By Dave Parsons
She picked up the guitar at seven and wrote her first song by age nine, the same age that she got her first big performance singing the national anthem at a Chiago Cubs home game, Alana Springsteen felt the pull of Nashville with every new lyric she wrote. She made the official move to music city at age14, and landed a publishing deal almost immediately.
She made her Grand Ole Opry debut on her 22nd birthday. She had several EP’s and singles released prior, but this past year released her anticipated debut as a three-part album and extended edition, called TWENTYSOMETHING.
I caught up with Alana at the Country Calling festival in Ocean City Maryland, and sat down for a cup of coffee with her before she took the stage.
Me: So you have new music coming out, right?
Alana Springsteen: I do. I’m very excited about this next era, and TWENTYSOMETHING, my debut album taught me so much about myself. I’ve always used writing as like my therapy, it’s kind of how I make sense of like things I’m going through and those songs just introduced me to a more honest version of myself and I was able to say things that scared me and realize I wasn’t as alone as I thought I was going through it, and found my community through it and I feel like when you do that work to really get to know yourself you come out on the other side, like a stronger more confident bolder version of yourself.
I felt that going into writing this next era of music and I told everybody I was like walking in my villain era. I was like watch out like here she comes, but the funny thing is the first rights I had I came out with the softest like most hard on your sleeve love songs I’ve ever written in my life. I think it’s taught me that sometimes being strong and staying soft, and I noticed that I had put up so many walls and like put my guard up, going through some of these relationships. and I forgot how to feel all the feelings like deeply, and I think that’s the most beautiful way to live life.
So, I cannot wait to introduce people to this next era. I’ve already been playing some of the songs live and just watching the way they react and people already singing back before they’re out anywhere is crazy.
Me: You were two years younger when the last CD came out so this is like evolution of your growing up or you’re maturing
Alana Springsteen: It really is. I feel like my music is always going to represent exactly where I am in life and the things that I’m contending with and the things that are weighing heavy on my heart. It just makes the people that come to my shows and that find my music feel like friends and family, like we were just so tight because of it.
We’re going through these things together, we’re processing it together and I feel like that’s what music gives us. It’s just that healing and that reminder that you’re not alone and anything you go through.
Me: Yeah, it’s seems like country music anymore…there’s the artist who do like you’re doing and like you said, have a nice little family now to sing to and there’s just the party crowd. I’ve always been drawn to more introspect in artists. Who are your biggest influences as far as like writing and that kind of thing?
Alana Springsteen: Man, there were so many growing up my dad like was just a music lover. Honestly my whole family loves music. Music was so infused in everything that we did. But I grew up listening to a wide variety of music because of that like my dad loved like the 80s and rock and AC/DC and Van Halen and all of this but also like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey and just like big vocalists always inspired me like people that could just sing their butts off.
I was like I want to do that so and I also just fell in love with like lyrics. I’ve always been a storyteller and I was writing poetry and like creative writing was always my favorite subject in school. So, I would just analyze these songs and analyze the lyrics and just get lost in it. So people like Taylor Swift and on and on and on. I just feel like songwriters always really inspired me. Shania’s was up there on the list for me, just the way that she brought something new to country music that nobody had kind of heard before that inspired me. How she was just kind of blazing a trail I’ve always just connected with how real country music is and how like straight forward and to the point the writing is.
Me: Yeah, some of those songs reminded me of Mary Chapin Carpenter and that introspect kind of feel to it.
Alana Springsteen: Dude, she’s one of my faves. She is all over my playlist.
Me: That’s what I was waiting for. I was waiting for her name to come up. For some reason, her name popped in my head when I heard some of the songs on there. Do you feel like when you’re dealing with the fans, because I’m looking at your Facebook and granted there’s a lot of guys on there, we won’t talk about, but some of the stories I have seen…they are telling you, their stories. So, you’re kind of like their own musical therapist kind of thing. Do you find that you’re getting that from the fan base?
Alana Sprinsteen: Yeah, for sure and that’s honestly one of my favorite things about what I get to do, is when I’m lucky enough to hear how the songs have like changed somebody’s life or affected them or helped them through like a small situation whether it’s a breakup or like a friendship or conversations with their parents. Them finding the courage through a song to kind of do that work to get to know themselves to, and go on that journey I feel like we’re getting to grow up together. We’re getting to make the mistakes together and I’m not shy about my experience.
Like I don’t even tell them all of it. I’ll tell them everything. But, it’s special when I see a comment or a face-to-face conversation and actually hear some stories. Some people are like you helped me get through when I my lost my dad and this song really helped me. Or I went through this terrible breakup last year, and this song gave me hope that it was going to be okay and like there was more for me on the other side and that’s the magic of what we get to do.
Me: Where do you see yourself wanting to be in like 10 years down the road?
Alana Springsteen: 10 years is like a long time. I feel like every single day like I’m setting new goals for myself and I’m changing and kind of letting the music guide me. I would say….I’ve wanted this since I was a kid like when I was six, seven eight years old I wanted to be an artist and that’s what I was telling my parents. I think that just stemmed from me realizing that I could express myself through music in ways that I couldn’t any other way. If I wasn’t an artist, I would still be a songwriter, so I want to still be doing that. I want to be telling my truth. I want to be going deeper. I want to be saying stuff that scares me.
In 10 years from now, I want to still be able to do that and just hopefully give some people some hope and light through it. I want to be able to tour the world. That’s always been a goal with me. Not only here in the US, but Australia and Asia and Europe. I’m already starting to do that, like we we’ve gotten to play a lot in Europe just with C2C and a couple headline shows already, and the fans over there are so special and country music is just going global. People all over the world are finding it and relating to it and it’s wilder than it’s ever been.
So, I want to be able to tour all around the world. I want to play stadiums. I just this is the dream for sure and I just want to still be doing this and telling my truth 10 years from now.
