Since she made her UK debut last year at C2C, Alana Springsteen has become one of the most popular rising country stars with audiences here.
Blending country, pop and rock influences alongside raw and honest lyrics, she's since played The Long Road and supported Eli Young Band on tour here, as well as returning to C2C this March for her first London headline show and co-hosting the main stage alongside the legendary Bob Harris. Last week she was back once more to perform at BST Hyde Park.
Whilst she was here, I caught up with Alana to chat about her love for UK crowds, her ‘Nashville Sessions' EP which she recently added to streaming services, the new music she's working on and what's next on the horizon for her – as well as the strangest things she's been given by audience members…
Welcome back to the UK!
It's so good to be back. It's never too long until the next trip. And the weather's beautiful, I'm playing Hyde Park – it's pretty iconic. I cannot wait.
I feel like you're basically an honorary Brit at this point because you've been here so much, but even now you've still got new things going on – I saw your Instagram Story about the tube…
[laughs] Yeah, honorary Brit, let's go! I hope you mean that.
Of course!
I love it here. I'm a proper tea girl now. Y'all got me hooked on tea. Like, Yorkshire Tea hits [laughs]. I rode the tube for the first time yesterday. I had a little bit of trouble scanning my way in, but the second time was perfect [laughs]. I would definitely get lost if I was on my own though, I have to say.
You're here to play BST Hyde Park which is your biggest UK show yet. Is that quite a daunting prospect or is it something you relish?
Oh gosh. I'm just excited. I get so excited. I feel like the nerves have kind of gone away, the more that I play the less nerves I have. I just get this kind of rush of adrenaline, and excitement. It's definitely gonna be the biggest UK show I've ever played. We're trying some new songs today that I've never really played before, that aren't out yet, so I'm excited to hear what the fans think!
Last time you were here was C2C – how was it getting to come back to that?
C2C was my first show here in the UK. I got to play the Next From Nashville stage and it was just me and my acoustic guitar. I feel like every time I come back the shows just get a little bigger and more exciting. Last time I was here I did a headline show in the Indigo and that was my first ever headline show in London, and just the response that I felt from the fans, the way they sang back every single word to every single song blew my mind. And then yeah, being a part of this festival, it's such a great lineup. We're headlining the Rainbow Stage, I soundchecked earlier today and I can tell you we're gonna have a lot of fun. It's such a great stage.
You also took on hosting duties at C2C with Bob Harris. How was that experience?
Oh my God, we made so many memories. And obviously Bob is an icon, like he is country music in the UK in so many ways. And that was really my first experience hosting. It was also my first experience co-hosting on air, and being part of the radio show, so a lot of firsts that weekend. But there's nobody better to do it beside. I feel like I learned so much from him. We made so many memories. Bob ended up getting a tattoo on one of the days we were together! Just had the best time. And yeah, they're forever family at this point.
I was also going to ask you about getting to play with Keith Urban – tell us about that…
Man, Keith is one of my favourite artists in country music. When I was seven, eight, nine years old, I had just picked up the guitar, and I just remember having his songs on loop, because he was my favourite guitar player. His riffs were some of my favourites. Just these iconic moments in songs. So I would play them on loop and try to learn them over and over again. And I saw him – he was one of the only artists I ever saw at CMA Fest, in Nissan Stadium. I got to watch him play a couple of songs and it just took my breath away. He had the entire stadium in the palm of his hand. And he's just been somebody that I've looked up to for so long.
And so when I saw we were on the same bill at Summerfest, I was so excited just to get to watch the show. And I never expected that we would end up on stage together doing ‘We Were Us'. That song is one of my favourites. I just hope I did Miranda proud, honestly!
I was going to ask if you'd heard from her about it yet at all?
No, not yet. I've actually met Miranda. She's so, so sweet. But yeah, not since I did the performance. But I hope I did her proud [laughs].
We've spoken about new music and I know you've been previewing some stuff on your social media, so is there anything you've got coming up that you're particularly excited about?
I can't give any exact dates yet, but I can tell you that I've been working on this next batch of music since January. I've been in the studio, I've been writing, and it's an era that I've been really excited to introduce my fans to for a long time. I feel like, after ‘TWENTY SOMETHING', I just walked out of that album a very different human. I was a more confident, empowered version of myself and all of that is coming out in the songs. And yeah, we've been trying some of them live, incorporating them into the show on the Luke Bryan tour. I'm already seeing people sing words back and it's just wild, so it feels really good, and yeah, we'll be debuting some of it today here in London.
Obviously ‘TWENTY SOMETHING' was such a huge project for you and so encompassing and quite cathartic in a way. Does it feel intimidating to move on to that next phase now?
