CONCERT PREVIEW
Kicks 101.5 Country Fair featuring Miranda Lambert
With Maddie & Tae, RaeLynn and Gary Allan. 5:30 p.m. Oct. 18. $24.50-$89.50. Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, 2200 Encore Parkway, Alpharetta. 1-800-745-3000, ticketmaster.com.
Even if you don’t remember RaeLynn (aka Racheal Lynn Woodward) from season two of “The Voice,” just spend a few minutes chatting with the fledgling country firecracker and she becomes instantly memorable.
The 20-year-old Texan aligned with Team Blake (Shelton) and, while she didn’t win the competition, she’s forging a notable career.
RaeLynn has been on tour with one of her idols, Miranda Lambert — Shelton’s wife — since 2013 and will return to the road for Lambert’s 2015 “Certified Platinum” jaunt. But first, they’ll play Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park on Oct. 18 with Maddie & Tae and Gary Allan.
The spunky RaeLynn has maintained her friendship with Shelton, joining him on last year’s “Boys ‘Round Here” and his current song, “Buzzin’.”
Then there is RaeLynn’s own debut, the sweetly inspiring “God Made Girls,” with a video that has garnered more than 2 million YouTube views.
Calling from Nashville, Tenn., recently, RaeLynn carried on a giddy conversation about her relationship with the Lambert-Shelton power couple and her ideal duet partner.
Q: This has to be a dream come true for you to be touring with Miranda after being such a big fan of hers and Blake’s.
A: When I tell you that it's still the craziest feeling … She's the reason I started singing country music, so to be able to be on tour with her is the coolest feeling ever. The fact that she's supportive of me … and if Blake wouldn't have turned his chair around for me (on "The Voice") …
Q: What have you learned from spending so much time with them?
A: It takes time to build a career. When you're on these shows like "The Voice" and "American Idol," you're spoiled that when that chair turns around, you think you're going to become an instant star, and that isn't true. There were so many times I wanted to be out there on a radio tour and Blake said, "It took me 10 years." To do it right, it takes time. The first thing I learned from Miranda, I was 18 and I talked so fast during my set and she was like, "Listen to the crowd, let them applaud." She just taught me to take it slow and realize the audience isn't waiting for you to babble and be the Tasmanian devil.
Q: It seems that suddenly, with people like you and Maddie & Tae and Danielle Bradbery, there is this emphasis on young women who have something to say. Why do you think that is?
A: I think country has been craving it and they've been waiting for some girls. We're girls that have something to say and other girls want to hear that. I think a new girl movement is coming on.
Q: When you sat down with the other female co-writers to work on “God Made Girls,” what prompted the message in the song?
A: The cool thing about all these women who wrote it with me, they're in their 30s through 50s and I'm in my 20s and the reason it relates to so many women is that we're from all different age groups and have different perspectives. I think that's why the song is so special. We just were talking about that (Ram truck) commercial "God Made a Farmer" and "God Made Girls" came out of it.
Q: Who would be your dream partner to write or sing with?
A: My dream partner was always Miranda; I would love to do a duet with her. But Dolly (Parton), if I ever got to sing with her, that would be ridiculous. I can't even talk about meeting her, I'll throw up. She's everything. She's funny, she doesn't care what anyone thinks about her, she has awesome style … she's just Dolly.
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