INTERVIEW: Lauren Alaina On New Album 'Road Less Traveled'
By Nicole Mastrogiannis
January 27, 2017
Lauren Alaina is celebrating the start of a new year with new music. The 22-year-old singer/songwriter is finally releasing a new album -- her first since 2011's No. 2 US Country album Wildflower -- called Road Less Traveled on January 27th via Mercury Nashville and Interscope Records. Road Less Traveled is the American Idol alum's second studio album, and contains 12 new songs, including her single, also called "Road Less Traveled," which recently made the top 15 on the country charts.
We recently caught up with Lauren in Nashville during an exclusive interview. The country star told us all about her new record, what it was like making it, what it personally means to her, what fans can look forward to for the rest of the year, and more.
On the making of Road Less Traveled
The singer from Rossville, Georgia has been working on her album Road Less Traveled for a long time. She worked with star producer Busbee (who has worked with artists like Jason Aldean, Lady Antebellum, and Maren Morris to name a few), and tells us that she wrote over 300 songs in total for the record. "I went through a lot of changes in my personal life, and my entire world, really. And I wrote about all of that." She adds:
"This album is super personal for me and my entire story, front to back. I got to share the dark parts, and the really happy parts, and all parts of me. I feel like I'm really reintroducing myself. I haven't had an album out in five years, and I wrote all of the songs on this one, and I really got to tell my story. I feel like if people haven't really kept up with me, they haven't seen me since I was 16 on American Idol, and now I'm 22, and I have a lot of things to talk about."
Having grown up a lot over the last six years, Road Less Traveled was very different from her debut album that she released in 2011. "This record is so important to me, and it was so much different than recording my first album, because I was young and I didn't really have a great grasp on who I was as an artist, and what I wanted to say. I knew exactly what I wanted to say on this one, and it was fun for me to put that together."
Lauren Alaina releases her new album A Road Less Traveled tomorrow, and she gave us a little bit of the story behind it.
Posted by iHeartCountry on Thursday, January 26, 2017
On what helped to inspire songs on Road Less Traveled
"This album is everything about me. I didn't really get to write the first album because I was at American Idol, I came off the show, and I was using that momentum to try to get the album out as fast as possible, to use that momentum. And this album I wrote for four years and had a lot of big changes in that time. My parents went through a divorce, and my dad's an alcoholic and he went to rehab, I overcame an eating disorder -- lots of really big changes. I moved to Nashville, I fell in love, all of these crazy life-changing things happened, and the whole album is about all of that. I feel like I'm really introducing myself to the world officially with this album, so hopefully they like me."
[RELATED - INTERVIEW: Lauren Alaina's Song Lyrics Explain How To Take The 'Road Less Traveled']
On starring in the movie Road Less Traveled
Lauren is taking the Road Less Traveled through all facets of life -- not just in music. Aside from the release of her sophomore album, Lauren is also giving us a taste of her acting skills, starring in a movie also called Road Less Traveled.
"Working on the movie was completely different than anything. I've never acted before, so it was a whole new world for me." She adds, "I got to be really hands-on in the writing process and the editing process. And I got to use five of my songs from the album throughout the movie, and it was so much fun. I got to entertain in a whole new way, and I love it. I'm obsessed with it, I'm going to start pursuing acting as well. Obviously, music is number one, but I found a new love at something else I'm good at. I'll get better. And something to work on, and to keep me busy, and to be able to entertain in a whole different way. Because I live for entertaining people. I never stop. So I found another way that I can make money doing it."
On going on tour with Martina McBride
Aside from her album, movie, and single Road Less Traveled, fans can also look forward to seeing Lauren on the road on tour with Martina McBride on her "Love Unleashed Tour." Lauren says, "I'm pretty excited about that because she's Martina McBride."
And her favorite Martina McBride song? "This One's For The Girls," of course. "I love all of Martina McBride's songs but, 'This One's For The Girls' is probably my favorite. I'm going to hear that every night."