Alana Springsteen talks Heartbreak Songs & How Seeing Luke Bryan at the Opry Changed Her Life

[Music] right trying to trying to yep you're right there these are beautiful Gibson beautiful Gibson I know you are so we're going to ask you to play one is that all right oh yeah yeah yeah perfect I don't know if that's even allowed technically with like labels and Licensing and all that stuff but I I saw um one of your music we got foret and you're playing that exact j45 I think I have a j45 actually have two now because I have different two names yeah stage but they've been so so kind to me they're the best they're the best we're hoping to be just a Gibson like house at uh do you play I'm trying to let's go I I we might need you to play a little bit so listen I said this to him I said this to him a few hours ago we got these in the mail like THS or today Thursday Tuesday uh Tuesday Yeah Tuesday he pulled it out of the box first off they are like amazing looking yeah they're beautiful he started strumming it and I was like man Dave actually sounds pretty good for one I I don't they made them sound the bestelling it I I'm not under selling it I I can play a G chord I can play a d chord I can play a C chord you can play a country song that's right I well see I I stink it strumming I guess we're like starting the interview right now just like shooting the breeze I love it welcome to Chicago Alana thank you for coming in welcome to the windy city smoke out um not your first time not my first time I know your first time tell me national anthem at Wrigley W let's go you do wait you're was that I ran so I ran all the music at Wrigley Field when they put in the video boards no way that was like a new thing in 2015 and they you were like one of the top 10 I would say national anthems that everyone talked about behind the scenes insane dude uh I was 9 years old when I got to sing that Anthem and I was just starting to fall in love with performing and fall in love with music and I go back to that moment all the time and reference it as one of the first times that I really caught the bug for like performing um my dad's from Peoria actually soal far so he grew up watching the Cubs and I don't think at nine I knew how iconic it was but looking back now I'm like that's pretty that's a huge deal for a 9-year-old and so last year we did this last year too in a little cramped up shipping container like this and I was giving everybody trash talking trash everybody who walks and wearing Cubs jerseys cuz it's like you come to Chicago You're On Stage you're wearing a Cubs Jersey I'm a White Sox fan half the city hates the Cubs but you actually have an excuse since you grew up actually kind of following them so I can't even trash talk it feels authentic to me um and I actually like on the field that day something I talk about all the time dragonflies have always been like a good luck symbol for me that day when I was n singing The Anthem there were thousands like in the air swarming everywhere I literally have a tattoo dragon fly so it's like yeah yeah and Chicago like I've been back a couple times since then Sing the anthem again and I did a a headline show at Joe's on weed which was pretty ionic best spot it really is it is what year was that that was actually last year that was last year yeah one of the biggest shows we played on the headline tour so so special so there's definitely something to the dragonfly Mystique because it's usually seagulls swarming around there really yeah not a lot of well there's a lot of trash there on in that Stadium rats with wings talking about field yeah a dum butock I say this all the time and people think I'm an idiot why are there seagulls in the middle of the country something's up with that there's a giant Lake like a block away I know but they're like ocean they're not you get them out in the suburbs from me yeah you're from you're an East coaster I'm an East coaster oh yeah where Massachusetts nice I love it you're from vicho U I'm gonna guess your high school Princess Anne that was a good guess okay but trick question because I didn't go to high school I was homeschooled okay you're homeo so yeah you can't win but I would have gone prin you were on the you would have gone to princess and like I I have four friends that I grew up playing baseball with from Virginia that are like eight years apart from each other one was a freshman when I was a senior the other long story short like everybody in the v Beach area wants they high school I feel like yeah it's totally true um I love that you call it V beach too I know you're familiar with it I literally have my area code there we go yeah stat on me too so apparently just get too many tattoos what is it what is it with the music like explosion coming out of Virginia now crazy right crazy we just we talked with shabui a couple weeks ago in Nashville and we were talking about the same thing we were rattling off some of the names that we knew and then he rattled off even more gu are you a GU fan who gu no I don't yeah maybe I should oh no one's old enough in here and they're early like early mid 90s and they're a heavy heavy metal band Richmond they're from Richmond yeah they're more they're Richmond same close enough close enough um but yeah what what is it it's like a I couldn't tell you it's like for me I I grew up like in a an area called Pungo so it's like a smaller area of Virginia Beach it's like the country the country area it's more toward North Carolina people in Pungo have Country Ass accents um and it's like this