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Artists Worth Checking Out Women in Entertainment

Women in Entertainment: Alice Wallace, evolving California country sound

Hard to believe that our last Women in Entertainment feature was published in November 2016.  So much has happened since then, and we have some great upcoming features for you on some of today’s best female entertainers.  We start today with the continuing saga of four-time LA Music Critic Award winner Alice Wallace, who also won the Female Vocalist of the Year award at the 2017 California Country Awards.

We last interviewed Wallace in August 2016 as part of our Getting to Know the Winners of the 2016 LA Music Critic Awards series.  At the time, she was an up and coming country artist who had recently signed with California Country Records, the label created by Manda Mosher and KP Hawthorn, formerly of CALICO the band.  Mosher has now gone solo and Hawthorn has created a new label, Rebelle Road Records, along with bassist Adrienne Isom and industry executive Karen Rappaport McHugh, an integral part of the successful Stagecoach Festival.  Wallace is the first artist signed to the new label and her album, Into the Blue, drops on Friday, January 18.

Rebelle Road is a newly founded entertainment company dedicated to strengthening the California country music community and expanding the role for women in the Americana/roots genre. Launched in March 2018, the trio have combined their longtime experience in music marketing, festival production, visual presentation and life as touring artists and record label owners. They’ve already produced showcases at SXSW and AMERICANAFEST, industry panels and two one-day festivals.

This past October, the trio produced a benefit concert at the legendary Palomino Club, which hadn’t been open for 23 years.  “We realized that we needed to create what doesn’t exist right now in the music industry — both for women and for artists living outside of Nashville.  There is a strong history and legacy here in California; the Palomino spirit lives on and we’re going to bring it back,” says Hawthorn.  Wallace was a featured artist that night, and Pollstar called her stellar moment on the famed stage (which has been described as the Grand Ole Opry West) as “shot through with Crystal Gayle’s ache and Linda Ronstadt’s country essence.”

Wallace has a truly distinctive style, which she explains evolved from growing up surrounded by the music of artists like Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt.  “I really taught myself to sing by mimicking their styles,” she says.  “The powerful belt that Linda has, the emotive lilt to Emmylou’s voice.  Trying to navigate those different elements helped me find my own voice nestled in between all that.”

These days, Wallace performs as many as 200 dates a year, both solo and with a band.  “In some ways, I wish I had done it sooner,” she says of her decision to pursue her passion for playing music.  “But I’m also glad I have the life experience to help fuel my songwriting and survive life on the road.”

When asked the question, “What inspires you?” she responded:  “In writing this new album, I took so much inspiration from California and the southwest.  I have spent the last three years touring across this region, soaking in the atmosphere of the ocean and the desert and the mountains and the canyons.  And I think you can hear that in these new songs.”

When asked if she considered herself a country or Americana artist, she told us that she thinks she is more Americana these days.  Although she still sings with a twang, she only used pedal steel on two of the songs on the new album, which has a grittier edge than her previous country release.  Check out our review of the new album in Friday’s Get it or Forget it series.

We also asked her about her future plans.  She told us: “Once the album is out, it will be back on the road to play these songs as much as possible.  We are talking about another European tour, plus dates all across the country.  I am so looking forward to sharing these new songs with audiences.”

She also plans to attend SxSW in March, where her label is sponsoring the California Country Social, a concert featuring about 30 bands.  She said she will likely return to AMERICANAFEST in September as well.

You can keep up with Wallace by visiting her Facebook page, following her on Twitter and Instagram, subscribing to her YouTube and Spotify pages, or just clicking on her website.

 

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Artists Worth Checking Out Awards

Getting to know the 2016 LA Music Critic Award winners – Alice Wallace

Welcome back to our continuing series on the winners of the LA Music Critic Awards for the first half of 2016.  Today we are featuring an interview with an artist who is rapidly rising to the top of her genre and was also a previous winner in 2015, Alice Wallace.  Wallace won the award for Best Video (Official) Female for “I Just Don’t Care Anymore” as well as for Best Country/Americana Artist, which she also won in 2015.

I first met Wallace when she attended a show I had booked at The Derby in Los Feliz a few years back.  It was nice to reconnect and talk with her about her career and future plans during our interview.  Sit back, enjoy and learn things about one of the top rising stars in Americana music.

IVB:   How long have you been performing?

AW:  My family was very much musically inclined.  When I was five, our family got a video camera, so I started learning songs so I could perform on camera.  It’s always been easy for me to pick up songs and share them with other people.  It wasn’t until I was 16 that I picked up the guitar and started writing songs.  Within six months, I was signing up for talent shows and have been performing ever since.  I remember playing a Borders Book show when I was still in high school.  I didn’t do musical theater, but I was in the band, and learned music theory there.  I wasn’t really confident in my vocal abilities, and never took any voice lessons.  I’ve learned mostly by observing others perform, which helped me to develop my own style.

