Who Is Alannah McCready? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music

We love supporting females in the music industry, so when Alannah McCready came across our radar, we knew we had to interview her. The country-pop singer-songwriter is our Swag Spotlight artist this week. Getting to know McCready and her story was both inspiring and exciting, and we know fans everywhere will love her just as we do.

Growing up in Minnesota, the songstress’s life was all about marrying her two polar-opposite passions in life, hockey, and music. Her upbringing in Minnesota clearly influenced her love for hockey, but it was her Oklahoma-native mom that introduced her to country music. “Ever since a young age, I’ve been listening to country music with her, ya know Trisha [Yearwood] and Martina [McBride],” adding later, “I think I kinda taught myself to sing by listening to them and copying what they were doing. Country music was always a big part of my life.”

She continued to merge her two interests through high school and college, winning championships in hockey and doing things like singing the National Anthem at games. Despite her knack for both passions, McCready knew that music was her first love. “Once I graduated college, I was like you know what, I need to do what I feel like I’m meant to do which is music full-time, and I have been doing music full-time since 2012.”

After a stint in New York City working in public relations, the singer gave all of her attention to crafting her sound and artistry. Her first record was created through “a culmination of all those journals” she had written over the years. Little did she know, she was also a songwriter. “I think as a songwriter it’s really awesome to pull from all different genres. I feel like the story-telling is what makes it country music in a sense because country music is a wide range of genre now, and story-telling is what keeps us all together.”

As a strong woman in country music, McCready finds inspiration from other strong and confident women in the music industry from all genres. “I think definitely growing up it was those powerful women in country, back then they kind of dominated country music. […] Now, I feel like it’s getting back to that, we have all these amazing, powerful, different women in country that I feel like we’re really making a comeback,” she shares when asked about her influences. The songstress also name-dropped artists like Christina Aguilera for helping her find her voice.

Today, McCready is a new Nashville native that just released her single “Something Like That” back in February. The track is the first in an upcoming EP that was created during quarantine. The new song is a fresh take on relationships and standards.  “It kind of turned into scaling back relationships and what people want in relationships, especially nowadays people get so caught up in these really specific, detailed items that they want or need from a person […] but in reality, it’s really the fundamental things that make a relationship work or not work,” the singer explained, when asked about the inspiration for the track.

As we await more music from McCready, fans can be excited that she promises to get back on the road ASAP. “The goal is to get back out on the road,” she tells us, and we’re sure her new home in Nashville will help her garner an even bigger much-deserved fanbase.

To keep up with Alannah McCready, follow her on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Fans can join our Weekly Round-Up e-newsletter here, for the latest in country music and more news about future Alannah McCready releases.