After being a Music City resident for nearly two decades, Jimmie Allen is saying goodbye to Nashville.
On Saturday afternoon (Feb. 25), the “Down Home” singer took to social media to share a short letter to Nashville, a city he called home for 16 years. In the brief note on Twitter, he let his followers know that he is leaving Music City.
“Dear Nashville, I came to you in 2007 chasing this music dream,” Allen wrote. “Thank you for the memories we made over the years. It’s time to move on now but I’ll be back to visit for sure. Take care. ✌🏽”
Jimmie Allen Is Moving Away From Nashville But Not Leaving Country Music
One fan was quick to question Jimmie Allen’s decision to move away from Music City, asking him if he was “pulled a Taylor Swift move” and switching genres.
“🤯🤯 pulling a taylor swift move I see. She started out as country then moved to nyc onto other generes. Think she still comes back to nashville every now and then…” a fan wrote. Allen quickly replied to clarify that while he is leaving the city of Nashville, he’s “never leaving country music.”
After promising to stay true to his Country music roots, the 37-year-old Delaware native unveiled that he’s just moving to the Sunshine State.
“Just moving to FL somewhere warmer with a beach haha,” Allen revealed. “FL,” Allen replied to another fan on Twitter, who questioned if he was headed to Los Angeles.
Earned His Fourth No. 1 Hit Earlier This Year
Jimmie Allen recently earned his fourth career No. 1 at Country radio with his single “Down Home,” a song which serves as a tribute to his late father.
Allen co-wrote “Down Home” with Cameron Bedell, Rian Ball and Tate Howell. The song is delivered like a letter to his father, who passed away in 2019.
“‘Down Home’ is probably one of the most special songs I’ve ever written. I wrote it about my father – kind of like, hopefully he’s in heaven and looking down on everything I’m doing and hope he’d be proud of me,” Allen previously shared.
The chart-topping star said that recording and releasing the song has been cathartic for him. “It’s a song that’s actually helped me a lot because in the midst of missing my father, I think about him seeing everything I’ve got going on and it’s like… even though he’s gone, he’s always with me. I hope this song finds its place in the world and this song helps people that have lost not only a father, or a parent, or a loved one just like the song has helped me.”
“Down Home” Appears On His Third Studio Album, Tulip Drive
“Down Home” appears on Allen’s latest album, Tulip Drive, which arrived on June 24, 2022.
“A lot of the songs on this album are from that time period. This is the first album where a lot of the songs are actually written based off a lot of my own personal life experiences – from relationships, the hardships of life, to the parties & the good times,” Allen explained. “A lot of these songs are based off things I went through when I was in later in high school and college, at a place where I was just learning a lot of life lessons from my grandmother. I wanted to honor her by naming this album Tulip Drive, after the street she lived on in Lewes, DE.”
Allen’s third studio album is undoubtedly his most personal release to date as it’s the first project he’s written about his “personal experiences, thoughts and hopes.”
“It’s the first record where every song I wrote is like directly tied into a personal experience, or I found songs that tied into a personal experience and it had to be very specific. So every song here, literally songs I didn’t write, felt like were written for me,” the father of three explained. “And I wanted to have this record be the first one where it was a real personal record. Because all the songs before, love songs, whatever were written about other people’s relationships, TV shows. This one, I’m writing about relationships from high school, some from college, and some from after college.”
Tulip Drive features 17-tracks, including his latest single “Down Home,” a duet with Jennifer Lopez “On My Way,” and more. The album’s title is deeply personal to Allen’s family ties – Tulip Drive is the name of the street his late grandmother grew up on. Allen’s 2018 debut album Mercury Lane was named for the street Allen grew up on, and his 2020 & 2021 releases, Bettie James & Bettie James Gold Edition, were named for his grandmother (Bettie Snead) and father (James “Big Jim” Allen), who passed away in 2014 and 2019, respectively.
Jimmie Allen Is Currently On Tour With Carrie Underwood
Additionally, Jimmie Allen is currently in the midst of touring with Carrie Underwood on the Denim & Rhinestones Tour, which kicked off on October 15 in Greenville, South Carolina.
The country hitmaker recently opened up about the opportunity to tour with Underwood and said he believes her audience will embrace his unique musical style.
“I feel like with Carrie’s audience, I’ll be able to do my country stuff, my more pop-leaning stuff, my more Christian-leaning music,” Allen told E Online co-hosts Justin Sylvester and Loni Love. “I feel like I can be myself in its entirety musically without feeling like, ‘You know what? Maybe we should do this,’ even though I don’t ever do that.”
Underwood also previously opened up about Allen being a natural fit for her headlining tour.
“I felt like he made sense. He embodies denim & rhinestones almost as much as I did,” Underwood previously told Country Countdown USA.
”At least we know we will have a lot of bling and plenty of rhinestones for wardrobe,” she shared, reasoning Allen’s sense of style as part of why she chose to have him on the bill. “We may even get together on stage. It’s always a shame, if I was to have somebody like him out, it would be a shame not to get to sing with him while we’re on stage.”
Produced by AEG Presents, the 43-city trek runs through March 17, 2023. Tickets for the Denim & Rhinestones Tour are on sale now.
Remaining Denim & Rhinestones Tour Dates
| March 1, 2023 | Nashville, TN | Bridgestone Arena |
| March 2, 2023 | Cincinnati, OH | Heritage Bank Center |
| March 4, 2023 | Columbus, OH | Nationwide Arena |
| March 8, 2023 | Dallas, TX | American Airlines Center |
| March 11, 2023 | Glendale, AZ | Gila River Arena |
| March 13, 2023 | Los Angeles, CA | Crypto.com Arena |
| March 14, 2023 | Sacramento, CA | Golden 1 Center |
| March 16, 2023 | Portland, OR | MODA Center |
| March 17, 2023 | Seattle, WA | Climate Pledge Arena |