IVB:  Who are your influences?

AW:  I’ve always said that I grew up with Gram Parsons and Emilylou Harris, since my parents always listened to them and we sang along.  Through the years I was also influenced heavily by 1990’s singer-songwriters like Jewel and Alanis Morrisette, as well as country, blues and Americana artists like Bonnie Raitt, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Patsy Cline, all of which were really strong female voices.  I’ve always been drawn to the voices.  Oh, and Patti Griffin – I love her style.  I try to learn as much as I can about these types of women.

IVB:  What made you decide to DIY?

AW:  In my early days, I released a couple of albums, but it was difficult to do it on my own.  Then I got lucky and was signed to California Country Records about a year ago.  California Country is an artist owned label, founded by Calico the Band members Manda Mosher and Kirsten Proffit.  I had previously opened for them.  While attending the California Roots Festival, I was approached by Kirsten, who told me that they liked my stuff and wanted to sign me to their new label.  I was so happy because a label run by artists brings a lot to the table.  They had great connections already, and they provided great help in all facets of the process.  I am very proud of the finished product, which we released last October.  They connected me to their publicist, Melissa Dragich-Cordero of MadInk PR, as well as to a radio promoter who got my music out on the airwaves.  We even hit #83 on the charts.

I love being an indie artist, and with California Country, I got the best of both worlds – indie and mainstream.  I got to stay indie while having a group of fellow musicians on a label that gave me the support and connections I needed to take my music to the masses.  California Country is really more of a partnership than an artist/label relationship.  I have always been scared of a label taking and owning my music.  Now I have a label that lets me do what I love to do and supports me in the process.

IVB:  Well that pretty much answers our next question.  Are you seeking to be a mainstream artist?

AW:  Not really – I would love the recognition that comes from being mainstream, but strongly want to do what I do without losing my identity.  I think the Americana genre itself is becoming mainstream in its own way and indie artists are at the front of the pack.  As long as I can make the kind of music I want, pay my bills and get to perform, I’m happy.

IVB:  What are your future plans?

AW:  I want to keep touring and making music.  Don’t really have any long term plans at the moment.  I’m spending my time booking tours and performing.  I think the best way to be successful is to keep putting my music in front of people.  I’m writing new songs for my next project, whenever that may happen.

I’ve now been a full-time musician for three years, and it’s getting better all the time.  Doors are continually opening and it’s getting easier every day.  I am always making connections and going forward, allowing each day to present new opportunities.  I think I’ll just gonna ride this wave and see where it goes.

Next week I’m playing some local shows with my friend Brian Ashley Jones from Nashville.  He hosted me when I was there, and I’m returning the favor.  He got me a chance to perform at the world famous Bluebird Café.

In September, I am heading to Nashville for the Americana festival, followed by a trip to Austin for the Southwest Folk Alliance Conference the next week.

IVB:  Any good stories from touring/recording/performing?

AW:  One of my best stories is contained in my song “Luck, Texas.”  I’ll always remember the time we were playing a show in Oklahoma, and it sounded like bombs were going off over our heads.  I was amazed that the audience seemed unconcerned.  I asked them what was going on, and they told me it was just a hail storm.  Oh, and by the way there’s a tornado about a mile away.  Another time I was touring through Texas and my car air conditioner broke and I had to endure that Texas heat.

IVB:  How can your fans keep up with you?

AW:  Of course I have a website and Facebook.  I have a Twitter account, but I really use Instagram more.  And don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

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Artists Worth Checking Out

Alice Wallace’s first video release is smoking hot

Back on October 5, we published an article about this dynamic up and coming Americana musician and the release of her first album on California Country Records.  Since that time, Alice Wallace has won an LA Music Critic Award for Best Country/Americana and has released her first video, which debuted on The Boot.

According to Alice, “I Just Don’t Care Anymore” is a rocking, sassy anthem about taking charge of your life in spite of your circumstances.  “This is a song that came after the worst breakup I’ve ever had.  I wrote a lot of songs about that breakup, but I wrote this one knowing it would be the very last song I would write about it – because I just didn’t care anymore.  It’s probably my favorite track on the new record because it has punch, it has energy, and it conveys exactly what I wanted it to.”

This video is just further proof that Wallace has only scratched the surface of the amazing talent she possesses.  Already a die-hard road dog, Wallace played well over 200 live shows last year, travelling from one end of the country to the other.  It appears that she will be doing more of the same in 2016, including a trip to the UK in March, where she will be performing at the Country to Country Festival in London on March 13.  The Festival features such headliners as Dwight Yoakam, Chris Stapleton and Kacey Musgraves.

We have a feeling that Wallace will be a major star.  Check out the video and let us know what you think.