Pretty Little Liars star Lucy Hale shows her true colors

Lucy Hale, the star of Pretty Little Liars, is more than just another pretty little face and she’s proving it to the world.

This girl from Tennessee is a four-time Teen Choice Award winner and the recipient of a People’s Choice Award for Favorite Cable TV Actress, an award that she is once again nominated for this year.

Lucy has earned these stripes by leading the cast of the Pretty Little Liars since the hit series premiered in 2010, but this past summer the actor decided to show us what she is really made of by revealing her true self, the singer inside.

Before you roll your eyes, know that this isn’t the typical actor/singer crossover fated to crash, burn and be forgotten. The 25-year-old actually had her heart set on singing long before she even picked up a script.

“Music is my first love and it’ll always be my first love,” says the pretty little liar.

And that’s the honest truth.

At the age of 14, Lucy made her television debut by singing and winning the American Idol spin-off American Juniors.

After her stint with the reality series, the starry-eyed hopeful packed up her life and headed to LA to pursue a solo music career.

“Music is what brought me out to California,” she remembers. “Then people suggested that I start auditioning for things like Hanna Montana and High School Musical. So I did and I fell in love with acting over night. It just happened that I found work in that area first.”

Because screen roles came easier than a record deal, Lucy’s initial goal slid into the backseat until 2012 when she finally signed a contract with Hollywood Records, home to the likes of Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez.

After shifting music to the forefront again, Lucy spent the last two years working on Road Between, the debut album that she had always dreamed of making.

“Country is what I’m doing,” Lucy says.

The primetime princess is also seizing the opportunity to take on a role she’s been dying to play all along: Lucy Hale, a girl from Memphis who grew up listening to country music and singing Shania Twain tunes into a hairbrush.

“I really look up to her and Martina McBride,” Lucy says of her childhood idols. “There’s been so many people who have paved the way.”

The singer is also inspired by Taylor Swift and all the young superstar has accomplished.

“Taylor has changed the whole ball game. She’s made it incredibly popular, you know, country’s become the cool thing,” she says.

Like the efforts of those who came before Lucy, her contribution to the genre hasn’t gone unnoticed. The singer is getting attention in Nashville and far beyond the country capital, and the public has been very welcoming.

So accepting, that Road Between has earned Lucy a 2015 People’s Choice nomination for Favorite Country among country icons Dolly Parton, Faith Hill, Carrie Underwood and Miranda Lambert.

“I’m really excited,” she says.

And the actor has probably never felt more comfortable playing any other role.

Lucy is up for Favorite Cable TV Actress and Favorite Female Country Artist at the 2015 People’s Choice Awards. See a complete list of the nominees and vote for your fave here. Voting ends Thursday, December 4. Catch the awards on Wednesday, January 7 on CBS.

Road Between, is available on iTunes now, and you can follow Lucy on twitter and facebook.

Posted by Marc Andrew on Nov 24 2014. Filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.