HunterGirl hit the ground running after becoming the runner-up on season 20 of American Idol. After getting back to Nashville, she wasted no time writing and releasing music, igniting her star even brighter.
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Her latest release is a classic country ballad titled “Loney Outta You.” The Tennessee native was inspired to write the song while on Idol, after hearing her fellow contestants struggle with expressing their emotions on national TV – particularly the men.
“When you’re on Idol, you have to talk about your emotions and your story,” HunterGirl told American Songwriter. “A lot of the guys said, ‘How are you showing your emotions on TV? I get nervous opening up.’ That’s when I got the idea.”
Jumping off from that idea, “Lonely Outta You” sees HunterGirl provide a much-needed solace for someone similarly as closed off: You don’t talk about your feelings / That don’t mean they don’t hold no weight…I wanna love the lonely outta you / Do whatever whoever didn’t do.
“There are so many songs from guys that say things like ‘you’re a lonely girl’ and I couldn’t think of any songs from girls talking about them being lonely,” she added.
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While HunterGirl gleans her own message from the song, she’s welcomed the “different angles” the audience has found after the song’s release.
“Whenever you’re in the writing room, you think about what a song means to you,” she said. “Then you put it out there and it can mean so many different things to other people. When I first posted it, I saw people say things like, ‘I’m sending this to my daughter because I want her to find the right one.’ There are so many different angles. I hope anyone who hears this song knows that there is that kind of love out there.”
HunterGirl says many of her former Idol teammates responded to the song, remaining supportive of her endeavors outside of the show.
“Everybody [from my season] is so supportive,” she said. “We became like a family by the end of it. If I called any of them, they would come in a second. They are so pumped. They’ve shared the song on their stories. We’re all still supporting each other.”
With the release of “Lonely Outta You,” HunterGirl is one step closer to sharing a full-length project. Though there aren’t any specifics nailed down on the album yet, she feels she’s becoming more adjusted to the process.
“It’s been a wild ride,” she said. “Everything is still moving at the same pace as it was last year, I think I’ve adjusted to it more though. I’ve found those moments where I can chill out and take a breath. I’ve gotten the swing of things more or less.”
Photo by Eric McCandless / ABC
