MUSIC

Reliant Park presents Demi Lovato in concert at Reliant Arena with special guest David Archuleta!

Hollywood Records' recording artist and Disney Channel star Demi Lovato announced her first headline tour, featuring special guests David Archuleta, as well as select dates with Jordan Pruitt and KSM. The 43 city tour kicks on June 21 in Hartford, CT at XL, and is produced by AEG Live. The past year has been a whirlwind for Demi Lovato, starting with the debut of her first Disney Channel Original Movie, "Camp Rock," last June, followed by the # 2 debut of her first CD, "Don't Forget," a national tour, and starring in the hit Disney Channel series "Sonny With A Chance."

So far, it’s been a textbook career.

In the last year alone, Demi Lovato has starred in a hit Disney Channel movie (“Camp Rock”) and an original Disney Channel series (“As the Bell Rings”). The 16-year-old singer/actress then opened for Jonas Brothers on their sold-out “Burnin’ Up” 2008 summer tour, impressing critics and fans along the way with her power house voice and musical abilities on both piano and guitar. But with her Hollywood Records debut album “Don’t Forget,” Demi throws away the textbook. Instead, she rewrites the rules, making music her way. Fans prepare: “Don’t Forget” reveals a singer/songwriter ready to step up, ready to step out and, above all, ready to rock.

With producer Jon Fields at the helm, Demi teamed up with Jonas Brothers to co-write and co-produce several of the album’s 11 songs. It was a natural collaboration, since Demi counts Nick, Joe and Kevin among her best friends. Their inerrant feel for hook-laden rock helped Demi deliver on her vision. “If I were to write the album by myself it would probably have been a little more serious,” she notes. “But I didn’t want that. I wanted a fun album.”

It’s hard to imagine anything more musically fun than full-out rockers like “Get Back” and “Gonna Get Caught,” both written by Demi with Jonas Brothers. Says Demi, ”So many guys cheat and play games. I thought there needed to be a song about a guy getting caught. Nick said, ‘Can’t it have a happy ending?’ But I said, ‘No, no, no!’”

She balances the uptempo tracks with sweeping ballads like “Two Worlds” and “Believe in Me,” the latter featuring a message Demi takes seriously. “Being a teenage girl you deal with insecurity,” she says. ”People think if you’re in the spotlight, you’re overly confident, but most of us deal with so much criticism, it gets to us. I’m the type of person who wants to take it with a grain of salt.”

Demi’s vulnerable side comes through on “Until Your Mine” and the title track, a touching ballad about a faltering relationship. She explores similar territory in “On the Line,” an uptempo duet she co-wrote and sings with the Jonas Brothers. “We wanted to write a breakup song,” Demi says, “and what better way to say it when you’re breaking up over the phone than with the title ‘On the Line.’”

Demi’s inner rocker girl comes roaring back on “Party” and “LA LA Land,” a droll take on SoCal life and all its attending artifice. Showing her songwriting skills Demi wrote “Trainwreck” all by herself. She wraps the album with “The Middle,” a strikingly mature song about finding balance in love and life.

No surprise Demi Lovato would be drawn to such a song. Though she’s been in the public eye since she was a child, Demi has never lost sight of the important things in life: family, friends, faith and above all being true to herself.

Ever the multi-tasker, Demi will soon begin production on her new Disney Channel original series, “Welcome to Holliwood,” a fish-out-of-water comedy in which she plays a Wisconsin teen who comes to L.A. to star in her favorite TV show.

But music remains front and center for Demi. With the support of her family, she is ready for the next wave of fame and success. “I know myself enough to get me through any trials,” she says. “I make mistakes, but my parents are there to get me through those mistakes and keep me staying positive.”

Beautiful, talented, thoughtful and boundlessly enthusiastic, Demi Lovato is ready for the next chapter in her life. And she hopes her fans are ready to be there with her. “I want people to know me, and that I write about them. I’m human; you’re human, so let’s relate.”