Alana Springsteen

One Liner: Rising star with pop-forward "country" tunes that remind me of Taylor Swift.

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but Pop Country

Home: Nashville (but originally from Virginia Beach, VA)

Poster Position: Small Type 
Saturday.

Thoughts:  I mean, the name is what brings immediate attention, right?  She is not actually related to the Boss, but one story I read about her showed that she has used that suspected connection as part of her branding.  "When she was 14, a sign reading “SPRINGSTEEN CONCERT” was put in front of the Baptist church where her grandfather was senior pastor. Sure, it might’ve given off the wrong impression, but as Pastor Les Smith put it in a 2015 Inside Business article about his granddaughter, “of course you want people to come.” "  THAT IS CALLED LYING, PASTOR SMITH, AND GOD DOES NOT LIKE LYING!  Unbelievable.  Sinner.

She was discovered through singing the National Anthem at progressively larger sporting events, culminating in a performance at Wrigley Field that got her noticed by the right folks, and a family move to Nashville soon thereafter.  By 14, she had performed/written with something called Sugarland and had been close on some network music deals.  Since then, she has been a rising star, and just recently got to make her Grand Ol' Opry debut on her 22nd birthday, October 18.

I'd be hard pressed to call this stuff country music.  Very much pop forward more than straight country.  Like, the fourth song in her top ten is just an Auto-tuned pop duet with someone named Roman Alexander.  I guess as Taylor Swift continues to blur the lines between country and pop it is only natural for others to follow along.  And actually, that is what I hear on some of these tunes - "Always Gonna Love You" very much sounds like some older TayTay.  "Trust Issues" as well, as least before the chorus.  And that song is much better than some of these other spots.  Other tunes throw in some steel guitar, or banjo, but at their core these songs do not make me think of country music.  They make me think of pop.  But she has a good voice, and I overall don't hate it.

Two albums - 2021's History of Breaking Up (Part One), and the shockingly named History of Breaking Up (Part Two) from 2022.  Her top streamer overall is the 2019 single I mentioned earlier, "Always Gonna Love You."  11 million streams.

TayTay, right?  C'mon.  Ew, why is that piano full of a white and milky substance?  I know I should drop it, but one thing that is never mentioned in these articles is what her real name is or was.  She admits that she isn't kin to Bruce, but is her real last name Smith like her grandad and the new surname is solely to grab interest?  I've run through many articles by now and no one will say.  I don't believe this is her real last name.

The second most-popular track is thankfully not "Zero Trucks," which is a play on the curse word that rhymes with Trucks, and is instead a different playfully titled tune, "Me Myself and Why," with 9.9 million streams.

I guess this is also the Maren Morris sound as well, where very little about her top songs sounds like a traditional country sound and is more like lite rock with confessional lyrics.  Catchy tune though, I can definitely see her rising up the ranks of country folks now that she's getting her shot post-pandemic.  I'm going to continue being annoyed that no reporter is asking her the hard questions about her fake name and lying grandpa, but I could see this being a fun show.