By Mark Gregory
Staff Writer
@Hear_The_Beard
mark@buglenewspapers.com
While ‘American Idol’ has been a catalyst to send several artists to the top of the charts in several genres, its fellow reality singing competition, ‘The Voice,’ has yet to have that success in its 13 seasons.
That, however, may be about to change.
Photo by Katie Kauss
Season two contestant, RaeLynn, may not have won ‘The Voice’ but the 23-year-old Texan has put in all the hard work since her final performance for Team Blake and has set a path toward superstardom.
Her first album, ‘WildHorse’ debuted No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Albums Chart and Top 10 on Billboard’s All-Genre Albums Sales Chart upon release.
It was an album that saw RaeLynn co-write 11 of the 12 songs, including putting a voice to the tolls divorce can have on a child stuck in the middle in the powerful, even painful, song ‘Love Triangle’.
“Anytime you write from a really pure place and a song that just really hits you as an artist and as a songwriter, I think it is going to hit the fans as well. This song is one of those songs that is not just my story, it is so many of my fans as well and I think that is why it is related to the most because they see themselves in it. I just love that song so much,” RaeLynn said. “That is the coolest part about songwriting is that you can really write for the times and what you are going through. I have a new song coming out called ‘Queens Don’t’ and it is basically about how self worth shouldn’t be based on material things, but rather the beauty and strength of a person’s spirit and I am really excited for it to come out. I have been playing it on the road and it has been really awesome.”
Not all of her songs are as emotional and thought provoking – some are just fun.
“I think it is super important to not just live in the one headspace when it comes to music,” she said. “I grew up listening to a lot of different things so, that comes across in my album and my writing and you see all the different genres I have been influenced by. I think that is what makes a good record a good record.”
RaeLynn will have all of that on display at Joliet’s Rialto Square Theater at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb 25 as part of the CMT: Next Women of Country tour with Kalie Shorr and Sara Evans.
“I love being on this tour. Sara Evans is just an amazing staple in country music and just being with CMT: Next Women and being part of that with her and Kalie Shorr has been inspiring. I think it is so awesome when women support women and we are all in this together and CMT is such an amazing platform for women in country music and I am honored to be on it,” RaeLynn said. “There shouldn’t be parameters on male or female – good music should just always win and I feel like that is really happening in the climate right now and it is really cool to see.”
One of the things RaeLynn said she enjoys about this tour, which opened Feb. 12 and completed the first leg, is the theater atmosphere they are performing in – like that of the 92-year-old Rialto.
“I have really been loving these shows because I really love the theater aspect of really being able to talk about the songs and the reason we wrote them and what they mean to us,” she said. “I am obsessed with theaters and being in a more intimate setting because fans can really hear the heart and why we wrote these songs and it has been my favorite part of why I have enjoyed this tour so much.
“There is so much history behind some of these theaters and they are just the prettiest things you have ever seen – they are just gorgeous.”
RaeLynn has spent time in larger venues, touring with Miranda Lambert, Rascal Flatts and her former coach on ‘The Voice’ Blake Shelton.
Since her time on the show, she has become good friends with Shelton.
“I never expected our relationship to be as close as we are. I didn’t know what to imagine when I went on the show, but Blake is my family now and I just can’t imagine life without him,” RaeLynn said. “He has been such a big part of me and my husband’s lives and my career and he has done so much for me. I am just honored to know him and he has been a big support system for me.”
While she technically made her radio debut on Shelton’s 2013 single, ‘Boys ‘Round Here’, RaeLynn’s first song on country radio was the 2014 single, ‘God Made Girls’, which went on to be a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Country Airplay charts, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
In 2016 RaeLynn married boyfriend Josh Davis, who right after the couple’s first anniversary decided to enlist in the military.
“It is hard anytime someone makes a life decision like that, but I am so honored he’s mine. He is just the best people in the whole wide world and I love him so much and anything he wants to do in his life, I am going to support the same way he supports me in everything that I do in mine,” she said.
And what she has done thus far in her early 20s is more than some artists accomplish in a full career, earning critical acclaim for her music and recently being tabbed by Too Faced Cosmetics as the face of its Life’s A Festival unicorn-themed collection.
Even more important than what she has accomplished at a young age is her desire to use her platform to give back.
And, just like her music, the RaeLynn Diabetes Fund is personal.
Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 12, RaeLynn now champions the cause. The RaeLynn Diabetes Fund is a component fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and raises money for those impacted by Type 1, Type 2, and juvenile diabetes.
“I can’t imagine not giving back. As much as we receive in this world – especially as artists – I think it is important to remember the person we are,” she said. “I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 12 years old, so my heart is to give more awareness to Type 1 diabetes and the struggles that come with and I am honored to talk about it. Not a lot of artists have Type 1 diabetes and to be an example and a voice for it.”
For more information or for tickets to the Feb. 25 show – visit www.rialtosquare.com