Don’t read too much into “Karaoke Queen,” the new single by the Allen-raised, NYC-based singer Allison Ponthier.
It’s a story about dashed dreams of a would-be star who finds herself crooning at an amateur mic-night: “Dropped by a major, she fell out of favor/And got on the first plane back home.”
While Interscope Records did drop Ponthier last year after releasing three EPs, she actually wrote the song years earlier, inspired by the night she wowed a bunch of Texas barflies with her version of “I Will Survive” when she was 19.
“It just showed me the power of putting yourself out there,” she told Variety recently. “So this song is kind of a combination of that fear of being dropped and that one experience I had at a karaoke bar.”
Still based in New York, Ponthier (pronounced “Pon-tee-ay”) plans to release “Karaoke Queen” later this year on her first full-length album. And while she may no longer be on a major label, she’s got the backing of major stars: Elton John raved about her on his Apple radio show Rocket Hour and Brandi Carlile recently told Variety she was a big fan, describing her as “a queer Sabrina Carpenter.”
Details
With opening act Hank Heaven, 8 p.m. Friday, June 20, at Club Dada, 2720 Elm St., Dallas. $26. Dadadallas.com.
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