ALLIE COLLEEN Q&A

Since bursting onto the country music scene with her debut album STONES, Allie Colleen has continually defined her sound by unapologetically balancing an edginess of rock and alternative influences into her country toned flare to stand out as authentically unique. On the back of the success of her last single, “While We’re Still Friends,” she’s recently released her latest effort “Grass On The Grave.” We had the incredible opportunity to dive in with Allie and talk all about the new single, working with Lee Brice on “While We’re Still Friends,” what’s next for her in 2024, and so much more!

(Interview by: Jeffrey Kurtis/Photo Credit: Victoria Roth) 

1) You’ve just released your latest single “Grass On The Grave” last week. Tell us a little bit about the song and what the people who haven’t heard it yet can expect from it when they hit play.

It’s just this beautiful song that really paints this space on grief for the listener. It’s kind of rocking and it moves really well sonically, while lyrically, it paints that picture so strongly. I’m really proud of this song and the way that it turned out.

2) You co-wrote it with Alyssa Trahan, Krystal Polychronis and Craig Wilson. Take us into the writing room that day. How did the idea come together? 

The song that we had put out before this one was about loss as well – relationally. It was the end of a season of marriage for me. I was in this space of divorce, and I was like we get just one song, one chance to write about this. So, for me it came from somewhere really personal. What I love about co-writing in this town, though, is how when you start on something, each writer favors their own personal stories into creating together and that’s what happened here.

3) Without overstepping any boundaries on Craig’s personal story, was the song more of a therapeutic healing session that day or did y’all realize in that moment that you had crafted something special that the world needed to hear?

Thank you for asking this question. We knew that it was something special when we were writing it. We had all done our personal groundwork in our individual seasons with grief. To my knowledge, Craig wasn’t battling health issues at the time, but we have since lost him to what they say was cardiac issues. Craig was one of those people in town where the songwriting community really was his family, so we always like to honor him and pay respects to him with this song.

4) The song was produced by Dave Pahanish. What aspects did Dave bring into the studio that further shaped the sound of the song and your overall performance on it that might not have otherwise been realized without his input?

This is the first of 5 songs we’re putting out with Dave. He really let me do my thing sonically, pulling some from the alternative rock and pop punk that I grew up listening to. But Craig and Alyssa worked really hard on this demo to get it right where we wanted it to be, and Dave was so kind and really just stepped back on this particular project to let us do our thing with it and keep it how I imagined it would be. I’m so grateful for that!

5) “Grass On The Grave” follows the incredible success of “While We’re Still Friends,” a duet with Lee Brice from earlier this year. What do you think it is about this song that’s made it resonate so much with the listeners?

I don’t know that there’s a lot of spaces, that I’ve found, that explore a relationship coming to an end for two people who really do care about each other. Most of the time you get this blaming thing that points at what could’ve been done better in the relationship. So, both songs, “While We’re Still Friends” and “Grass On The Grave,” open up a space that doesn’t really focus on the blame game but on moving forward.

6) You were involved in the production of this song alongside Lee and Jerrod Niemann. Why did you want to be involved in that side of this song and not just the writing/performing side of it?

I’m on the production side of all my stuff. I want to sound different than what others are doing, so I like to have a hand on my stuff. No one else is in my brain, you know? In the case of this new music, I was able to choose the musicians for all the sessions. That’s something that Dave was also so really kind about and that I’m so grateful for. 

7) Your live show is a dynamic blast of sonic styles that really elevates the power of your vocals. Earlier this year, though, you joined 6 shows with Lee on his Me & My Guitar Tour. In what ways did those shows really tone everything down to just your raw talent and how did the fans react to you?

They were incredible! Those shows were an absolute blast and they finished way too soon. I always like to say, like when I’m songwriting, that I’m the absolute worst in the room because these other writers are just so talented. Like that, with these shows I really got to sit back and learn from watching Lee’s talent.

And the audience was so kind to me. His fans really bled into my world and that’s all you can ask for when you get to do shows like this. It was such an honor to be part of those.

8) You kind of touched on this, but with two songs now already released this year, what’s next for Allie Colleen? More singles? An EP? Album?

You have to juggle both those lines in today’s independent era. I put out an album, full-length in 2021, and we printed it as a CD with some digital releases ahead of it. Looking to do the same kind of thing this year with a 5-song EP. Introducing vinyl with it as well as releasing 2 other songs digitally. So yes, planning to release an EP this year to answer the question.

9) We have so many aspiring songwriters and artists that read our website, so we always like to end by asking this…what is the best piece of advice you can offer?

We’re all so different. This whole thing for me came from this being the dream. The only thing I ever wanted to do. So, catering this advice to the writer who is like me and can only think of wanting to do this with their life, there’s a reason that your brain is how it is. Use it! Being creative is such an honor so just be you!

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