crosssection between like surf beach culture and Farm culture cuz there's like a Farm Stand every corner like people that have been there for Generations just growing corn and strawberries um and there's also like Surfer Dudes like yo just hanging out soang bro yeah exactly when I think of Virginia Beach that's what I think of cuz that's the people I know from there that's see I knew all Hillbillies they were all like Hunters like living in Deer blinds and stuff that's that's what I knew that's what she's saying like that whole area no I know but there's there's the other culture too right yeah I mean I wrote a song about it CU I felt like there are a lot of people the more I'm talking to fans and all that there are a lot of people that identify with that kind of country like the beach culture but also like redneck um and I wrote a song called a different kind of country that's about like you know instead of boots were like Barefoot instead of Red Dirt it's like sand so that's my kind of country man what uh all right so we ask everyone this question obviously and everybody always lies you can be honest with us okay okay do you enjoy coming to Chicago I do for what reasons because I think the fans are awesome um I my dad's from here so I feel like every time I come here there's a special moment that happens like at the headline show last year my mom and my dad were both there and he had like a lot of his high school like old friends come out so he's like having a little high school yeah this is a Joe's um and I just I think Chicago because of like the Cubs like it it always has a special place in my heart um and like the fans just do it for me like is this your first smoke out it is my first smoke out not your last though I'm sure that's right that's right I can't wait to come back you're you're in for such a treat this is we kind of we're not alone but we always say this is the best weekend I I age I really think it's the best weekend of I think the best summer I'm obviously biased being from here but it's the best summer City in the country maybe the world I don't know um and this is like Pinnacle weekend of it so your favorite so I'm glad to have you and you've been crushing it the last like since your last album that so what when did you put that out about a year ago yeah it came out August 18th yeah um and that was before but yeah we dropped 18 songs on August 18th 18 Again apparently have a thing with like symbols and and signs like I don't know if you guys believe in that stuff but for me like 18 has been a number that comes up all the time is just one of those like Signs I'm on the right track and so I infused all the good juu the conspiracy theorists are big into that stuff yeah well I don't know if I maybe I am a conspiracy theorist I'm like the seagulls are fake they're government Birds they shouldn't be there they're spy drones sent from China I don't know but yeah like uh releasing that album I've I've dreamt about releasing an album my whole life now how did the uh the collabs come together on it it was a process I collabs for me like it's easy to it's easy to just throw collabs out there now I feel like everybody's doing it but I want it to feel organic I want it to be right for the song um and to do it with people that I like truly look up to or connect with and those are two Mega stars that are incredibly talented musicians I mean name them so oh Chris aeton and Mitchell temp peny so Mitchell me and Mitchell actually met writing songs together he's one of my favorites right he's so goodes that makes sense you give similar energy I feel like you guys are you wearing sneaks yeah you're wearing Nikes okay he's so awesome definitely um he's the best and we met writing you don't deserve a country song which was the first song I released on 20s something which is a ridiculously good thank you lyrical song Thank you so much you two wrote that together we wrote it with a couple other guys in Nashville unbelievable but you walk I write a lot of songs right I've been in Nashville writing since I was 14 but some days you walk in and it just is different it's like oh okay there's something special here like we're on the same wavelength we don't even have to like talk about it we're just there and we wrote that song in a couple hours and wow it's crazy did you know after you wrote it were you like this is a smash oh yeah I mean I could go back and find the text chains like we were going off about it all right I love it cuz we asked people that we literally we met with uh Tucker Wetmore yesterday and he's saying wine and whiskey mhm or no we were talking about W whiskey and I was like after you wrote that did you know it was just a smash and he's like no you know try to be humble you know when you hit it out the Park yeah I knew I knew I wanted to come out the gate with it I was like this is this is how we need to introduce This Record cuz i' been through some really shitty relationships and that was the first song that I remember writing from a place of power like after those it ended it's either it's easy to be like oh you broke my heart what was me I'm ruined and I have some of those songs too but I feel like reclaiming that power reclaiming that confidence nobody deserves to take away your happiness um and at the end of the day it's like a choice you have to make like this happened I'm going to learn my lessons and I'm going to move on and uh we kind of approached that bridge as like my chance to say what I needed to say to my ex without having to see him face to face I love that