He was country in every sense of the word.
But Nashville seems to have always had a hard time believing it.
“They would tell me I wasn’t country enough,” says Allen, 35, tells PEOPLE about his early days in Nashville. “And back then, I tried to conform and create what they were looking for.”
Jay Allen.Tyler Woods
But perhaps Nashville did hear something in Allen, something that seemed to point to a harder side of the Iowa native, a side that despite his rural upbringing had a bit more of an edge to it. And perhaps, Nashville never knew what to do with the guy with the 72 tattoos, a guy that could sonically pull from his country upbringing while at the time showcasing his love for a grittier sound.
It’s this sound that Allen is finally about to unleash.
“For the first time, I’m owning that sound,” explains Allen, whofirst gained attention in 2018with “Blank Stares,” a song he wrote for his mother who died that year from early-onset Alzheimer’s. “There’s a little bit of rock and roll in there and there is a little bit of pop in there and there is even a little bit of my Christian worship leader influence in there. It’s all kind of mashed into one sound and I’m proud of it, you know? Take it or leave it.”
Chances are the country fandom is going to take it, as the genre continues to push the boundaries of its own fences and open the gates to artists such as Allen as he releases his new EPBulletproof. And on that four-song collection is one song that takes his many sides and brings them together seamlessly.
Jay Allen’s Bulletproof.Chris Ashlee
That song is “Mustang on Mud Tires.”
“I remember [songwriter and featured rapper] Nate Kenyon coming in and saying that he wanted to write a song that described me,” chuckles Allen of the song he co-wrote alongside Kenyon, Blake Bollinger and fellow singer-songwriter and Allen’s fiancéeKylie Morgan. “He was like, ‘You’re shiny like a classic muscle car, but you know, you also like to get your hands dirty and party.’ And I was like, ‘Man, that’s a cool way to say that.’ So that’s where it started.”
“It’s such a beautiful scenic drive to take,” says Allen of the area in which the music video featuring his fiancée was filmed. “You are about 20 or 30 minutes from downtown Nashville, but you felt like you’re out in the middle of nowhere. It’s perfect.”
Kylie Morgan, Jay Allen and Nate Kenyon.Jasper Fuentes
It’s an area that Allen and Morgan often travel to from their home in East Nashville, in order to get away from the spotlight.
“Kylie is an Okie girl who grew up in a small town, but she also loves the city life,” says Allen, whose heartfelt song “Tattoos to Heaven"went viral earlier this year. “We grew a love for the city life together when we first started dating. But at the same time, I would ask her where she wanted to go eat and it would always be Applebee’s or something like that!” he says with a laugh. “So yeah, that’s just us. You just never know.”
Jay Allen.Justin Aharoni
Blending these similar upbringings with the stardom that they both find themselves chasing at the moment will certainly find its way intotheir upcoming wedding, which the two are busy planning at this very moment.
“I’ve always been a planner, so I love being a part of it, but it’s nice to see Kylie and her mom start to dig into everything,” he says about the couple’s destination beach wedding scheduled for next year. “They actually care about my opinion, so that’s good. They love me for who I really am.”
source: people.com
