If you read any of my posts from 2020 - 2021, you would've seen the name 'Alana Springsteen' pop up time and time again. Now, two years later, the up-and-coming country star embarks on her first ever European tour, and I was lucky enough to sit down and chat with her about it. Read on to see why she decided to make touring in Europe such a priority, how we got so lucky with her debut album 'Twenty Something', and our mutual love of queen Taylor Swift - enjoy!
Ciara’s Country (CC): I am joined today by one of
my absolute favourite country artists of the
past few years. Her
music well and truly got
me through the pandemic and she’s just released her debut album Twenty Something. Joining me as she kicks off
the European leg of her tour, it’s Alana Springsteen! Alana, it’s such a pleasure to meet you.
Alana Springsteen (AS): Ciara, it’s so good to meet you! What kind words, oh my gosh! Hearing that you found my music during the pandemic gives me so much life - I think that's where I found a lot of my fans because I was writing so much during that time. For anyone out there who's heard my music, The History of Breaking Up phase was all throughout that, so y'all are what got me through those breakups too.
CC: And what an era it was! This is your second time coming back to this side of the pond in the space of a year - how does that feel?
AS: Man, it's a dream come true. I don't know that I expected to get back so early, but it was obviously my goal! My first trip was C2C Country 2 Country, and that was actually my first time ever out of the country. I got to go to London, Glasgow, Dublin, a couple of amazing cities. I was just overwhelmed by the love I felt from the fans over here.
Everybody had already told me that shows over here feel so different to shows in the States - the way fans here listen to music is so intentional, they just sit and take it all in, soak it up. As a songwriter and an artist who puts a lot of thought into lyrics and the music, it means the world to have it received that way. I was just living my best life out here, so when I went home, I was immediately like ‘when is the soonest we can come back and play?’ And it’s amazing that we're playing some headlining dates this time around. This is my first time headlining in Europe. That's crazy!
CC: Of course you do have those upbeat songs that would fit in in a party kind of atmosphere, but I think your music really lends itself to that kind of audience you were mentioning because you have songs where every lyric really deserves to be listened to.
AS: Thank you for saying that. I started as a songwriter so I wrote my first song when I was like nine years old. Music was really my therapy my whole life - that's how I processed emotions that I didn't know how to deal with. I could say things in my songs that I couldn't say to my best friends and my family even. I found myself in the music and that still continues to this day. The songs on Twenty Something are so personal - I feel like I've gotten to know myself more than I ever have these past two years.
Going through all of those breakups, that whole phase in my life, I think I realised that I was looking for validation and love in other places and I wasn't giving it to myself. How can you love someone you really don't know? I kind of went on this journey to really get to know myself for the first time and that's what this album has encompassed. It's all of that. There's a lot to unpack here with these songs! But tonight's going to be a fun vibe. It's just me solo acoustic, I've got a piano, I get to have some keys moments - it's very much going to be kind of a quieter listening vibe, which I'm here for.
CC: Twenty Something was certainly a long time coming, and the songs on there really encompass both the good and the bad times. You spoke there about breakups, not knowing yourself well - do you ever find it difficult to perform certain songs and relive the memories that you had when you were writing them?
AS: You know, more than difficult, it's quite the opposite. Actually it's healing for me, because these are emotions and experiences that I have so often felt alone in. Being able to play them on stage and look out and see people that I've never met in my life singing back, screaming the lyrics, connecting to it - I feel like I have this community, I have this family surrounding me that feels the exact same way I do that's going through the exact same things, and that’s the beauty of music.
CC: I feel like we were absolutely blessed with Twenty Something because you gave us a whopping 18 songs, which is really unusual for any album. I know that this was kind of accumulation of various EPs and previous music that you put out, but why did you decide to bring together so many songs for this album?
AS: I’ve just been writing so much! So I think it came from the fact that I'm writing pretty much every single day, whether it's an idea or a melody or getting in the room with co-writers, I'm always creating. I knew I wanted to release a lot of music but I think from the beginning, I knew it was going to eventually evolve into an album. The vision was always releasing a full body of music. That's something I've dreamed about since I was a little kid.
Honestly, it just feels different than releasing small EPS - those are like tiny windows, this is a whole world that I've created on Twenty Something. We went from messing it up to figuring it out and getting it right. These are all the phases that I've experienced so far in my 20s, it's the highest highs, the lowest lows, everything in between. I really wanted to break it up to give people a chance to really digest the songs and to take them on this journey with me.
CC: You said that you're constantly writing songs - does that mean that there's a lot of these other songs that we don't get to hear?
AS: 100%! You know, it's kind of like TS with all her Vault tracks that she's going back to now. I think there are always songs that fall through the cracks, but that's honestly a real benefit of social media. It gives me a chance to tease some music and see what connects and what doesn’t. But I will tell you this - there may or may not be some songs coming out later this year that didn't make the album so stay tuned.
CC: Any chance of hearing them tonight?
AS: Probably not (laughs). There’s still a lot of music to cover tonight. I'm trying to do some stuff from the earlier EPs, Twenty Something, a couple of covers that I just love. I want to show people a little bit about my story and how I got here. Man, just going through DMs and hearing what all of the fans here want to hear me play was mind-blowing! They’ve been asking for some OG songs from when I was like 19, 20 years old. It makes me so happy that people here have been really like growing up with me and going through that journey with me. It's awesome.
CC: I’m just saying, I’m available if you want to do a 10 hour set tonight.
AS: Say less (laughs)
CC: I love how on that last question you referred to Taylor Swift just as ‘TS’ (not the first time I've drawn comparisons between Taylor and Alana!) – are you on acronym basis with Ms. Swift?
AS: Haha not quite! But I’ve been such a Swiftie since day one. That's such a big part of my story too. I think a big part of the reason that I started writing so young is because I had that example to look up to - Taylor was published when she was 14, the same age that I got my first publishing deal. She was that person I looked up to thinking ‘I can do this too’.
She was actually my first concert when I was nine years old! I'll never forget the Speak Now tour, watching her float across the arena in this carriage, it was absolutely magical. I actually released a song about all of that too called Taylor Did. It's about how she inspired me and a whole generation with her music. I think that's the power of songwriting, the power that music has to connect so many people and make us feel less alone.
CC: What’s your favorite Taylor Swift song?
AS: It is so hard to pick! If we're talking OG stuff, Our Song was one of the first that I learned to play on guitar so that one holds a special place in my heart. Fearless I absolutely love. I remember having my little iPod shuffle, and just being in my own world imagining myself on my first date. I hadn't fallen in love yet but I could picture myself there! The Red record really changed my life too - I remember going to Target, getting the CD and listening to it from the top down. State of Grace, that opening song hits so hard every single time.
CC: I feel like I'm in such good company right now! Let's hope for Alana Springsteen for Eras Tour opener 2025?
AS: You got it!
Of course that's not all we had to say! Check back soon for Part 2 of our interview where we chat getting Mitchell Tenpenny & Chris Stapleton on her album, being young in Nashville, and something no one knows about her. Drop me a follow on Twitter/X @ciarascountry to be the first to know when it's posted - thanks for reading!
