In a new interview with Chaoszine, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale, who is widely considered to be one of the best female rock singers in the world, was asked how she has felt her “voice evolution of over the years”. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Quite a bit, actually. And this started probably about two years ago where I’m proud to say that I hardly warm up anymore. It was a very important part of my training when I was a kid. I mean, I started singing very early on — probably when I was about nine or 10 was when I first discovered my voice. We were living in a log cabin in the woods along the Appalachian Trail at the time, and I was a very shy kid. And I wasn’t brave enough to sing in front of my parents or my brother or anybody, so I would run out in the woods. I would climb my favorite tree, which was a dogwood tree, and I would sing into the woods. I would scare the bejesus out of some squirrels, and then I would pretend that the leaves were the audience and were clapping for me. But when I was 16, I started vocal lessons with a man named Steve Whiteman, who was in a band called KIX back in the ’80s. He taught me how to warm up and where all of my resonance areas are, a lot of the technical things, all the tools that I use today. Then in my teens and twenties, I was warming up for probably about 30 minutes to an hour every single time I would perform. And that lasted well into my thirties. But there’s something happened around when I turned 40. It’s almost like because I’ve been doing this so long — 28 years in HALESTORM as of August 9th this year — because I’ve been doing this so long, it’s almost like my body already knows how to kick into gear. So I know exactly how my body feels every day. So you kind of take an inventory every day. So, unless I catch a cold or something like that, it’s almost like I’m ready for anything anymore. And I sing with a lot of ease. It feels like breathing to me now or having a comfortable conversation.”Lzzy continued:” I’m not saying this in any egotistical way; it’s something that I’ve surprised myself with over the past maybe year and a half where I’m very proud to say that I am in a category that I never thought that I would get to, whereas this is something that a lot of my idols told me about when I would ask them advice about vocals. For instance, when I got to talk to Ronnie James Dio back in 2009 when we opened up for HEAVEN & HELL, and he pinched my cheeks and then he said, ‘Oh, you got it kid. You have the voice.’ And I was, like, ‘Oh my gosh. Thank you.’ And he was telling me about this, about how every singer goes through a couple different stages, and as long as I don’t screw it up with drugs and alcohol [laughs], I will finally get to this stage. So I’m very proud of it. And you never know — things may change and I may have to put myself through training again, which is lovely. I actually found all of my old cassette tapes that were my old vocal lessons. We would record every vocal lesson. So, years ago, I ended up putting myself through kind of my own little bootcamp, going back to the beginning of my training. And I think that helped a lot. But I have a really wonderful foundation. I basically — every night I walk out on stage, I break through that fear wall because fear has nothing to do with it. You can’t put up that wall, or you are never going to reach the magic. And I let my body and my spirit do the rest of the work. And it’s wonderful to be able to say that I’m truly in the moment now on stage.”HALESTORM will release “Everest”, its sixth studio album, on August 8 on Atlantic Records.Late last month, HALESTORM shared the official music video for the “Everest” title track, featuring a variety of clips of humans on the brink and imminent explosions, both literal and metaphorical. It followed “Darkness Always Wins”, the album’s first radio single, which entered the top 20 at Active Rock radio in the USA, and was on the B-list at both Planet Rock radio and Kerrang! Radio in the U.K.Late last month, HALESTORM kicked off a tour in Europe supporting the legendary IRON MAIDEN. Following that run, HALESTORM will perform at BLACK SABBATH’s final show on July 5, and then they’ll travel back to the U.S. to tour with VOLBEAT. In September, they’ll kick off the “nEVEREST” North American tour with Lindsey Stirling and APOCALYPTICA.Produced by Grammy winner Dave Cobb (Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell),”Everest” dives deeply, both lyrically and sonically, into the band’s mountainous climb over the last couple decades.”Our album ‘Everest’ is a story of our journey as a band, full of beautiful endings and new beginnings,” Lzzy previously said. “We weave a tangled web of melancholy, frustration, anger and the vast purgatory of love and love lost. It is a rollercoaster of epic musical detours, great songwriting and completely unhinged twists and turns. ‘Everest’ is an auditory representation of the four pillars of HALESTORM. Let us reintroduce ourselves and invite you into our world…if you dare.”Rolling Stone said of “Darkness Always Wins”, “What the song has going for is its catchy, brooding, and dramatic in all the ways we love HALESTORM songs to be,” and Revolver noted “The arrangement remains lean even as the amps begin to crank into the red, though ‘Darkness Always Wins’ still sports some exquisite minor-key melodicism, a metal-chunked bridge, loud-as-hell requiem bells and a classically rippin’ rock guitar solo.”Fronted by Lzzy with drummer Arejay Hale, guitarist Joe Hottinger and bassist Josh Smith, HALESTORM’s music has earned multiple platinum and gold certifications from the RIAA, and the band has earned a reputation as a powerful live music force, headlining sold-out shows and topping festival bills around the world, and sharing the stage with icons including HEAVEN & HELL, Alice Cooper, Joan Jett and JUDAS PRIEST. Additionally, Lzzy was named the first female brand ambassador for Gibson and served as host of AXS TV’s “A Year In Music”.Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine[embedded content]