“Having this really positive energy around me has allowed me to make the best music I’ve ever made,” Lauren Alaina tells American Songwriter of her latest EP, Unlocked.
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It’s hard to believe Alaina needed any outside help to generate some positive energy. The singer-songwriter exudes the stuff, walking into rooms with a buoyant, undeniable energy. You can’t miss her —and you won’t want to.
For those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Alaina face to face, you can get a glimpse of what she’s like in person through her music. The same sense of confidence, fun, and heart that you hear in Unlocked is on display when you invite Alaina around for a chat.
[RELATED: Lauren Alaina Is ‘Unlocked’ with New EP]
While the EP has Alaina written all over it, it also is a marked evolution for her. She’s tapped back into her country roots, going full Georgia across the six songs on the project. Grounding all the twang though, is strong lyricism from some of the best songwriters Nashville has to offer. The songs run the gamut of topics. There are the familiar, yet always relatable topics in country music: break-ups and drinking your sorrows away in the bar. And then there are other, more weighty numbers that take on hard topics like the universal plight of womanhood. It’s a spirited release from Alaina that makes a strong argument for her claim that this is “the best music” she’s ever made.
Prior to the release of Unlocked, we were able to sit down with Alaina and talk about the making of the EP, collaborating with Lainey Wilson, recording other people’s stories, and more. Check out our conversation, below.
American Songwriter: Firstly, you played CMA Fest this past weekend. What makes that festival special?
Lauren Alaina: CMA Fest is such a great week for so many reasons. It’s all about the fans of country music and I get to see other fellow artists that I don’t get to see very often because we’re scattered all over the place. I am most excited to see Lainey [Wilson], she’s one of my really good friends.
AS: You have a song with Lainey on Unlocked, “Thicc as Thieves.” When did you first get the idea to collaborate with her?
LA: I knew I wanted to collaborate with Lainey the second I met her. I didn’t know what kind of song we would do but she’s my kind of people. I like to work with people that I would be friends with regardless of how I met them.
AS: Did you write the song together?
LA: We tried to write it together – she’s an amazing writer – but, it’s hard to get people in the same room sometimes. She’s had such an amazing year. We could just not get our schedules lined up.
When I started writing for this project, I told her the idea. I asked her, “Can I just write it?” She said, “Yes, please do!” I sent it to her and then it was off to the races. It’s one of my favorites.
AS: Looking at this EP as a whole, can you talk about how going back to Georgia – getting back to your roots – helped to inspire Unlocked?
LA: All of our lives literally stopped a few years ago. For me, it was the first time in 12 years for me to stop. I’ve gone pretty much nonstop since I was on Idol. I haven’t spent a ton of time back home in Georgia, but in the last few years, I have prioritized that more.
I’ve had time to reconnect with myself and where I came from. That was really important for me to showcase in this music. I wanted to record songs that girls in Roswell, Georgia would be proud of. I really think we’ve done that.
At the end of the day, I am one of them. I moved away, but you can’t move away from something entirely. I really reconnected with my Southern roots.
AS: What was the first song you recorded for Unlocked?
LA: The first song I recorded was “A Walk In The Bar.” I love that one, it’s one of my favorites. It really showcases my personality and a period of my life when I did walk into some bars…I had my heart broken and it definitely helped, one drink at a time.
I think it’s really a defining song on the project in general. The sound is most like what I’ve done in the past, but it’s still a total departure. It’s a nice bridge between where I’ve been and where I am now.
AS: When you sit down to write a song, do similar topics pop up again and again?
LA: The older I get the more I want to write songs about life. I listen to the other people in the room, wherever they may be in their life, and decide what is an impactful story to tell that day. I was in a season of only writing things about my life. For this project, it’s been really fun because I’ve leaned on other songwriters in the community to share their stories.
AS: How do you connect to other people’s stories? How do you go about recording a song that was written by someone else?
LA: When I record songs I didn’t write, I try to hear myself in the song. I know I can record it if I believe in what I’m saying. If I’m not the person that wrote the lyrics, I want to make sure they’re true to me or have been true to me at some point in my life.
I believe in songwriters. I am a songwriter, but I’m also an artist. I don’t have to be the one that comes up with the music. What goes into an album needs to be the best songs. We just picked the ones that we believed were the best.
AS: How do you connect to “Don’t Judge a Woman?”
LA: “Don’t Judge a Woman” is a masterpiece. I am so proud to have recorded that song. I wish more than anything I wrote that song. It’s one of those songs that stops you in your tracks.
The songwriters (Autumn McEntire, Joybeth Taylor, Sarah Allison Turner) gifted me one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. They did such an amazing job of describing women in all different walks. I’ve been the girl in the bathroom stall crying over some guy that doesn’t deserve my tears. I’ve been the child in a marriage where the mother stays for the kids. I’ve lived those stories.
AS: You worked with Joey Moi for this album. He typically produces “Bro-Country” albums. Did that affect the sonic direction of this EP at all?
LA: I think Joey is such a mastermind when it comes to producing. He works mostly with men, then he gets stuck with me, poor thing. I don’t think he knows what to think about me. I’ve got a big personality and he’s very quiet and calm. But, we make a great team. He made me a better songwriter. It’s made me want to step up my game.
I think the fact that he works with a lot of men doesn’t really matter because, at the end of the day, he just makes good music. He’s definitely changed my sound for the better.
AS: What do you think you’ve learned about yourself through the making of this EP? Either as an artist or personally?
LA: I think the most rewarding part of this new project for me is just having new people believing in me and having a renewed belief in myself. Having this really positive energy around me has allowed me to make the best music I’ve ever made.
I think it has taught me that it’s never too late to make the appropriate changes to make the best music that you can. I feel like I’ve done that. I feel like I’ve found all of my forever homes. I’m getting married. I’ve got this new label and a new producer. I’m really proud. I think [the EP] really showcases who I am, unapologetically. There’s a confidence in it that I don’t feel like I’ve put into some of my other projects.
AS: What do you hope fans get out of this EP?
LA: Music is so amazing because it meets you wherever you are. I just hope that when people listen to this music, if they’re not currently going through whatever is happening in the song, they relate it to something that may have happened to them in their life at some point.
I hope they are as proud of it as I am. I think they will be.
Photo by Robby Klein / Big Loud Records
