Daily Discovery: Hanna Rae, “Alabama”

Hanna Rae makes her mark in female indie-pop with her Nashville debut EP, Rookie In The Ring. The EP will be released on February 24 and pre-order is available now on iTunes. 

ARTIST: Hanna Rae

SONG: Alabama

BIRTHDATE: April 13th, 1990

HOMETOWN: Staunton, VA

CURRENT LOCATION: Nashville, TN

AMBITIONS: Tour internationally, write for a living, host and perform on SaturdayNight Live, have a song in a Zach Braff film, raise money and awareness forFriends Life, a Nashville non-profit that works with adults with developmental disabilities.

TURN-OFFS: Noisy eaters, stingrays (I fell into the tank at an aquarium once), still getting carded at the movie theatre, not being able to reach anything on the top shelf.

TURN-ONS: Cheese, cheese straws, cheese dip, cheesecake.

DREAM GIG: I have a reoccurring dream where I’m playing a sold out show at theRyman, and all of a sudden my band executes a choreographed segment in which we all switch instruments one by one, until we end up back at the start. I should probably start practicing for that soon.

FAVORITE LYRIC: “I think that love is so much easier than you realize

If you can give yourself to someone, then you should” (Dawes, A Little Bit of Everything)

CRAZIEST PERSON I KNOW: My brother-in-law is an actor for the American Shakespeare Center, and therefore is often dressed as a woman onstage. He can also eat a light bulb. My sister says he’s the male version of me. Does that make me the craziest person I know? Hm.

SONG I WISH I WROTE: “The Wine We Drink” by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors

5 PEOPLE I’D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: Lucille Ball, Jim Henson, Bruce Springsteen, Ingrid Michaelson, Bob Goff (if you haven’t read “Love Does,” sprint to your nearest bookstore immediately).

MY FAVORITE CONCERT EXPERIENCE: I had the honor of seeing Sir Paul McCartney in concert two years ago.  I was seated in the nosebleeds, staring through a pair of vintage binoculars and eating an extremely expensive, extremely cold Papa John’s pizza (it was the only vegetarian option in the stands).  But none of that mattered as soon as he stepped out onto the stage, with just a guitar, and started to sing Blackbird. I don’t think i’ve ever heard a hush fall over a stadium that quickly.  Naturally the tears started streaming, right into my pizza.  I never wanted that evening to end.

I WROTE THIS SONG: Alabama