Multi-platinum country singer Lauren Alaina to perform at Fayette County Fair
Multi-platinum country singer/songwriter Lauren Alaina said she is thrilled to get back to her favorite part of her job – performing on stage – and is making one of her first tour stops at the Fayette County Fair.
“I love being on stage. I’ve missed it so much,” Alaina said. “There is going to be a level of energy that is undeniable.”
Alaina, known for “Run,” “If I Was a Beer,” “Bar Back,” and “See You in Your Hometown,” is this year’s featured performer at the fair. Her show is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7.
“I’ve been to Pennsylvania more than any other state,” she said. “The people of Pennsylvania are really good to me.”
She plans to perform new music during the show and said she wrote her third album in 2020 while COVID-19 put a hold on her live performances. She noted that the shutdown spurred her creativity as it did for so many other people.
“I’ve had such heightened emotions that I think it is some of my best music,” she said.
She said she thinks the pandemic forced people to reconnect with themselves, gain empathy for others and renew appreciation for their lives and humanity as a whole.
“It was almost like God gave us a time out and said we need to slow down for a minute and get our lives together,” Alaina said.
Music gives her a connectedness to her fans, she said, and sharing her stories results in her fans sharing their stories with her. Alaina said her fans relate to her music as she shares her experiences of love, loss and heartbreak.
“We all live different lives, but we all go through the same things,” she said. “It’s a healing process for everyone involved. We’re all doing the best that we can and we’re all in this together.”
Alaina reflected on her southern roots and growing up in a small town in Georgia, where she happened to sit next to another multi-platinum artist, Kane Brown, in middle school choir. Unfortunately, Brown was too shy to sing until Alaina noticed his talent.
“In a roundabout way, I discovered Kane Brown,” she said with a laugh.
Alaina was in choir because of her love for music, but Brown mainly was there to fill a required spot for his electives, she recalled. She heard him sing and was impressed with his voice. He told her he never sang in front of anyone before.
“I said, ‘You’re going to today,'” Alaina said. “That was kind of the beginning of it.”
“I can be pretty convincing,” she added.
The duo went on to form successful solo careers and reunited to collaborate on Brown’s “What Ifs.” But one year after Alaina coaxed Brown into finding his voice, budget cuts forced the school to end its choir program.
“I cried like a baby. I was devastated,” she said. “What if I’d never been in that class and been in it with Kane?”
She said she has donated funds to schools facing budget cuts to help keep their art programs alive.
“To learn to be creative and to learn to express yourself is so important,” she said.
For Alaina, her music is an expression of her southern roots, “southern charm and kindness,” and an acceptance of all people. She said she can’t wait to connect with her fans and perform some of her new music at the fair.
“We’re gonna have a good ol’ time celebrating country music together,” she said.
Concert tickets will be sold at local retailers and at fayettefair.com.