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“I Want To F*** Britney Spears” is not the most obvious title for a
song by a gay musician from Nashville, Tennessee, but then Allen
McKendree is anything but an ordinary musician. Instead a mix of
contradictions and musical styles come together to form a mad musical
mix of huge ballads, banging dance-floor classics and the
aforementioned crazy Christmas song about Britney, with country music,
soul and gospel undertones all influencing his work.
Allen’s
music career began when he became the featured singer for his school.
At 14 years old he was featured in an advert for Chevrolet motors. By
the age of 16 he was touring all over the southern states of America
with a country band, playing to huge audiences every night of the week,
only stopping to continue his education.
The decision to write
music rather than perform was a conscious one, in an effort to avoid
the probing questions about his sexuality. As a gay musician and
performer, Allen had already experienced a great deal of homophobia.
“You
can’t be openly gay, or known to be gay in Nashville and be a performer
or writer in the music business. It’s a sad thing, but very real.”
Joining
song-writing nights in his new home state of Nashville, the
song-writing capital of the world, Allen began a period of prolific
song-writing that continues to this day.
Despite the prejudices of
the music industry, Allen still lives in Nasville and has close ties
with many organisations in the state. He recently helped raise over $1
million for charity with the Tennessee Titans NFL team.
With a
catalogue of over 1000 songs, Allen takes influences from his past
musical experiences including Country, Gospel and Soul music, and mixes
them with a diverse range of contemporary influences.
He is
published by Ten Ten Music Nashville whose president, Jewel Coburn was
a child star featured in hit TV series Bonanza, and who scored a number
1 hit at the age of 4. Jewel also discovered Keith Urban. His wife,
Nicole Kidman is Allen’s yoga partner!
To be able to express
himself musically without having to hide his private life, Allen then
decided to temporarily relocate to the UK and was introduced to Peter
Brazier, producer and owner of Vertical Rooms studio.
This partnership has resulted in some of the best work Allen has ever written and recorded.
“There’s something about the craziness of the guy that I could really relate to and I could really create some fun music with”
The
album that has come about as a result of this coupling is an insight
into the crazy world of Allen’s head. Each song is very different,
going from thumping House music to piano ballads, but very
representative of Allen’s writing skills with it’s diverse mix of
musical styles and influences. Allen describes it himself as “Robbie
Williams banging George Michael banging Madonna!”