For the "Road Less Traveled," Alaina co-wrote all 12 tracks.Tune In
Lauren Alaina is in the process of booking appearances to promote the release of “Road Less Traveled.” She will perform on ABC’s “Good Morning, America” on Tuesday, Jan. 31. She is taping an episode of “Harry!”, Harry Connick Jr.’s afternoon talk show on Fox, on Feb. 1, which will air in the following days.
CMT Next Women of Country Tour
Lauren Alaina hits the road with country superstar Martina McBride on Feb. 2 for the CMT Next Women of Country Tour. The two-month tour is an extension of McBride’s “Love Unleashed Tour.”Country Music Television launched Next Women of Country in 2013 to recognize and showcase a rising generation of female artists. Each year since, a new group of honorees has been announced; two years ago a tour featuring these women was added.McBride and Alaina are co-headlining and are the only performers on this tour. Alaina said she will do a 45-minute set to open for McBride, a four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year winner.For the young artist who performed McBride’s song “Anyway” on “American Idol,” being onstage with her is a serendipitous moment.“How am I going out with Martina McBride when I grew up singing her songs in karaoke contests and on ‘American Idol?’ Now I get to sing with her every night on tour and learn from her,” says Alaina.Catch the Love Unleashed Tour on Saturday, Feb. 11, at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville or Friday, Feb. 24. at Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center in Atlanta.
‘Road Less Traveled’: The Movie
Lauren Alaina closed out 2016 with the completion of her first movie, “Road Less Traveled,” named for her current single and upcoming album. The music was used in the film’s production.Shot in Knoxville, the movie is about a songwriter named Charlotte (played by Alaina) from a small town in Tennessee who now lives in Los Angeles. Actress Charlene Tilton (“Dallas”) plays her aunt.“She’s engaged, planning her wedding and all the craziness of that,” Alaina says. “She’s pretty outgoing and full of personality. The movie has a ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ feel. It’s a romantic comedy with big Southern roots.”Not only is Alaina making her acting debut, she says she has associate producer credit on the movie.There is no air date yet for the TV movie.
If the rest of 2017 goes as well for Lauren Alaina as January, it's going to be a stellar year.
The Rossville, Ga., singer, who gained national attention as the runner-up in Season 10 of "American Idol," has a top 14 single on country radio right now, scored her first No. 1 video with that single, has a new album dropping Friday and has just wrapped up shooting for a TV movie in which she plays the lead.
The accolades keep coming: She is co-headlining CMT's Next Women of Country tour with country superstar Martina McBride in a two-month string of concerts that launches Feb. 2.
"I've been waiting six years for something like this," says Alaina over the phone. "I've been working for it (success) for a long time, and it feels like it's finally going to happen this year. It's such a refreshing feeling to start the year off with such excitement rather than nervousness and fear."
The singer's long-anticipated sophomore album, "Road Less Traveled," comes out after a six-year wait since her debut, "Wildflower," in 2011. She co-wrote the 12 tracks on the new album, winnowing down more than 300 that she had written over the past few years.
Rolling Stone magazine named "Road Less Traveled" to its 2017 Country Music Most Anticipated Albums, Tours and Festivals. The reviewer credits Alaina's songwriting chops for "Martina McBride-esque ballads, pop-tinged confessionals and motivational anthems."
"Road Less Traveled," the single, is her first to crack radio's Top 20. It reached No. 17 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart and is now No. 14 on MediaBase airplay charts, not to mention that she landed iHeart Radio's prestigious "On the Verge" promotion in support of the single.
Cracking the top 15 on media charts is a mile-marker for a song's success, explains Melissa "Mo" Turner at WUSY-FM/US 101 radio.
"The whole (chart) system is based on points. When you get into the 14-15 realm, a lot of radio stations start bumping you up higher in rotations. Moving up in the spin count helps her get to a No. 1 spot," explains the afternoon on-air host.
Six years and six singles since "Idol" launched her career, the 22-year-old is finally reaping the rewards of hard work.
"In a way, I'm kind of glad it's taken so long for things to catch on," she admits. "I was so young on 'Idol.' I didn't know then I wanted this as bad as I know now."
Life is a country song
Alaina describes the last few years of her life as "soul-searching," and the personal challenges she overcame during the time are recorded in lyrics on several tracks of "Road Less Traveled."
