INTERVIEW: ALLI WALKER AS WE GET TO KNOW HER AND TALK FIRST TIME LIVING

- Tuesday, February 18, 2025

This week's interview is with Alli Walker who is a Canadian singer-songwriter who I have been a fan of for a long time so getting the opportunity to interview her recently was fantastic who I am excited to see at C2C next month.

Hello Alli. I am so honoured to be featuring you. How are you today?

I am so good, just coming off of a few great shows on the road!

Can I please ask you to introduce yourself to our readers?

G'day, I'm Alli Walker, a country singer songwriter based out of Nashville, Tennessee and originally from Prince Edward Island, Canada. I’ve been an artist for 15 years, and am so grateful to get to do what I love for a living!

I have been a fan of your for the past 14 months, and I have to say how fantastic it has been to see you grow and I am excited for the day you come to the UK and I get the opportunity to see you live. *this interview was done before the C2C announcement*

Thanks *smiles* I can't wait to go to the UK in March and August for shows!

I like that your music has remained strong and how you have remained yourself, whilst also showing a lot of growth has an artist. Thank you for being a strong, independent woman in country music.

I appreciate that! It's definitely a challenge being a female in the country music industry, but there are so many great females that have led the way, that if I can be an inspiration to another young female to never give up, and stick to your guns, then I've done my job!

You recently released a duet with Gretchen Wilson called First Time Living, can I please ask how the song came about? Was it an easy or hard song to write?

I wrote “First Time Living” with Whitney Duncan and Kat Higgins. Whitney was about to give birth any day and we were chatting about motherhood as well as what our relationship was with our respective mothers and parents. I had the title and concept of “First Time Living” in my phone and we were talking about how no parent is perfect. We've all had to give grace to our parents at some point for not always knowing how to do the right thing, but hey, it's all of our first times doing this thing called life so to show a little grace and forgiveness. We actually had a completely different second verse that was about giving grace to a boyfriend, but we re-wrote it to be a mother daughter duo because we'd never heard that perspective before, a mom and a daughter talking to each other, forgiving each other. It turned into a really special and unique song.

Did you also plan on asking Gretchen Wilson to join forces with you?

We knew we wanted “First Time Living” to be a duet, and for it to be with a country woman who could play the role of “my mother”. Gretchen Wilson was the first to come to mind as she’s been a huge inspiration to me in my career. I sang her music for a decade in my cover band, I reference her in my song ‘Country Music’, so I knew she’d be the right fit…if she was into it! Thankfully, when we sent her the raw work tape, she said she cried immediately, sent it to her mom, and felt like we wrote the song specifically for her. She was wanting to be involved immediately. She came into the studio to record her part, and she sounds amazing on the track, I'm so grateful to get to have her on this song!

How would you describe First Time Living in one word?

Grace.

What has the reaction been like from fans to the release of First Time Feeling?

The reaction from fans has been amazing. So many people can relate to the song, and hearing the stories of the lyrics touching people and resonating is always the best thing to hear as an artist.

First Time Living is full of honesty, thankfulness as well as giving many people that perspective of mother/ daughter relationships. I caught myself getting emotional over the gorgeous heartfelt lyrics.

Aw I'm so glad it connected with you!

I really hope when you release your next EP or album that First Time Living is on there.

I am certain that it will be! I am working on that now!

With us being a couple of months into 2025, what are your plans for the year?

I have so many exciting plans this year. I have a bunch of tour dates in America, UK, Europe, and all over so I am excited to get out and play those shows. I also have so much new music coming so stay tuned for something new really soon!

How would you describe your music style in 3 words?

Celtic, Rock, Country.

If you don't mind I'd like to ask you a few Quick Fire Questions;

Easiest song to write? “Kitchen Floor” It came so natural to all of the writers and I, it was like it wrote itself because it was authentic to us all.

Hardest song to write? “Country Music” It has a bunch of references of songs I grew up loving weaved all throughout the lyrics so it was like a little puzzle to put together.

Favourite song you have ever written or read? I have so many favorites, and it changes every day because I write new songs every week, but my favorite currently is an unreleased song about women empowerment called “Come Hell or High Hells”. It is so fun to play live.

Favourite collab? I've only collaborated a few times, but definitely Gretchen Wilson, that was a dream come true!

Thank you very much for your time, it has been fantastic.

Thank you for your support for me and my music!

You can follow Alli Walker on her Social Media