Why Hallmark's Lauren Alaina Didn't Write A New Song For Roadhouse Romance
Country music fans will recognize Lauren Alaina as the singer of songs like "Road Less Traveled" and "Getting Over Him." While she's similarly well-known for being the runner-up on the tenth season of "American Idol," the Georgia native has made a stunning transformation over the years and has also embarked on an acting career. She has a few roles under her belt, including joining the cast of "Nashville" for one episode in 2017 and starring in the 2021 Hallmark movie "Roadhouse Romance," in which the singer was able to combine her passion for music with her talent for acting.
Starring alongside Tyler Hynes, Alaina plays Callie, a country music fan who is determined to save her grandfather's dying BBQ restaurant after returning from her military service. Long-time fans of the "What Ifs" singer will likely realize that some of Alaina's original songs are featured in "Roadhouse Romance," performed by her character Callie.
The tracks, "What Do You Think Of?" and "Run," were pulled from the celeb's existing catalog of music though, as Hallmark's condensed filming schedule didn't allow time to compose any new songs for the film.
Lauren Alaina didn't have time to write new songs for her Hallmark movie
In a Hallmark livestream for "Roadhouse Romance," Lauren Alaina provided some insight about the behind-the-scenes music process, opening up about why she didn't write any new songs for the flick. "I didn't really have time to write songs for the movie," the singer explained. "But I could do that in my next Hallmark movie."
This isn't surprising given what cast and crew members have revealed about Hallmark's general production process. "When you're talking Hallmark and Lifetime movies specifically, you can shoot those movies in 16 days," screenwriter Karen Schaler shared with Wide Open Country. For actors, the process requires a pretty quick turn-around time.
"You could get a script on Monday and be on a plane Wednesday," actor Brennan Elliott shared with Empire, adding that you'd be lucky to get two days of on-set rehearsal time. With these tight time frames in mind, we're not surprised that Alaina didn't have enough time to write a new song for "Roadhouse Romance." Luckily, she did share a little bit about what it was like to incorporate her songs into the movie, though.
The country singer talked about her musical Hallmark experience
Though Lauren Alaina didn't get the chance to write any new songs for her Hallmark flick, she was able to include two of her existing tunes into the movie's storyline. She discussed this process in the Hallmark livestream with her co-star Tyler Hynes.
"When I was reading through the script [when it] originally came my way, there were parts of the script that I was -– my character was -– obviously supposed to sing," she explained. "So I had to read the script and see which songs I thought would be fitting and that was really fun because I actually got to collaborate with the script a little bit to make the song make sense thematically."
In addition to catching Alaina's songs "Run" and "What Do You Think Of?" in "Roadhouse Romance," you'll also hear her perform a cover of Keith Whitley's "When You Say Nothing at All," which she did record specifically for the movie.