Jimmie Allen took a break from his mentoring duties on American Idol to take to the outdoor stage at Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Hawaii, with a performance of his powerful new single, “Down Home.”
The CMA Best New Artist delivered a flawless performance of the emotional song, which he co-penned as a tribute to his late father, and had onlookers dancing and swaying along to the infectious melody.
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.”
Allen’s performance comes just days after the announcement of his new album, Tulip Drive. Out Friday, June 24, the project is extremely personal to Allen.
“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.”
Jimmie Allen is currently serving as American Idol’s celebrity mentor alongside Bebe Rexha. He is in the midst of his headlining Down Home Tour.
