Fans of the NBC show The Voice have known of RaeLynn since 2012 when, during the program’s second season, she made headlines not only for her performances of hits like Maroon 5’s “Wake Up Call” and Jason Aldean’s “She’s Country,” but for starting a Twitter war. Hers was the voice that launched a thousand tweets, most of them in response to Blake Shelton’s decision to back her performance of “Free Fallin'” over that of fellow contestant Adley Stump. The fresh-faced blond prodigy was then eliminated in the quarterfinals, but her success since then is proof that television talent competitions aren’t necessarily the best predictors of country singer-songwriter stardom.
RaeLynn, who will take the stage at the Rusty Spur Friday, April 21 at 7 p.m., was born Racheal Lynn Woodward in Baytown, Texas, where, at the age of 15, she began pursuing a career in music. Gaining a spot on The Voice was her big break, and since then she’s released two chart-topping singles, 2014’s “God Made Girls” and this year’s “Love Triangle,” a take on the trauma of divorce from a child’s point of view. Her debut album, Wild Horse, just dropped to rave reviews.
According to taste-maker blog Sounds Like Nashville, Wild Horse is the kind of album that should make fans sit up and take notice, and “Love Triangle” is storytelling at its finest: “country radio is better because of it.”