Hey y’all, it’s me, Chloe.
I too am good at wasting time, I am not lyrically creative enough to personally think lyrics need to rhyme, and I most certainly am not trying to grow a moustache. However, here is my version of Introducing Me:
I thought now would be a good time to introduce myself and let y’all get to know me. My name is Chloe, but I’m sure you knew that already, at the time of writing this I am 26 years old and living in Glasgow, Scotland, however, this is not where I am from.
I am originally from a small town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, called Turriff. However, I moved to Glasgow for uni in 2017 and I’m still here loving and living my life. I love my wee town but there really isn’t anything too special about it. We sort of worship a cow, so that’s pretty cool I guess? That’s a whole story for another time, but all you need to know is we have a cow statue in the town centre, fondly referred to by the locals as the ‘Turra Coo’. Also occasionally how I am fondly referred to in Glasgow, but let’s hope that doesn’t catch on to everyone.
The whole point in this blog is country music so let’s get into how I, a girl from a tiny town in Scotland, got into what is now one of the most popular music genres in the world. However, as I am sure a lot of you are aware, this was not always the case. I find it funny thinking back because it was one of those things that you would get made fun of when asked what your favourite type of music was and get called a country bumpkin or something like that. I fully embrace the country bumpkin term with pride now, I shall add. Funnily enough, I used to say that country music was my ‘guilty pleasure’ even though not a single part of me felt guilty about it.
I have quite a unique story on how I got into country music, my last name is Allan, my dad’s name is Gary. I know. My dad discovered this singer called ‘Gary Allan’ and thought that it was cool they had the same name, so started listening to him. This was when I was around one years old, and little baby Chloe was convinced, for a lot longer than I would like to admit, that the Gary Allan I was listening to, was my dad. Unfortunately, it obviously was not. But by the time I realised, I was already deep into my love of country. Another artist that began my love of country, was Hootie and the Blowfish. I think my love for these guys started when I was around two years old. I’d sit in the back of the car, swinging my legs and shouting at my mum and dad to play ‘Billy and the Goldfish’ and then would attempt to sing along in the little vocabulary my two year old self had.
Country music has always been in my family though, before the Gary Allan and Hootie and the Blowfish era, with my parents and grandparents listening to it. My, unfortunately late, Granda used to love the likes of Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Sydney Devine, I actually have some of his old records in my collection.
In 2020, I launched the first country music show on a community radio station in Glasgow area – the Pulse Country Show. I was terrified on my first show as it was something that I completely and accidentally fell into, rather than something I had been looking to do. However, I absolutely loved it. This was something I did weekly up until December 2023, when unfortunately, the council needed to take our building back and we were left without a home, and lets just say, it is almost impossible to relocate a community radio station to new premises. My granda was also 100% my biggest fan when it came to everything I did, but especially my radio show. He tuned in every single week without fail and we’d have a good 45 minute phone call about everything and nothing before the show started each week. When he passed I almost gave up on the show completely and when the radio sadly came to an end, I have to say I was in two minds about even going near a microphone again, due to having lost my granda and number one fan. Although, I knew he’d be wherever he is moaning at me for quitting, so I had a think about my next steps and where I was going to go with it.
That is where the Hoedown Lowdown comes in! I’ll be honest, I did think about going into radio again, and was actually approached by some other community radio stations, however, with the plans I had for the show, and some other reasons too, I felt that starting this blog and a podcast to go with it was the best direction to go in for the time being. So here’s hoping I’m right!
So, what can you expect from the Hoedown Lowdown? A whole lot of fun for starters, I have a backlog of some wild interviews with some artists (interviews not fit for radio lol) that I plan on editing and getting out to y’all on the podcast. I also plan on releasing a new podcast every month with a roundup of all things country music, and maybe some life chaos thrown in too. As for the blog, keep an eye out for gig reviews, album reviews, upcoming tours and shows, some yeehaw outfit suggestions and quite possibly some reviews of country bars I come across, maybe also some travel tips and ‘must-sees’ for Nashville (although I would like to add that I have very sadly never been, but we’re manifesting…).
That’s it from me this time! But don’t worry, I’ll be back again soon, you know where to find me (if you don’t, click the icons below). Hit me with your comments and any suggestions of things you would like to see on the blog or hear me ramble about on the podcast!
Over and out,
Chloe x
The Hoedown Lowdown 