Lauren Alaina returns with her new album, STAGES, a deeply personal 17-song collection divided into three defining chapters of her life. The project chronicles the moments that helped shape the woman, wife and mother she is today, beginning with Stage One: The Dreaming, followed by Stage Two: The Breaking and Stage Three: The Becoming.
The first stage takes listeners back to Alaina’s childhood growing up in Rossville, Georgia, surrounded by family and friends. From attending church to eventually making the life-changing decision to audition for American Idol, these early experiences helped shape the person she would become and set her on a path toward pursuing music in Nashville.
One of the songs featured in the first stage of the album is “Babies Raising Babies,” which Alaina co-wrote with Ben Hayslip and Matt Jenkins. A quick glance at the track list reveals a duet partner alongside Alaina’s name: Tyler Suddeth.
While the album also features recognizable names like Kane Brown on “Never Been In Love” and Chase Matthew on “All My Exes,” Suddeth may not be a name immediately familiar to fans. However, he holds a very special place in Alaina’s life: he’s her older brother.
During a recent appearance on The Bobby Bones Show, Alaina opened up about why she wanted to begin the album with a song featuring her brother and shared the sweet story behind how their collaboration came to life.
“I start the record with a song that I sing with my brother,” she explained. “He sings in his church choir. He sings in church every Sunday. He sang at the Opry with me a couple of times, but he loves to sing. He’s just very shy. I soaked up every bit of the outgoing personality in the house, so he was the quiet one.”
Alaina said her brother had actually approached her a few years ago with the idea of recording together, even if the song never saw the light of day.
“But he came to me a couple of years ago and said, ‘I know I work at Costco and you have a label and all of these things, but I would really love to record a song with you one day, even if we never released it,’” she recalled.
That conversation ultimately inspired Alaina to write “Babies Raising Babies,” a song she originally wrote about her brother and his wife. The timing of the song’s release ended up becoming even more meaningful as Alaina’s own life began to mirror the story she had written about.
“And so I actually wrote, it’s called ‘Babies Raising Babies,’ and I wrote it about him and his wife and we recorded it together,” she said. “And the timing’s kind of crazy because I wrote it four years ago and then I got married and I had Beni and the album release moved significantly. And now that we have this song out and I’m also raising a baby, it’s kind of crazy the way the timing worked out.”
The singer-songwriter said she is “so proud” of the way the collaboration turned out.
“I say, ‘Sing it, Bubba,’ before the second verse. And that’s my favorite part because then he sings and he’s so good. He’s actually so good. He’s just really shy,” she shared. “So we’re working on that. But he’s been singing in church every Sunday for a couple of years now and it’s really helped him with his stage fright and stuff.”
STAGES closes with another deeply personal moment, the previously released “Heaven Sent,” a heartfelt tribute to her late father that makes the album’s final chapter even more meaningful.
The post Lauren Alaina Opens Up About Recording ‘Babies Raising Babies’ With Her Older Brother Tyler Suddeth appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now
