American Idol Season 8 Winner Kris Allen Announces March 18 Release For New Album ‘Letting You In’
American Idol Season 8 winner KRIS ALLEN has announced a March 18th release for his much-anticipated new album, LETTING YOU IN. The platinum-selling singer-songwriter recorded the album in Nashville with producers Konrad Snyder (Mat Kearney, Owl City), Ian Fitchuk (James Bay) and Grammy winner Brown Bannister (Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman).
It’s an understatement to call LETTING YOU IN Allen’s most personal work to date. On January 1, 2013, he and his wife Katy (who, at the time was pregnant with the couple’s first child) were involved in a major head-on collision. Thankfully, Katy and the baby were fine, but the car accident left Allen with a career-threatening injury to his right arm, forcing immediate surgery to repair the shattered bone in his wrist. The accident took place just prior to the start of a tour and Allen should’ve canceled the dates, but was determined to plow forward with the shows and did rehab in various cities along the tour. Three years and three surgeries later, Allen has had to re-learn to play the guitar, relocated from LA to Nashville, and he and Katy are expecting their second child this summer. And of course, he’ll be touring in support of the new album (dates to be announced).
It’s a new chapter in his life and it’s chronicled on this album. He wrote or co-wrote over 70 songs for the record, which is more than three times the amount he wrote for previous releases.
“I felt like I needed to sift through my life and try to figure out what really I wanted to say on this album,” he says. “I’m really proud of this record and excited for the fans to hear it! I think they’re really going to love it.”
A native of Jacksonville, Arkansas, Allen grew up singing in church, learned to play viola at age eight, and quickly joined the all-state orchestra. At 13, he picked up his dad’s guitar and fell in love with the promise of music. He became obsessed with artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stevie Wonder and Garth Brooks. He wrote his first song at 18 and self-released an album when he was 22. In summer 2008, he auditioned for the eighth season of American Idol and after dazzling audiences with such performances as his keyboard-accompanied rendition of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”—emerged as the season winner. His debut album premiered several months after his Idol victory and featured the hit single “Live Like We’re Dying,” which hit the top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went platinum. Allen followed up his self-titled debut with 2012’s Thank You Camellia and 2014’s Horizons.
Over the course of the past few years, he’s shared stages with the likes of Maroon 5 and Keith Urban, was nominated for multiple honors, including the Billboard Music Awards, Teen Choice Awards and People’s Choice Awards and been covered by media outlets ranging from E! News, USA Today and CNN to the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly, to name but a few. Allen is also a dedicated philanthropist, having worked with organizations such as Music Empowers, Little Kids Rock, World Vision, Global Genes, United Nations Foundation, Heifer International and Direct Relief International.
