NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Lucy Hale
By Bob Doerschuk
© 2014 CMA Close Up®
News Service / Country Music Association®, Inc.
Growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, Hale adored Faith
Hill and Shania Twain, performed two Martina McBride songs during a talent competition
at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills and ultimately left for Los Angeles
to seek success as a singer.
But fate had something else in store for her. Hale was just
13 when she won the Fox Network’s “American Juniors” singing competition;
her exposure opened the door toward appearances on multiple TV shows and a regular
role as Aria on ABC Family’s “Pretty Little Liars.”
Maybe if she’d gone to Nashville
instead, she wouldn’t have wound up a TV celebrity first. But as her debut album
demonstrates, it was only a matter of time before she found her way back onto
the musical track. Released on June 3 by the DMG Nashville/Bigger Picture Group,
produced by Mark Bright and Mike Daly, Road Between captures Hale’s
ability to coax listeners into the lyric with a buoyant, upbeat delivery.
Just check out her first
single, “You Sound Good to Me.” Written by Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird and Hillary
Lindsey, set to a sassy groove, the snap of the snare backbeat sweetened by fiddle
and slide guitar, it flows easily over just the I and IV chords. But the dimension
comes from Hale’s vocals — fluid and a little teasing on the verses, locked
tight to the harmony on the irresistible, sing-along choruses. She’s a winner
… and, for Country lovers, worth the wait.
For more on Lucy Hale, visit www.CMACloseUp.com.
IN HER OWN WORDS
MUSICAL HERO
“Martina McBride. Her
song ‘Broken Wing’ made me want to be in Country Music.”
SONG YOU’D LOVE TO COVER
“I’d love to do a Country
version of Emeli Sandé’s song ‘Next To Me.’ Or ‘Jolene’ by Dolly of course.”
BOOK ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND
“The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton.”
WORD YOU FIND YOURSELF SAYING REPEATEDLY
“I literally say the
word ‘literally’ all the time.”
LUCKY CHARM
“A diamond ring that was passed on to me from my late grandma.”
SOMETHING WE’D
NEVER GUESS ABOUT YOU
“A lot of times people meet me and think that I’m 24 going
on 40. I’m actually quite goofy and childlike, though. You just have to get to know me :).”