so it's kind of like calling him out you're winning that post breakup War right now I would say thank you I appreciate you're also very very smart your homeschool teacher like who was it your mom mom she a good teacher yeah we did like a we're getting nerdy now about home school but it was like online curriculum and I would like watch teachers on on a computer I feel like it's now more prevalent than ever like so many people now back when I was growing up people were like you're weird it was it that was the thing but the pandemic I I think Tim Deb Tim TBO changed it maybe changed I think he changed the narrative now well I mean for me like I like I said I started writing songs when I was nine started playing guitar when I was seven like I knew really early that music was it for me um how were you writing music that young I was trying to write my name when I was that young yeah I it it felt like it just was a God thing I don't know it just came so naturally to me like I processed my life in terms of Music um does that just drive other musicians insane hearing you say that I don't know I just um I think everybody has an outlet right whether it's art whether it's Sports whether it's um lounging in front of the TV like me video games whatever it is um for me I'm an introvert and that a lot of people were surprised by that but I recharge when I'm alone and a lot of like things that I go through and emotions that I felt I didn't I didn't know how to share with people I didn't know how to process it and so music was that for me like when I was going through something I would find myself in the corner of my room with my guitar and it would just come out in the form of a melody or a lyric and it's still that way like I walk into my Writing Room my writing sessions with that mindset so now I got a question for you on that note so a lot of people tell us like you guys have dream jobs which I would always say yes that is correct I'm very lucky to do what I do but I also say like hey like I'm mostly Sports guy to be frank I'm not don't play that you could teach me a thing or two I'm not Sports girl that's exactly I I get to a point where I'm sick of teaching people about sports and it's no longer my outlet so do you have an outlet like beyond music where you're like I just got to get away from writing I gotta get away from the guitar or is it I love this question I do actually uh I cook there we go love it do you guys what's what's your oh yeah him and I actually we cook a lot Dave just got into it last years and he's I can I can if I were on a date like a first date with a girl I would be confident in my cooking skills enough make simp started a few years ago to now impr a nice um uh chicken uh like a chicken picata maybe something like that second day a chicken picata second day what's your they call it like a marry me meal right a marry me meal I've seen that on inst load it up with cheese and a couple different spices and just my like for you page is all food accounts and I always see like these female Cooks post these like this is that chicken yeah this is that oh man food is like I I love it so much and I think I've I'm an over analyzer apparently I've thought about this a lot and I'm like why do I love cooking so much I think it's the instant gratification because a lot of what we do is so like long game like you write a song you don't know it's going to do something you don't know how it's going to connect until maybe a year down the road before you even release it um but when you make food and like you watch your friends enjoy it it's just feels so good you're like I feel what a great answer yeah it's awesome but I think a steak you can't go wrong with a good steak like I feel like agree is a and you're in the best steakhouse city in the country no no joke that should have been my answer for why I love Chicago that should have been it honestly we have so many lights out steakhouses here how long are you guys in town for not long enough we roll out tonight we're we're on tour L bran summer so we have two shows with him the next couple days but he's he's pretty tame and shy huh yeah he's he just keeps to himself just kind of like boring honestly that's being on tour with him that's like a mar that's I I applaud you have youall seen his show have you seen the live show oh yeah I like he's unbelievable Entertainer performer but I know him like behind the scenes yeah and he like the real part's off the stage 100% 100% And I love that about him too I think that's why fans love him he's just he's the same person on stage as he is offstage he's the best um but yeah Margarita is Flowing constantly but those are these are huge shows you guys are playing they're sick man I think you're in like you're playing Brown Stadium in a few weeks in Cleveland uh Arenas 60,000 doing Wrigley Field here in August wait are we yeah no no no are you talking about Luke Holmes or Luke Bryan Luke Bryan uhuh I don't think I'm on that show August 25th I don't think I'm on that show you should tell them you she's she's Shing her out at me we're not on that show unfortunately saying the best this is an obvious an obvious connection like make it full circle but no the shows have been amazing um we were on tour together last year too and I think man I don't know if you guys know this but when I was 10 years old I got to tour the grand old opery and like at that time I was obsessed with country music and I was like I need to go here like this is Holy Ground for country music um and he was performing that night and I watched