Alannah McCready pulls listeners in with new EP, Back To Me
Honestly explores feelings experienced in relationships
By Preshias Harris for Country Music News International Magazine
After two critically acclaimed albums, Alannah McCready has released arguably her best project yet, her new EP titled Back To Me.
With Back To Me, Alannah bravely invites the listener into her world to share her feelings with songs that run the gamut of emotions. It was the pandemic and the sudden halt to performing live that gave Alannah the unexpected opportunity to take stock of her life and look at creating new music. Alannah talked to me about her new music.
“Before Covid, I was touring a lot,” she noted. “I was playing so many shows like I was always gone playing shows and then when Covid hit and all that stopped. So, at that point I was like, ‘okay, well this is where I can transfer my energy that usually I am getting out on the road into making a new project.’”
Alannah said that a lot happened in her life during that hiatus that led to much of the content of Back To Me. In writing the new material, she was able to draw from her own life and the lives of those close to her.
“My friends go through things, I go through things and I draw a lot of inspiration from both of those things,” she said candidly. “I just figure if me and my friends are going through something, we’re definitely not the only ones. So I try to keep it really on the money of true experiences.”
For Back To Me, Alannah called on brothers Sterling ‘David’ Gittens, Jr. and Will Gittens. Alannah wrote all five tracks on the EP with Will, along with the addition of a co-write credit on “Can I Call” from Sterling who also produced the project.
“When I wanted to do a project, my friends Will and Sterling Gittens, they’re like the Dynamic Duo when it comes to creating music, writing and production and everything,” said Alannah. “I was like, ‘you guys wanna do a new project with me?’ and they’re like, ‘absolutely’ so during Covid we did my entire EP in the studio in their house, just the three of us!”
There’s no doubt that they created something special from the opening track, the inspirational mid-tempo “Something Like That” to the heartfelt closer, “Can I Call It,” a duet with Will Gittens about a couple in a long-distance relationship. (See full track list and credits, below.)
“It was the first time that Will and I had ever written together but we’re such good friends that it just becomes easy. He knows me so well so when we’re writing, he’s like, ‘okay but what would you actually say in that scenario? let’s say that.’ And I feel like that helps a lot.
I just feel like this this project is probably the most transparent that I’ve been in in my songwriting and that’s the path I’m trying to stay on from now on.”
For Alannah, music is one her two lifelong passions, the other being ice hockey where she discovered her remarkable talent as a goalie. “I’m from Minnesota, so we’re in the state of hockey,” Alannah told me, “And you basically get hockey skates when you get shoes!”
She grew up playing hockey from an early age and singing at the same time because, much as she loved playing hockey, she knew that she wanted to be a singer and make that her career.
“As I was growing up, I did both as often as I could. In high school, I would sing the national anthem in my hockey equipment and then skate over and play the game. I was the only person in my entire school that played hockey and was also in choir.”
Attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison after high school, Alannah was part of two NCAA Women’s Hockey National Championships. Before long, her music drew her to Nashville where she performed at every opportunity and recorded two albums, Love Hangover followed by Ricochet Heart. Now comes her strongest outing to date, the five-track EP titled Back To Me. The new project shows her development and maturity as both a songwriter and a performer.
“I feel like the more transparent you are, your fans can tell the difference. I think that’s the difference between an artist that’s really like getting through to their fans and someone who is just making music.”
For Alannah, transparency means drawing back the curtain and allowing the listener in to feel what she’s feeling, both the heartache and the exhilaration. The will to succeed and the self-discipline that she learned playing hockey have stayed with her as her music career flourishes in what she calls a “roller coaster” music industry.
Back To Me is proof that Alannah has got what it takes.
Track listing and writing credits for Back To Me:
“Something Like That” (Alannah McCready, Will Gittens)
“On My Own” (Alannah McCready, Will Gittens)
“Back To Me” (Alannah McCready, Will Gittens)
“Take It Slow” (Alannah McCready, Will Gittens)
“Can I Call It” ft. Will Gittens ((Alannah McCready, Will Gittens. Sterling “David” Gittens, Jr.)
More about Alannah McCready at her website https://www.alannahmccready.com, on Twitter (@lanamccready), on Instagram (@alannahmccreadymusic) and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AlannahMcCreadyMusic. Find her music on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/19fZ2lVAwrWHiELAsDJPWH?si=RP-OQYc4SDS6xQft60XLQQ&nd=1