I think for me I just always challenge myself to be more honest and more open. That's kind of my gauge when I walk in the writing room. If I'm a little nervous and scared to say what I'm writing about, then that means it needs to be said. And one thing that I've learned is that you're never alone in anything. No matter how you might feel, there are a million other people out there going through the exact same thing. So there's definitely those moments coming in this project too, those really deep personal things that I'm going through, and I think that'll always be the case with my music. I just write about where I'm at in life right now. So yeah, we're going deep [laughs].
I also wanted to ask you about making your morning TV debut on ‘Fox & Friends' – can you tell us more about that?
Yeah! Oh my gosh, it was such a cool experience. My family got up early to all watch, family, friends, like so many people ended up texting and calling me like, “oh my god, we saw you on TV!” But it was just the wildest day. I think what people don't know is that our bus AC went out the night before [laughs]. So we had no sleep, and then we woke up – my call time for glam was 4AM, so I was chugging coffee all morning. But everyone was so great. I feel like TV hits different. It's going out, like first time on national television, so there were obviously nerves there but it was so cool to do it in the middle of New York City, have a bunch of fans there. And hopefully we get to do more soon.
You put out your Nashville Sessions EP on streaming in May which features three cover songs. What drew you to those songs in particular?
It was actually really hard to narrow it down. I grew up listening to all different kinds of music. Everything from Michael Jackson to John Mayer to AC/DC to Van Halen, a bunch of 80s music. My dad just loved all different kinds of music so I was saturated in that. So narrowing it down was really, really hard. But I wanted to take songs that showed different sides of who I am, and lots of different influences. So you've got Michael Jackson, ‘Human Nature', is a song that I constantly come back to. ‘Sand In My Boots' is a more current song that I've been obsessed with, especially as a beach girl. I just love the picture that that paints in your head.
And then, the Usher song, obviously he was playing the Super Bowl and his music was top of mind. I think the coolest thing about Apple Sessions, my favourite ones are when artists take it as an opportunity to take a song that everybody knows really well, but do something completely different with it and unexpected. And it just allows you to hear it again with fresh ears and a fresh lens and give you a different perspective on the song. Like ‘DJ Got Us Falling In Love', we almost took it like more of a ballad, emo version, and the lyrics just kind of came alive. The cello on that song… [sighs]
One thing I knew that I wanted in that session was a cello player. It's one of my favourite instruments so you'll hear it on ‘Sand In My Boots' as the opening riff. You'll hear it sprinkled throughout. But it's just so rare that you get the opportunity to sit in a studio with incredibly talented musicians and just create, like be that creative. So we had fun with it. We had so much fun. And everybody loved it so much that we decided to put the songs out on all platforms, so now no matter where you listen you can hear it.
When you did CMA Fest and then at BST as well, you gave away some of your Jordans. How did that all start?!
[laughs] Yes girl! It's a long story. I've been a sneaker addict for a long time. I got my first pair going into my first tour, as a birthday present, and I loved them. Loved wearing them on stage. And then I toured with Mitchell Tenpenny who's also a sneaker head so he gave me another pair. So the addiction just started at that point, it snowballed. It's definitely out of hand but it's turned into such a fun thing. It's just a fun memory, like to wear a new pair and sign them and give them out to fans, and it's just a great way to remember the shows. Just kind of a fun thing that we share. It's gotten to the point where fans are bringing me Jordans and I'm like, “what is life, man?!” They're the sweetest.
That's probably one of the best things you could get brought by fans at shows…
I've gotten the sweetest things. Like one girl, one time I posted a video about having to do my own makeup on the road and how hard it is with lighting sometimes, and I'm like, “guys, send me recommendations on your favourite lit mirror to travel with”. A fan literally showed up two days later at a show and brought me this whole travel mirror. She was like, “I did some research and I found this and I hope you like it” and I use it all the time. I'm just overwhelmed by how sweet my community is. They're just really like family.
What does the rest of the year look like for you? You've mentioned the new music and touring with Luke, and I know you're out on the road with Tyler Hubbard as well. Is that the focus for the next six months or so?
Yeah, we're on tour with Luke through the summer and then Tyler Hubbard tour starts immediately after that. I'll be releasing music in the midst of all of that. I'm just so excited about this next era of music and to introduce fans to a new side of me and take them on that journey. And we just have so many shows, we're playing incredible festivals, I got to play Hangout Fest this year. So it just feels like a whirlwind of everything at once. It's a lot of fun though. And hopefully I get to be back in the UK before too long!
I was going to ask if you've got any plans to come back over here soon, although I feel like that's a silly question at this point…
We're always working on it. I'm constantly reaching out to my team, looking at shows, they're reaching out to me. We're constantly talking about it. But a goal for me is a headline tour here. I think it's time!
Alana Springsteen's album ‘TWENTY SOMETHING (DELUXE)' is out now on Columbia Records/Sony Music Entertainment.
