Rich Allen’s new single “Innocent Kiss” is another entry in his discography of songs written with a narrative and emotional purpose. The country singer/songwriter has been writing songs for over 20 years with his musical origins dating all the way back to when he was two years old and his father put a guitar in his hands. 

“When my father was still alive, I had the privilege of him seeing me play on stage. I even brought him up on stage a few times. Music was his forte. He also got to hear me on radio interviews and hear my songs on the radio in the Pacific Northwest. I’m glad he was able to be a part of those moments in my career. And, I know my family is proud of me and I’m glad I’m able to continue to share my music with them and the world.” he said. 

For Rich’s single “Innocent Kiss,” inspiration hit him as he was overlooking the Las Vegas strip. As he watched people go about their business, a narrative story entered his mind. Next, he wrote the lyrics and composed the music on his guitar. “People were just passing by and I wondered to myself what if two people passed by each other but stopped and got to know each other a little over time and had a seemingly innocent kiss but it turned into something more. I wrote the lyrics and the music for the song with that story at the forefront.” he said.

Rich hopes people feel the happiness that the song has and sing along to it due to how well the chorus flows. The emotional strength of the song is something Rich puts at the forefront of everything he writes. He hopes listeners can connect with it since it was written from a place of authenticity and creativity.

In his 20 years of songwriting experience, Rich has had the privilege of learning from songwriters from the Country Music Capital of the World: Nashville, Tennessee. During his time there,  he was able to enhance his abilities on the technical side of songwriting.

“In the beginning I had no experience and I had to learn how to make the framework of the songs I was writing make sense. Learning actual song structure gave me a huge advantage. I learned about the intentionality of maintaining a storyline and having an intro, hook, guitar hook, bridge, things like that. When I write in Nashville now, I’m able to implement all the things I learned from the songwriters there years ago.” he said. 

Music has been a constant part of Rich’s life. While growing up, he was in a subscription service where he would receive a new record in the mail every month. He never knew what it was going to be and this was the thrill of it all. 

He loved hearing new music and the tangible aspect of the record itself is something he still appreciates today.

“Glenn Campbell, Sonny James, Johnny Cash…I have vivid memories of album covers from them and I still think about them. That experience of holding vinyl isn’t commonplace anymore. Yes, lots of people collect them but there’s also lots of people who don’t. I’m actually planning to press my own music on vinyl too. Music was created to be on vinyl. You get the true feel of the song with it that way. And, you can read lyrics and see credits and things like that on the inside too.” he said. 

Rich has always had a love and appreciation for songwriting. Naturally, for his own music, the songwriting comes from a place of authenticity and transparency. In addition to the aforementioned emotional breadth of the songs, he believes these are key aspects when writing great songs too. 

“80% of my songs are personal. My core inspiration is just living life and transcribing my thoughts and emotions from connections I’ve made with my wife, son and friends. Events in life happen and inspiration will come to me.” he said. 

Rich Allen is not in the music business to make money. He’s in it because he loves writing songs, sharing them with people and having them emotionally connect with them through the emotions he expressed in the music.

“I write from a place of authentic emotion. It’s not stale. I wrote a song about my son called ‘Gift of Life’ and for people to connect with that emotionally with it being an expression of my emotions - there’s no other feeling like it. It’s the reason I do this. The more authentic and genuine you are, the more people will connect with you. Raw emotion is undeniable.” he said. 

“Innocent Kiss” is available on streaming services now.

You can hear more of Rich Allen’s authentic songwriting by keeping up with him on the following platforms.

Apple Music

Spotify