Gary AllanWhen Gary Allan finished work on his single "Every Storm (Runs Out Of Rain)" and released it to country radio, the last thing he could possibly have expected is that a real storm--Superstorm Sandy--would devastate areas of the East Coast just a few weeks later.
What he did expect, however, was that his uplifting tune about pulling through in hard times would be a wonderful song to use in conjunction with a charitable cause of some sort. With that in the back of his mind from the beginning, it was only natural Allan chose the victims of this most recent, real storm as the ones he wanted to help. To that end, Allan is using the new video for "Every Storm" to encourage fans to donate to the Red Cross.
Watch the video here, then visit Allan's website to donate to the Red Cross--and you'll get a free download of an acoustic version of "Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)" in exchange for your generosity.
We at Our Country had the opportunity to chat with Allan for a few minutes about his positive song and charitable efforts (as well as a couple other things going on in his life!). Allan's currently putting the finishing touches on his new album, which he expects to be out in February 2013--he thinks it's going to be one of his strongest efforts yet, as "I had a lot more time to gather songs and a lot more time to write" this go-round.
Our Country: You must have been really surprised at the coincidence that, just a month after releasing your single to radio, it became so topical in the aftermath of Sandy.
Gary Allan: Yeah, really shocked actually. When I realized the song was going to be a single, I talked a lot about putting it towards a cause. I just felt like it would be a good song to shine light on something. We went back and forth on several ideas, and then when this hurricane hit, it was an obvious one. Because we just got flooded in Nashville, so I think we can relate to it a whole bunch. I just wanted it to shine light on something, so somebody could make some money with it.
Can you talk about the writing process for this particular song?
I wrote it with Hillary Lindsey and Matt Warren. It was actually Matt's hook. He was going through a dry spell, and he was mowing lawns and weedeating. And he cut himself somehow with the weedeater--something ricocheted. He wrote it down and came in the next day telling us about it. "Every storm runs out of rain, let's play around with that!" And I remember Hillary kinda doing a gospel-stomp kind of thing, and we ended up evolving into a piano, and I think that's how we got the demo. And I took that into the studio with my road band, and that's the single you have now.
The lyrics are wonderful because they seem applicable to any hardship or painful situation.
We were super conscious about writing it and keeping it positive. I know I talked a lot about my kids while we were doing it--I kept saying "I'd like every word, you could say to your kid." So, yeah. Really proud of it.
Where exactly was the video shot? The East Coast?
We shot the video here in the meatpacking district in Nashville. We shot in a slaughterhouse, because it kind of looked like an apartment complex with the walls blown out.
I know you are from California, so your West Coast family thankfully escaped any damage from the storm. But did you have any relatives or friends on the East Coast that were affected?
I didn't. I think the reason I can could relate to it was because, like I said, we got flooded here in Nashville. We had some shows canceled--I was actually supposed to play Atlantic City that weekend, and I was supposed to play New York, and both those got canceled. I think that's what got us thinking about that; what we can do to help.
One other quick question. I understand you have another job--you own a clothing store in Nashville. I read somewhere that Guns N' Roses came in to shop! Did Axl buy anything?
He did! They spent all kinds of money; walked out with all sorts of jackets, too. It's a good thing!
How did you get into that line of work?
I've always been into clothes and fashion, and I have a lot of friends who are designers. It just seemed like everyone was paying a stylist out here to go shopping. I figured I could at least save them the airfare and the stylist fee!
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