Hannah’s latest single “Lazy River” hits radio this week. With an artist like Hannah Anders, you don't become a fan over time, you become a fan in a heartbeat. The powerhouse vocalist can bring an audience to its feet, while making you feel like she’s singing directly to you from the stage. Hannah Anders has conquered crowds from coast to coast and overseas, touring the UK and Ireland as the headliner of the Rednecks and Rhinestones Festival, in addition to sharing stages with the likes of LoCash, Billy Currington, and Keith Anderson. From Summerfest, the World’s Largest Music Festival, to Music City’s Margaritaville and BB Kings during CMA Fest, putting on a legendary show has become second nature for Hannah Anders.
Can you briefly introduce yourself to the readers of Music Talks? Just a little bit on who you are, where you are from, what kind of music you do… etc.
Yes! I was born in Houston, TX but only lived there the first few months of my life. My family eventually settled in Georgia which is where I grew up. I had a really awesome childhood there. We lived on 18 acres of land, we had horses and goats, and I really learned the value of hard work in that environment. Animals need to be cared for, that much land needs to be taken care of, and there's a lot of white fencing that bordered that land that had to get repainted every summer, lol. My cousins and I would get handed paint brushes and buckets and I'm pretty sure it took us the whole summer to work our way through all the boards. But it shaped who I am in a large way.
Growing up in Georgia I was exposed to country music very early in my life but it was not exclusively what I listened to. My parents traveled with us a lot and my dad traveled a lot for work so we were exposed to all kinds music and cultures very early. I will tell you that my very first concert was actually Paula Abdul! I loved her so much and would run around with my walkman (am I aging myself? lol) singing to all her songs.
But in spite of all the exposure to different kinds of music, when I began to write my own, everything I created always came out country. It was just engrained in who I was. I loved the stories, I loved the voices of country music, and I loved the honesty.
As I grew up and gained an appreciation for classic and southern rock that really started to take a hold in who I was as an artist and performer and I think greatly influences me to this day. So while I would call myself a country music artist, I definitely have a rock edge to how I write and perform.
What was the inspiration behind the song ‘Lazy River'?
As I said I grew up in GA, and one of the things that I used to LOVE to do was go up to Helen, GA and float down the Chattahoochee river. In the summer time literally hundreds of people will get their tubes and a cold beer and enjoy the water and a relaxing float. So the whole idea just screams summer to me. My producer came to me with the musical idea in January and said "hey, I have this piano lick I've written and I don't really know what the song is about other then it feels like a floating down the lake or lazy river kind of song". And I knew we had to run with it. All my childhood memories of that time came to my head and the visual was so clear. We brought in another good friend to flush out the idea with us and "Lazy River" was finished in just a couple of hours on a freezing cold day in Nashville in January, lol. I think it helped us power through the winter!
How did you feel when you were told you’d be headlining the Rednecks and Rhinestones Festival? Did the term Redneck raise any eyebrows?
I'll tell you that was such a crazy story and such an amazing experience. I had done a couple of trips to Ireland with my lead guitar player and musical director to see if that was a region we wanted to begin touring. On our second trip there we were pretty much exclusively on a radio and media tour. We had released a single prior to that trip and flew out to promote it. Our agency booked us a few small pub gigs in between appearances and interviews to keep us busy and in front of people during the trip. On this particular night we were scheduled to play a really cool little pub in Emo, Ireland and truthfully we were so so tired from all the running around I think we really would have loved a night to get to sleep early. But, we're never going to turn down an opportunity to perform.
When we showed up there was a football (soccer) game on in over time and the pub was PACKED with people watching it. A nice gentleman came over to us, who we assumed was the bartender or manager, and said "I'm so sorry we're going to have to push you back to start after the game is over, if you don't mind hanging out that would be great."
He fed us and gave us some good Irish Whiskey and we waited it out, chatting with him about the teams that were playing and talked about how much we loved Ireland.
Eventually it was time to set up and start. Bruce and I kicked it into high gear as we do, snapping out of our sleepy fog once we started playing and having a great time, all the while completely unaware that the kind man who had fed us and chatted with us was the owner of the establishment and the promoter and creator of one of the largest country festivals in Ireland, the Rednecks and Rhinestones Festival.
When we had a break inbetween sets he approached us and said, "I run this festival, in goes on in July, and I'm bringing your whole band back to headline it." That was literally how that happened. He was so impressed with what we were doing as an acoustic act he said he couldn't wait to see the whole band.
Four months later we boarded a flight to Ireland and headlined the Rednecks and Rhinestones Festival which to this day is one of the GREATEST 4 days playing music that I have ever had. I really take that entire experience as such a great life lesson to NEVER write off any opportunity to be in front of people and show them what you can do. You never know what it can lead to. We thought we were going in to play a pub and head back to our hotel and it ended up opening a huge door for us. I try and treat each and every single performance like someone with the power to open a door is watching me.
I don't think that the Irish people raised an eyebrow at the term "Redneck", I think they rather see it as a term of endearment
What 3 things keep you sane while on the road?
SLEEP. I like to get 8 hours of sleep anyway I'm one of those people and that is incredibly difficult to do on the road sometimes. So when I get an opportunity to recharge I really try and take advantage.
If I am staying somewhere for more then one night I will always unpack my suitcase. It helps me feel settled.
Alone time. When we were in Ireland to headline the festival I would go to my hotel room and eat lunch by myself when I could and then try and get a little exercise. It was just a good way to have some time alone and not get overwhelmed. When you're on the road you are around people constantly so I think it's important to find a way to clear your head. It keeps you from getting at each other about silly things as well.
Do you have any interesting / weird / funny rituals before going on stage that we should know about?
I always order a whiskey on the rocks. My top choices are Jack Daniels and Jameson. At least one of those is always available.
And other then that I really try and just clear my head. I don't like to be in large crowds before I go on stage I find the excess energy counter productive.
I like to hang with the guys in my band and just talk about nothing.
Past that, I don't have many funny rituals right before going on. There is SO much preparation leading into a show for me that by that point, it's time to have fun.
What is next for you? Anything cool to announce or news to share?
Yes! I am releasing my full album on August 31st which I am SO excited about. We have some big shows coming up this summer and we'll be performing a lot of the new material so I can't wait to debut that for the crowds. And there are some other fun things in the works that I can't chat about just yet but we'll keep you in the loop as things unfold
Hannah's latest single Available on ITunes