'I really took it for granted': Pop artist Carlie Hanson finds inspiration from her native Wisconsin on new album

Growing up in Onalaska in La Crosse County in Wisconsin, Carlie Hanson dreamed of moving out of her hometown.

That dream came true. After her cover of Zayn's "Pillowtalk" went viral in 2016, Hanson moved to Los Angeles; signed with Warner Bros. Records; toured with Troye Sivan and Yungblud; ended up on Billboard's 21 under 21 list in 2020; and saw her single "Only You" on an Apple Music playlist curated by Taylor Swift.

Then the pandemic hit. In her isolation, Los Angeles felt "really gloomy and dark," she told the Journal Sentinel.

"I would talk to family and friends on FaceTime and all I wanted to do was be back home," Hanson, 22, realized. "I had thought I never wanted to live (in Wisconsin) again, especially in high school. My perspective totally changed. I realized how good I had it growing up and how beautiful it really is now that I have stepped away from it.

"I really took it for granted."

Two years ago, when Hanson began working on her sophomore full-length album, "everything I was writing about went back to reminiscing about home and missing my family or just wanting to be on the back roads in Onalaska in my friend's car," she said.

"I missed all of those moments."

'Wisconsin,' Carlie Hanson's new album, comes out this week

Those moments and memories inspired the stories and emotions on the album, which Hanson ended up calling "Wisconsin." Out March 10 on Warner Bros. — coincidentally, a day before her debut North American headlining tour takes her to Milwaukee — "Wisconsin" features song titles like "608" (named for the area code in and around Madison), and album art and music videos shot where Hanson grew up.

"La Crosse and the bluffs are so beautiful, and I really wanted to capture that scenery and show people who may not know about Wisconsin where I'm from and how it connects to my songwriting and why I miss it so much," Hanson said. "There is so much greenery, and there's literally none in the dead of summer in Los Angeles."

Hanson's early work instantly stood out, being as skilled at crafting smart, infectious hooks as she was at honest lyrics about mental wellness and other vulnerable topics. But through her homeland-focused introspection on "Wisconsin," Hanson's achieved even greater poignancy.

"Promise to my mom I'm still the same/Never change my number, 608," Hanson sings on the wistful "608," as she yearns to stay tethered to home, while recognizing she's "running from the problems I can't face."

"Communication is fading with my patience," she sings. "A tear falls when I think of home. I'm alone."

Hanson said the emo-tinged "LSE to LAX" — the International Air Transport Association's codes for La Crosse Regional Airport and Los Angeles International Airport — "is about a long-distance relationship that I was in … that really touches on the emotions of trying to figure out if this relationship was worth it, to be so far away from this person all the time."

The tender, stripped-down "Fish Out of Water" demonstrates Hanson's growth as a guitarist, a silver lining of COVID isolation. The song was inspired by another musical act that calls Wisconsin home, Bon Iver.

"Her father sits passenger seat/They've never been out of Wisconsin," Hanson sings, the song telling "the story of my girlfriend and her experience driving all the way from Wisconsin to live with me in L.A."

That gentle song leads to the Sublime-inspired closing title track, a hopeful finish after ending recent releases with more emotionally tumultuous songs.

"The lyrics 'I could go anywhere and you'll be right here,' that is me talking to Wisconsin itself or the people in Wisconsin," Hanson explained. "No matter what, or where I go or where I end up or the things that I do, I always feel like I'm at home in Wisconsin."

Milwaukee concert at Back Room at Colectivo Coffee

The Back Room at Colectivo Coffee on Saturday happens to be the first stop on Hanson's tour after "Wisconsin" comes out.

"It's going to be a really special moment," she said of the show. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing to have written an album about Wisconsin and to play my own headline show in Milwaukee. It's really beautiful and a crazy milestone."

Hanson also will be in Wisconsin Friday when "Wisconsin" comes out, during a break from the tour.

How does she plan to spend the day? Her answer is quintessential Wisconsin.

"I'll celebrate with Culver's," she said.

If you go

Who: Carlie Hanson with Halo Boy

When: 8 p.m. Saturday

Where: The Back Room at Colectivo Coffee, 2211 N. Prospect Ave.

How much?: $18 to $20 at the door, the Pabst Theater box office (144 E. Wells St.) and pabsttheater.org.

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Carlie Hanson finds inspiration from her native Wisconsin on new album