SPANISH FORT, Ala. — With the ink barely dry on a recording contract and a new season of her critically acclaimed television show set to begin shooting in less than two months, Spanish Fort might seem a bit off Jennette McCurdy’s radar.

Fortunately for fans of the 18-year-old songstress and actress, that’s exactly where the Garden Grove, Calif., native found herself Friday, performing for a crowd that arguably swelled to more than 1,000 before she took the stage for a four-song mini-concert at the Eastern Shore Centre.

The concert and meet-and-greet with the artist most well-known for her role as Sam Puckett on Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” was part of a 30-mall, cross-country tour benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Prior to arriving in Spanish Fort — the official halfway mark for the two-month trek — the tour had wowed more than 8,000 fans and raised more than $26,000 for St. Jude.

Eastern Shore Centre spokeswoman Kristin Kammer-Hattox said exact attendance is almost impossible to gauge because of the concert’s location in the lifestyle center’s fountain area, but at least 375 fans purchased the $10 charity packages entitling them to an autograph from McCurdy, and at least one parent accompanied the majority of coveted blue wristband wearers.

Kim Silva of Daphne sprawled comfortably on a blanket with her 10-year-old daughter, Caroline, waiting for the show to start as the crowd grew palpably excited.

“I think it’s neat that she’s doing this and doing it for such a wonderful cause as St. Jude. So many teenage and preteen girls already look up to her as a role model, and now they see that even in her success she’s supporting something so much bigger than herself,” Silva said.

And as the temperature dipped a few degrees more, yielding one of the perfect spring evenings only coastal Alabama can provide, Kammer-Hattox marveled at exactly how the concert came to be via radio station and media partner WKSJ. The country music station, she said, has long supported St. Jude with an annual motorcycle ride fundraiser, and the Eastern Shore Centre has helped promote the event in years past.

This time, she said, WKSJ’s management was able to steer McCurdy’s performance to Spanish Fort because of that relationship, and the ecstatic crowd was proof the station knows its market.

“We just really lucked out. First, to have something like this, and second to have such a beautiful night.”

The beauty of the area certainly wasn’t lost on McCurdy, having only entered Alabama for the first time the day before for a similar concert in Birmingham.

She and her crew, however, managed to slip away a few hours before the Spanish Fort show to visit the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park a few miles away.

“It’s like a bizarre nostalgia you feel,” McCurdy said from her tour bus following the excursion. “To stand in a place where so much history has taken place, you just feel an overwhelming understanding. It suddenly becomes very relatable to you. It’s sort of a swelling feeling. It’s crazy,” she said.

In a two-toned purple-striped tunic and black pants set off by 4-inch, peep-toe stilettos, McCurdy looked like most any young woman ready for a night out.

Most young women, however, aren’t flanked by a road crew and staring down 14 more tour dates before making their April debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.

Nothing could be more natural, though, for McCurdy who’s been setting poems to music since she was a small child and pursuing a serious songwriting career since she was 13. Her dedication paid off on her 17th birthday almost two years ago when she signed a deal with Capitol Records Nashville and knew her career was on the right path.

“Capitol is just such an amazing label. It’s just music, nothing else, so it’s great to have that separation,” she said, growing visibly enthused by the mere mention of her country music career.

And while she relishes her acting opportunities, McCurdy said music ironically appeals more to her on a personal level.

“For me, music has an emotive element. You have to be emotionally aware all the time, so it’s wild to me that so many people automatically group together acting and music. They couldn’t be more different,” she said.

Although her hectic schedule these days doesn’t lend itself to much free time, McCurdy said she tries to pick up at least one new book on every stop of the tour, but author A.J. Jacobs is her favorite.

“He’s hilarious, but he’s also very poignant,” she said, as the History Channel rolled muted in the background and spent Nerf gun darts scattered about  indicated life on the tour bus definitely isn’t all work.

To her fans, McCurdy said she tries to avoid clichés, but they wouldn’t be such well-worn phrases if there weren’t some truth to them.

“You have to follow your dreams. If there’s something in your life you feel passionately about … I can’t imagine holding it in. You have to find a way to make it happen, and if anybody tells you that you can’t, it’s up to you to find a way to prove them wrong,” she said.

And not to leave loyal “iCarly” fans out entirely, McCurdy did indicate that the new season slated to begin shooting in May promises a “very exciting summer” full of unexpected story arcs.

“There are going to be some really cool guest stars … some good, hearty character development … and you’re going to find out some really interesting things from the past,” she said, declining to say if actress Jane Lynch of “Glee” fame will reprise her role as Sam’s unorthodox mother.

“She was such a sweetheart, and such a professional — just a kind person inside and out,” McCurdy said of Lynch.

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