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The home of country music has launched another rising star.\xa0

Cooper Alan is one of Nashville\u2019s up and comers with over 225 million streams, and 14 million followers across his social media platforms, selling over 85 thousand tickets for his tours and concerts.\xa0

He and a few others were in New Zealand this week, giving kiwi audiences a taste of country coming straight out of Nashville in the Country Music Association\u2019s \u2018Introducing Nashville\u2019.\xa0

\u201cWe had CMC in Australia on the books for a while, and then CMA reached out about this event,\u201d he told Newstalk ZB\u2019s Mike Hosking.\xa0

\u201cIt was a reason to get over here and see Auckland, and kind of get introduced to the fans a little bit.\u201d\xa0\xa0

That won't be his only New Zealand performance this year. While the details aren\u2019t set in stone, Alan is certain he\u2019ll be back sometime in October.\xa0

\u201cWe have potential dates and venues for like, shows down here, it\u2019s just deciding which ones.\u201d\xa0

The popularity of country has surged lately, Alan attributing it in part to the worldwide success of acts like Lainey Wilson, Morgan Wallen, and Luke Combs.\xa0

\u201cIt\u2019s that Lainey song, \u2018Country's cool again.\u2019\u201d\xa0

But despite the major success he\u2019s seen, Alan would still describe himself as an \u2018up and comer\u2019.\xa0

\u201cWe\u2019re still kind of in the building phase,\u201d he told the Newstalk ZB host.\xa0

\u201cThere\u2019s always somewhere you can go.\u201d\xa0

There\u2019s a reason Nashville is considered the home of country music, and it has much to do with the other musicians and the environment they\u2019ve cultivated.\xa0

\u201cWe\u2019re all friends, you know, or, or if you don\u2019t know somebody, you meet them and then you feel like you're friends with them.\u201d\xa0

It\u2019s an industry built on camaraderie and collaboration, \u201cif you don\u2019t make friends in Nashville doing country, I, I think you kind of sink pretty fast.\u201d\xa0

Alan moved to Nashville straight out of university, fortunate enough to be signed with songwriter and producer Victoria Shaw within weeks.\xa0

\u201cI always kind of knew I wanted to try to give a serious crack at the music thing.\u201d\xa0

Although he blew up on TikTok, social media wasn\u2019t Alan\u2019s first thought, confessing to hating the platforms and not wanting to work with them.\xa0

"I was one of those dudes,\u201d he revealed.\xa0

However, the opportunities TikTok provides is unmistakable, and Alan took the chance.\xa0

\u201cYou have the opportunity to take a little bit of control of, you know, your career and not wait on somebody else to make it happen for you.\u201d\xa0

Meeting Shaw was a strike of luck, Alan told Hosking, the two connecting through a family friend of Alan\u2019s who had done some charity work with the producer.\xa0

\u201cI think she kind of saw something in what I was doing. She said, finish college, but let me know when you know, you want to move to Nashville and get serious.\u201d\xa0

"It\u2019s been so, so fortunate having a champion like that in my corner,\u201d he said.\xa0

\u201cSomebody who you know, knows, really knows what she\u2019s doing and works her ass off.\u201d\xa0

Alan\u2019s career is nowhere near finished and although he still always wants more, where he\u2019s sitting now is what he\u2019s dreamed of.\xa0

\u201cI have to kind of wake up some days and be like, dude, I\u2019m in New Zealand right now and you know, I\u2019m not losing a bunch of money,\u201d he laughed.\xa0

\u201cI\u2019m coming to play songs and people are showing up and some people might know some of this stuff.\u201d\xa0

\u201cStuff like that is, is really cool moments.\u201d\xa0

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