Allie Collen has been making music for a few years. After graduating from Belmont University, the Owasso, Oklahoma native released her first song “Work in Progress” in 2019. Two years later, she released her debut album Stones. After years of working hard to climb the ranks of the country music world, she caught a break earlier this week when Jelly Roll added her as an opener on his Beautifully Broken tour.
Words like “integrity” and “authenticity” get thrown around a lot in conversations about country music and the artists who make it. Fans want to feel like they’re backing an artist who is sharing their authentic self with their listeners. At the same time, they like to think that the artists they support have the same kind of integrity that the legends that came before them exhibited. Colleen’s career path is the definition of authenticity and integrity.
[RELATED: Allie Colleen Talks Songwriting, Ashley McBryde & Her Debut Album ‘Stones’]
The authenticity part of the equation is fairly easy to quantify. She writes or co-writes nearly all of her music and pulls the lyrics directly from her life. Her integrity, though, lies in the choices she’s made in her career. More specifically, she chose to build her career on her own merits.
Allie Colleen Has a Connection to One of the Biggest Names in Country Music
The truth is, Allie Colleen probably doesn’t have to work as hard as she does. After all, she’s Garth Brooks’ daughter from his first marriage. It would be easy for her to work closely with her father, trade on his name, and land an audience as part of a country music dynasty. That’s just not who she is, though.
This has slowed her growth in the music industry. However, it allows her to rest easy knowing that her fans are there because they enjoy her music and not because they’re a Garth fans who are just there to support his kid. At the same time, it lets her know that when one of the hottest artists in the genre invites her to open for him on tour, he’s doing it because he enjoys and believes in her music.
She spoke about her professional relationship with her father in a 2019 interview with Bobby Bones. He asked if she planned to do shows with Brooks or if they planned to keep their careers separate. “No. So, we’re trying to keep it separate,” she said. “I was super, super lucky to get to do a couple of shows with him as far as being part of his harmony group,” she added. Colleen went on to say that doing those shows with her dad was “a blast.” However, she added, “It really kind of blurred those lines that we’ve worked too hard to keep where they are. I love my dad, I love my family more than anything… but he worked so hard for what he has and I want to do the exact same thing.”
Featured Image by Jason Kempin/Getty Images
Most Popular
Comments / 0