‘I don’t know’ because I grew in a time where woman were all over the radio and that’s when I wanted to write a song about the ladies in the 90’s and I want to write about ‘can we go back there please!’ where woman were just as dominate on the radio as men. It was so funny when we were writing this song because we made sure every song I wanted in there was from the ’90s and some of them weren’t. I wanted to put all of the most influential artists in my life and I wanted to put ‘Dance with Somebody’ by Whitney Houston but that came out in the ’80s! So, I was very intentional to make sure every song came out in the ’90s. So, it was kind of like doing homework because we were looking up everything to make sure it all came out during that time, it was like taking a test. It was so fun and it was awesome when we finally got all the words together. There are 12 references so every time you hear one you’d hear another one ‘oh wait, did she just say Say My Name by Destiny Child?’
CITUK: You’ve been opening and sharing stages with countless country acts including Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan among others. Do you have a favorite moment of these shows?
LA: My favorite moment is when the headliner asks me to sing with them. Like I got to sing with Blake in this last tour and I was singing one of his songs that was a duet. It’s always really fun to get up on stage during their show because they are the headliners so everyone is there to see them and there are 15.000 people so to get in front of them with the headliner is a very special feeling!
As a bonus for you we also put Lauren to the test with questions from our toughest interviewers - 10 year olds. Check out what they want to know about Lauren and the music industry:
CITUK: Saturday you headlined Dixie Fields festival, how has your first time back since C2C (Country 2 Country) in 2016 been?
LA: It was amazing, the crowd was really great, it was kind of like my reintroduction here again because I haven’t been here since 2016 so I was a little nervous because it is a first time festival and I was headlining it and so I was like ‘oh goodness’ but it went really well and people there are really nice, the crowds were unbelievable, they sang my songs really loud. So that’s the best thing as a singer/songwriter when people got get to sing your songs and after singed after it was great. So, now I’m really excited after headlining the festival and can’t wait for the next set of shows.
CITUK: You’ve created/developed #becomingBritish on your Instagram page. How’s that going?
LA: [Laughes] I’m working on it, I was just quizzed and I did really well, I got all the British questions right but they were really, very, very easy. I’m working on it, follow along on my Instagram.
CITUK: Yesterday, fans got to hear a new song you appear in with Chris Young titled ‘Town Ain’t Big Enough’ is this another indication to an upcoming release?
LA: So, I just went into the studio for my 3rd album before we came here, what’s happening right now is that the band is tracking some of the songs while I’m out of the country and then when I get back home I’ll record my vocals. so, we’re getting there, new music soon, we are a whole lot closer than the last time I answered that question. I’m so excited about the Chris Young duet that is coming on his album, it’s an awesome breakup song. Everybody needs a good breakup song!
CITUK: Your previous record ‘Road Less Traveled’ featured songs from 2016 self-titled EP at some time it also showcased you as the primary songwriting along with others, what leads you to continue co-writing?
LA: I’ve been working with a lot of new cool people and someone I just started working with is Amy Wadge who I believe is from Wales and she’s amazing. She wrote ‘Thinking Out Loud’ with Ed Sheeren, she’s written a lot of really huge songs and I really wanted to write with her for a while and I finally got in with her and wrote ‘Ladies in The 90’s’ with her. So, she’s amazing and I’m really excited about that. I love songwriting, it’s my favorite thing to do, people always ask me what is your hobby and I’d say writing songs, but it just so happens it worked out for my job too. I’m constantly thinking about songs, I walk around and I see something and put it on my phone and think of an idea for a song, it’s a constant thing. I love collaborating with other people because it only makes the song better that’s the way I express myself and I love it.
CITUK: With a string of personal recollection through the years, fans got to witness changes you’ve been through first hand. Does It get easier through letting them out there to the world?
LA: I think the last album really taught me how to write songs, I learned how to feel a feeling and put it into a song. I’m a very emotional person so doing that even though it was difficult to write those things, it defiantly made it much easier for me now. I’m able to process more than before. Today, I’m more open in writing about what is actually happening, more personal stuff. When I write songs they are normally for me, whatever I’m going through and I’m like tarpped in an emotion of a breakup or whatever it is, it can be a happy feeling, it can be a sad feeling whatever but every time I go through something hard I have to write a song about. That’s the way I process things, it’s my therapy.
CITUK: In terms of collaborations, anyone in mind you’d want to collaborate with in the future in terms of co-writing?
LA: I would write with anyone in the Old Dominion band, they’re all amazing and I love all of their music and I think they do such a solid job with their production. It’s understated but it’s just right! I’d write with any of those guys
CITUK: Let’s talk ‘Ladies in The 90’s’! latest single so far and it’s a massive throwback to an eclectic string of girl power artists during that time including Deana Carter’s ’Strawberry Wine’ Dixie Chicks’ ‘Cowboy Take Me Away’ and of course Spice Girls ‘Wannabe’
LA: Sometimes when I go into a room I don’t have an idea that I’m super sure I want to write but that day I knew I wanted to write ‘Ladies in The 90’s.’ I get asked alot of the times about why aren’t there more women on the radio. It’s a constant question and my response would be ‘I don’t know’ because I grew in a time where woman were all over the radio and that’s when I wanted to write a song about the ladies in the 90’s and I want to write about ‘can we go back there please!’ where woman were just as dominate on the radio as men. It was so funny when we were writing this song because we made sure every song I wanted in there was from the ’90s and some of them weren’t. I wanted to put all of the most influential artists in my life and I wanted to put ‘Dance with Somebody’ by Whitney Houston but that came out in the ’80s! So, I was very intentional to make sure every song came out in the ’90s. So, it was kind of like doing homework because we were looking up everything to make sure it all came out during that time, it was like taking a test. It was so fun and it was awesome when we finally got all the words together. There are 12 references so every time you hear one you’d hear another one ‘oh wait, did she just say Say My Name by Destiny Child?’
CITUK: You’ve been opening and sharing stages with countless country acts including Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan among others. Do you have a favorite moment of these shows?
LA: My favorite moment is when the headliner asks me to sing with them. Like I got to sing with Blake in this last tour and I was singing one of his songs that was a duet. It’s always really fun to get up on stage during their show because they are the headliners so everyone is there to see them and there are 15.000 people so to get in front of them with the headliner is a very special feeling!
As a bonus for you we also put Lauren to the test with questions from our toughest interviewers - 10 year olds. Check out what they want to know about Lauren and the music industry: