CRS 2021 – Q & A With ALANNAH McCREADY

Photo courtesy of Alannah McCready Music

Alannah McCready is a talented artist and she was fun to chat with. Check out our CRS 2021 interview and then look up her music. I think you’ll be glad you did.

Patti McClintic: Hi Alannah, it’s so good to meet you here on Zoom. I’m Patti with Think Country. I wish we were meeting in person, but I guess we’re doing the best we can.

Alannah McCready: Yes, good to be here and to meet you too.

Patti: Why don’t you tell everyone where you’re from?

Alannah McCready: I’m originally from Minnesota.

Patti: The frozen north, well, you should be right at home here with the weather we’re having in Nashville today. (Laughs)

Alannah McCready: (Laughs) Yes.

Patti: So, you have a new single coming out? “Something Like That,” correct?

Alannah McCready: Yes, it’s called “Something Like That” and it will be out February 26th.

Patti: That’s exciting.

Alannah McCready: It is very exciting. It will be the first single off the new EP. Then we’ll probably release another single, and then the full EP probably the middle of this year.

Video (audio) courtesy of Alannah McCready Music and YouTube

Patti: Excellent, and then what are you going to be doing? I mean, I know shows are just so hard, and I keep asking people the same question. I’m kind of getting the same answers, but some people have interesting ones. What are you planning, or at least trying to plan?

Alannah McCready: So right now, a couple live virtual shows are planned over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully when summer hits we’ll be doing a little bit more of outdoor shows and stuff like that. I know that a lot of the festivals are starting up at the end of this year, the ones that were supposed to be last year. So, the plan is to be ready when those are going to happen.

Patti: Great. Anything local, any rounds or anything that you know?

Alannah McCready: I plan on doing that. I just moved to Nashville eight days ago.

Patti: Oh, wow. Welcome to Nashville.

Alannah McCready: Thank you. Yeah, I’ve been in Atlanta for the last eight years. I just moved here last week and my house isn’t ready yet, so I’m living in an Airbnb.

Patti: Well, at least you’re inside. What a week you picked to move here!

Alannah McCready: Exactly! Wow.

Patti: When we moved here, we moved in January of 2015, it was terrible. It was ice and snow and it was like, “Why did we move from Buffalo to here?” You know, what kind of mindset were we in? We were supposed to be leaving that. Then it’s been fine until right now, and you moved here and right into it. So, maybe you’re going to get a good six years of really good winters after this.

Alannah McCready: I mean, I hope so, because I’m like, “I thought I didn’t live in the Midwest anymore.”

Patti: (Laughs)

Alannah McCready: I’m like, “I have no mittens.”

Patti: I have nothing. No ice scraper.

Alannah McCready: No, nothing. We don’t get weather like this here. So, growing up, I was used to it and I know what to do, but for the past eight years of my life I haven’t had to deal with it.

Patti: You’re just not ready and prepared.

Alannah McCready: I’m not prepared.

Patti: Also, nobody can really drive in it here.

Alannah McCready: Yeah!

Patti: So, even if you can, you don’t want to because you’re taking your life into your hands.

Alannah McCready: I know.

Patti: So, when you’re not doing your music what makes you happy? What else do you do?

Alannah McCready: My dog makes me very happy.

Patti: What is your dog’s name?

Alannah McCready: Zoe. She’s the laziest assistant on Earth. She’s currently sleeping in the other room.

Patti: Well, those are the best kind. They don’t bother you.

Alannah McCready: No she couldn’t care less what I do. I’m still very into sports and stuff like that, so I still play hockey and will have to find a new one now that I’m in Nashville, like a rec league.

Patti: Cool.

Alannah McCready: Yeah, I’m also very into makeup and all the girly things. Everyone always tells me I’m the girliest jock they know.

Patti: If this music thing doesn’t work out you could work at Ulta.

Alannah McCready: Yeah, maybe I’ll transition into, you know, makeup influencing, and sing at the same time.

Photo courtesy of Alannah McCready Music

Patti: So, let me ask you, now that you’re in Nashville, and you’re within reach of just about any great songwriter, who would you love to co-write with?

Alannah McCready: Oh, gosh. Ultimate dream goal?

Patti: Yeah, you could reach high.

Alannah McCready: Miranda Lambert.

Patti: That would be lovely.

Alannah McCready: Carly Pearce, Dan + Shay.

Patti: Wouldn’t that be amazing? .

Alannah McCready: I would love to write with any of them. “Tin Man” is actually one of the songs that I wish I would have written myself.

Patti: So, you have a song that I listened to that’s very much like a Miranda Lambert song.

Alannah McCready: Oh, yes!

Patti: Can you tell me about “Enemies With Benefits?”

Alannah McCready: Oh! (Laughs) I think it’s something people think about but don’t say.

Patti: Yes, it’s just kind of a thing that’s been going on since the beginning of time. Did you write that one by yourself?

Alannah McCready: Yeah, when I was writing that one it was actually pretty funny. I co-wrote it with Kevin Bowe, who produced that album. I had just gone through a breakup and I was like, “You know, we’re still hanging out, we’re broken up, but I just hate him.” He’s like, “What?” He was so confused. I’m like, “You know, I’m still getting benefits, but I hate him, so we’re enemies with benefits.”

Patti: Right, you’re not friends with benefits, you’re enemies with benefits.

Alannah McCready: Yeah, that’s a song. Now I don’t have to talk to him. (Laughs)

Patti: Exactly right. You get the benefit, and then you just walk away and don’t have to do anything with them. So, where can people find your music?

Video (audio) courtesy of Alannah McCready Music and YouTube

Alannah McCready: Yeah. Anywhere you can buy or stream music will currently have my first two albums. Then the new single will be available everywhere on February 26th. Then all my social media, Instagram, Facebook, everything is Alannah McCready Music.

Patti: Alright, awesome. We’ve been having a lot of fun with this. This is a Chat Pack.

Alannah McCready: Okay.

Patti: It’s a box of random questions and there’s a lot of them.

Alannah McCready: Oh, I love that!

Patti: The card says, “If you could, at this very moment, take a ride on anything in the world, what would you want to ride?”

Alannah McCready: I would say maybe like a racing motorcycle or a race car. I’ve never been in one.

Patti: There you go. Well, you know, we’re not too far from Bristol Speedway in East Tennessee. So, maybe you can like make friends with somebody that’s a race car driver and they would take you for a ride.

Alannah McCready: That would be very convenient. One spin really fast and then maybe go a little slower.

Patti: One spin really fast?

Alannah McCready: One spin really fast and then just keep it at a safe pace.

Patti: Awesome, and because we are Think Country, when you “Think Country,” what do you think?

Alannah McCready: I think storytelling, relatability, and songwriting.

Patti: That’s pretty much it. I’m so glad we were able to talk to today. Thanks so much for spending time with us.

Alannah McCready: Thank you so much for having me.

Patti: Hopefully we’ll see you someplace down the road once things really get going again.

Alannah McCready: Absolutely will.

Patti: Thank you so much. Bye bye.

Alannah McCready: Bye.

I hope you’ll give Alannah McCready a follow on her social media sites (all listed below) and be sure to tell her Think Country sent you!