him saying rain is a good thing and it made such an impression on me as a 10-year-old I was like the way he connected with that crowd I'm like I want to do that like I have to be a part of that um fast forward when I got to make my my debut he was the one that facetimed me out of the blue and was like Alana it's Luke Bryan I know we've never talked before but I wanted to let you know like you're getting to make your debut on October 18th and again 18 right again it's all over the place anyways um it's all full circle he's I've learned so much from him like just watching the show watching how he connects with fans um and he's given me so much advice but one thing that stuck with me is like don't forget to have fun and it sounds so simple but doing what we do it's easy to just go from show to show and you're doing the same it's right um and also to get in your head like you're constantly comparing yourself to other people you're trying to like what's next what's next you're always thinking about those things and then taking care of your voice and it can be stressful but I think he does this so well he's just he realizes what it's all about at the end of the day and it's just connecting with people and we're live music is like the one place where people come and can just forget about everything that's going on and be in the same place just having fun together and you go to one of his shows and you feel that so that stuck with me and I'm like we're just having fun like as long as we're connecting and having fun we're doing our job that's a great perspective and answer great yeah another great answer that's a great mentor to have and somebody to learn from what someone that looks up to you that you know is aspiring to be a musician struggling getting frustrated what's some advice you would give to them oh man I can't play a b f court if you got any can I'll be there asking for a friend sitting to my man I still hate bours they're the worst things on earth give me a capo like that's there's a reason we invented a capo and it's so we don't have to play bar right um need those thick meaty Paws I guess there's so much like I've learned um so over the past two years like it can be a it can be a journey you know there's a lot of yeses there's a lot of NOS there's a lot of let Downs there's a lot of wins it's kind of a roller coaster um and I mentioned comparison earlier too like it's so easy to look at what's working for other people and be like I need to chase this I need to chase this I need to chase this um also being like early into my 20s I think you get a lot of advice you get a lot of people going no this is what you need to do this is who you need to be this is what you need to sound like the one thing that I've learned and I've heard from a lot of people is just Chase what is most authentic to you get really really good at trusting your gut and knowing what's important to you and what you need to say that's unique to you that you want the world to hear um because at the end of the day if you're going through something so are a million other people out there that need to hear your story and sounds cliche but there's only one you and so just getting really good at chasing that I mean I've written songs about but I wrote amen about um just promising myself to live on my own terms and stay true to me and not be scared to make mistakes and mess up but as long as you're doing what you feel passionate about what you feel like you're meant to do like you're winning are you sure you're only in your early 20s cuz I was like wise Beyond yeah thanks I it's advice that I've been given and I've always been an old soul too like I'm oldest to four um I felt like growing up I I was like a 20-year-old and a 10-year-old's body I've always felt older than my age so um maybe that's why but there you go yeah this was an amazing interview amazing interview um I guess I'll just this is our first one of the weekend it was a perfect perfect kickoff and my last question is is how sick of you are you of people asking if you're related to Bruce oh God we almost made the whole interview I know I wasn't going to ask you if you're related to Bruce though cuz I know that you're not but you still did which I I asked if you're sick of people asking so it was roundabout way I see what you did there and I respect it uh pretty sick and now a little more sick than last time honestly just inches more and more keeps going keeps going I get office space I the one who sucks even though obviously Bruce is awesome I mean icon that's still I need to see his live show like that's I never had that's one guy I haven't seen I've seen him 15 I've 16 times 16 times including his Broadway show he's freaking incredible but you're on the path to being as good of a songwriter I will say wow that's High Praise not there yet but you're uh you're you write pretty good song man High Praise thank you so much but I see how introspective and ephemeral you are and I get it cuz like you're not just sitting down writing a song about a madeup scenario like you said you're real [ __ ] it's crazy it's real [ __ ] um what's your favorite spring scene song tunnel love I'm I'm a corny like I love that 80s kind of Pop yeah it's so cliche but Bor runs like a top five song mine's cliche too uh I'm on fire as myv yeah that's cliche too but um I actually did like a little cover version of sometimes I'll throw it into live shows just for fun oh you got to do it tonight tonight you gota yeah do it and dedicated to Dave and Dante of barol yeah you guys are awesome