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Gary Allan stays true to himself and his fans
By John Benson
Exactly 20 years ago last month, Gary Allan arrived on the country music scene as another hardheaded singer out to change the world.
For the most part, the platinum artist accomplished his goal, releasing nearly 30 singles and notching five No. 1 hits: “Man to Man,” “Tough Little Boys,” “Nothing On But the Radio,” “Watching Airplanes” and “Every Storm [Runs Out of Rain].” Overall, he’s sold more than 7 million albums and toured incessantly.
“When I first started to do this, I had to realize for myself if I wanted to do the music I wanted, I would never be the latest thing,” said Allan, calling from Little Rock, Ark. “I would never be the flavor of the week. And I found comfort in that.
“I remember talking to my manager early on. He said, ‘If you do that stuff, you’re going to end up in Americana.’ So I’m very proud of the past, but I know I could have been a bigger star if I had listened to people.”
Today, a matured Allan said he’s definitely listening to people. He points back to his last No. 1 tune, 2012’s “Every Storm [Runs Out of Rain],” which he co-wrote with Matt Warren and Hillary Lindsey. Specifically, he said working with Lindsey taught him how to write sad songs that don’t necessarily come across as doom and gloom.
Looking ahead, Allan is readying the release of his next project, a follow-up to 2013’s “Set You Free.” That album found the Music City artist not only including loops but also writing on the ukulele.
As for the new album, tentatively due out in 2017, Allan said stylistically, the plan was to push the envelope until his 2015 single “Hangover Tonight” stalled at radio.
“This record is difficult because there’s so much going on right now,’ Allan said. “Music is moving so fast. So I started to flex with it. And ‘Hangover Tonight’ was a little tracky. I felt like I was pushing myself. I wrote it with a DJ and Chris Stapleton, so I had a mix of old and new in the room. It came out cool, but I realized that’s not the direction I want to go.
“Then after we missed with the single, I went back and took everything off the record. We just went with a mix that was more old style.”
Among the new songs are the current single “Do You Wish It Was Me?,” the midtempo “Mess Me Up” and the old-school-sounding “You Need a New Number.” The latter track has a definite Merle Haggard feel.
Even though Allan has a bunch of new tunes in the mix, he promises fans attending his show tonight at Stambaugh Auditorium won’t hear too many unreleased tunes.
“I’ll tell you what – I went to see Stevie Wonder a few years back, and he played for three hours and didn’t play one song that I knew,” Allan said. “After that, I went back and took out every song in my set I was just playing for me and nobody else.
“People want to hear the hits. So we do the hits, and I’ve got two new ones I’m pulling out: ‘Do You Wish It Was Me?’ and a cover of a Dwight Yoakam tune.”