Her parents divorced, each remarried. Her father went to rehab to deal with alcoholism. Alaina underwent vocal cord surgery in 2014 - a problem exacerbated by bulimia, her dark secret. It would be two more years before she opened up to the public that she had battled eating disorders since her stint on "Idol," when viewers had weight-shamed her on social media.
"At one point, I went to the vocal-cord doctor and he told me if I didn't get better, get control of my eating disorder, I wouldn't be able to sing anymore," she recalls. "I needed to get better; some of my hair had fallen out; I was really sick. When somebody looks me in the eye and tells me, 'If you don't stop, you won't be able to sing anymore,' it gets my attention."
She says even though she had quit bulimia at age 18, she hadn't gotten over the mindset, the obsession to be slimmer.
"So I would skip meals or do crazy diets," she says. "The last three years I've been really getting better. But in the last year and a half I've been living a consistently healthy lifestyle."
Her favorite song on the album, "Three," is a message to her friends and family, acknowledging that she recognizes the toll chasing her dream has had on all of them.
"It's my journey since 'American Idol.' I've missed birthdays, Thanksgivings, Christmases, my family and friends - things I gave up for this lifestyle and dream, for this crazy idea I've had since I was 3 years old. It's not a negative song - I say I would do it all over again 50 times - but I wanted to let my family know it's been hard and I've missed them."
Getting the truth out
The most poignant track, "Same Day Different Bottle," speaks directly about her father's alcoholism and how it affected her. After driving him to rehab, she wrote the song the next day, she says. Her father, J.J. Suddeth, marked three years of sobriety last October, she adds with pride.
"I like to say I had that bottled up inside me," she recalls wryly.
But serious again, she explains: "Before my dad went to rehab, we never talked about he had a problem. I never talked about it. No one knew. People on 'American Idol' had no idea. That was just the way it was."
Suddeth says he was "floored" when she played the song for him on a visit while he was in rehab.
"I had no idea she felt that way. I can see why, but she'd never told me," he says. "She wrote it from her heart. I think that was Lauren's therapy."
He says his daughter allowed him to play the song for the others in rehab with him.
"They were as stunned as I was. I think a lot of people were better for hearing it," he says.
Alaina says her father's decision to confront his alcoholism was the catalyst for "Same Day Different Bottle."
"When he made that brave step of going to rehab, it inspired me to write it," she says. "It's a reminder of where we were and how much we've grown. I'm so proud of him."
Making a difference
Not only was writing the song cathartic for the singer, it has resonated with fans, especially when her dad plays guitar for her at a live performance.
The first time the two performed "Same Day Different Bottle" together live was onstage at the Grand Ole Opry.
"I had wanted to play there all my life - and that's the night we play it," recalls Suddeth, laughing at the irony.
"I'm proud I got past that point in my life. When I went through rehab, there were some there for their third or fourth time. One told me I was their inspiration."
"Same Day Different Bottle" was No. 16 on iTunes Country Hot Tracks last week, and it has yet to be officially promoted or get any airplay.
"When I was at CMA Fest last year, a little girl about 12 told me 'Same Day Different Bottle' was her favorite song," Alaina says. "I remember thinking to myself that was a really serious song for a little girl to like. Typically they like the songs about boys.
"Her grandmother was next in line, and she told me the girl's mother was an alcoholic. I broke down. I remember thinking how thankful I was that I was able to write that song because it helped that girl know she wasn't alone.
"She opened my eyes by saying that and inspired me to dig further and write more honestly from that place."
Alaina's growth as a songwriter and artist is what WUSY's Turner attributes a lot of the industry buzz about the upcoming album.
"With Lauren being a local girl and this being her hometown, of course she has mass support here," Turner says. "But people will get a huge insight as to who she is as a person on this album. I think that's what a lot of the buzz is about, seeing this growth in her as an artist."
The album's ballads are not an indication that the bubbly North Georgian who was loved by "Idol" fans, the girl who joked with host Ryan Seacrest and called him her Georgia Peach, has lost any of that personality. Her social media fans can attest to her preference for bad puns, and only last week she posted a carpool karaoke video on Instagram in which she's wearing a goat-costume onesie.
But she does admit to shedding a lot of tears lately. Tears of happiness.
"When I found out I was in the top 15 (on radio charts), I cried in public. Every time they call and tell me something good that's happened, I cry.
When I first heard 'Road Less Traveled' on the radio, you should have seen me! I rolled the car windows down and was screaming.
"I'm not going to lie; I still do that every single time I hear it," she laughs. "It's like the first time every time."
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.