Jimmie Allen’s new album, Tulip Drive, is his most personal project to date. Throughout the track album, the superstar pays tribute to several members of his family, including his late father, late grandmother, and his 8-year-old son, Aadyn.
During a recent interview on Today’s Country Radio with Kelleigh Bannen, the country superstar chatted about writing “You Won’t Be Alone” for his son, who is also featured on the track.
The track starts with a voice memo of his son saying “hi Daddy, I love you,” before Allen begins singing the emotional tune that serves as a letter to Aadyn, promising him that he will always be there for him.
“I actually wrote this song like three and a half years ago. That’s why Aadyn sounds so young, he’s eight now…” Allen shared. ”We did it when he was like four and a half and I saved that voice recording from like three and a half years ago. And then we put on a record. I just wanted to write a song just about, no matter what you go through in life, son, you won’t do it alone. I’ll always be here for you. And even when I’m no longer on this earth, and all the memories that we’ve shared, the things that I taught him that were taught to me will always be with him. So he’ll have a piece of me no matter where he goes.”
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.”
Released on June 24, 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.
Allen, who was nominated for Best New Artist at the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards earlier this year, is preparing to hit the road with Carrie Underwood on her highly anticipated Denim & Rhinestones Tour.
Allen 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.”
Launching on October 15 in Greenville, South Carolina, the tour will hit cities around the U.S. including New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, before wrapping up in Seattle, Washington on March 17, 2023.
Additionally, Jimmie Allen will soon headline his 2022 Bettie James Fest in his hometown of Milton, Delaware. The festival, which takes place on August 13, also features Lainey Wilson, Chayce Beckham, We The Kings, Neon Union, JJ Rupp and more.
