Lucy Hale, ‘Road Between’ – Album of the Month (June 2014)

Readers of The Boot have voted Lucy Hale's debut country album, 'Road Between,' as the Album of the Month for June 2014.

Hale's very active fan base turned out to support her against such tough competition as Miranda Lambert and Willie Nelson, among others, earning 'Road Between' just over 60 % of the vote.

‘Road Between’ features 11 songs, including Hale’s debut single, ‘You Sound Good to Me,’ for which she recently released her first video.

Top Nashville songwriters Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird and Hillary Lindsey wrote that song, and Grammy darling Kacey Musgraves also contributed to a track for the project, which Mark Bright and Mike Daly produced. Hale’s own songwriting skills are on display on the album’s final track, ‘Just Another Song.’

The singer was among the finalists in a national singing competition called 'American Juniors' in 2003. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career, but wound up landing acting jobs instead. Hale currently portrays Aria Montgomery on ABC Family's hit show, 'Pretty Little Liars,' but when it finally came time to make an album, there was no doubt that it would focus on country music.

“This has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl singing Faith Hill and Shania Twain songs into my hairbrush in the mirror,” she says. “It was both exciting and scary for me to be so vulnerable making this album, and it’s turned out to be something genuinely me and something I’m really proud to share.”

Though Hale has achieved a great deal of public recognition, she believes the album reveals new facets to her that fans are not yet aware of.

“It’s the first time people are being introduced to Lucy, because a lot of people know me from ‘Pretty Little Liars’ or other acting work that I’ve done, but a lot of people don’t know me and the things that I’ve been through so far,” she tells Taste of Country.

“I’m so thankful that we got to record this album this past year, because I felt like it was the perfect moment in my life,” she adds. “It was a transitional year for me, and I feel like I grew up a lot and figured out a lot of things and, lucky enough, it was when we were writing and recording.”

'Road Between' is set for release on Tuesday (June 3). It is available at Amazon and iTunes.