Never in my life have I witnessed a collapse like that of the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LI. The only positive about the game was the half-time show, which Lady Gaga nailed! Considering she began her career as an indie artist playing the mean streets of Los Angeles, we should be proud of her ultimate accomplishment – playing her music before a world-wide audience. Way to go Gaga!!!
For the rest of us who haven’t quite reached our goals yet, we encourage you to keep at it. Keep singing, writing and creating. Treat those three people in the audience as if they were the most important three people in the world. You never know who might be listening, and the doors they are capable of opening. Keep up the fight!
GRAMMY TIME FOR MAGNESS
This time next week we’ll be celebrating the Grammys. Since we have at least one indie artist in the running, and a local one at that, let’s give a hearty and rousing cheer for Blue Élan Records artist Janiva Magness and her blues album Love Wins Again. We hope you take home the prize.
INDIE ARTISTS SHINE AT NAMM
A few years back a visionary named Kerry Getz thought it would be a great opportunity for local indie artists if they would put on showcases at the hotels near the convention site. It was such a great idea that NAMM decided to take over and expand the opportunity to stages within the event itself. Getz likewise recruited Tim Moyer to assist her, and Moyer runs this major music event now. One of the artists who was selected to perform at the 2017 event was Los Angeles country/Americana artist Alice Wallace. Check out her sterling performance of “I Just Don’t Care Anymore” from NAMM’s Grand Plaza Stage. You can find the official music video of the song on her YouTube channel. Enjoy.
RYKKA DEBUTS NEW MUSIC VIDEO
European indie artist Rykka has released her latest music video for “Runnin’ Away” from her new album Beautitudes. If this video is any indication of the quality of music on the album, then you should definitely check it out. We will be reviewing the album here soon, so check back with us.
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.
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.
Alice Wallace is set to debut her latest album, Memories, Music & Pride when she brings her SoCal Americana music to one of Hollywood’s premier venues, The Hotel Cafe’ on Friday, October 9.
Already recognized by the Orange County Music Awards (OCMA) with nominations for best country/americana and best live band, Wallace’s latest release should cement this rising star’s place as one of the best Americana performers in America, right next to Lucinda Williams, Patty Griffin and Honeyhoney.
Co-produced by Kirsten Proffit of CALICO the Band and Steve Berns (who produced CALICO’s debut album), and released on California Country Records, a label created by Proffit and her CALICO co-founder Manda Mosher, Memories, Music & Pride is the perfect marriage between the classic and future sounds of Americana music. In addition to co-producing the album, Proffit and CALICO bandmate Aubrey Richmond also provide backing vocals on the album.
According to Wallace, “This record is more cohesive, as far as style is concerned,” she says. “I like blues, I like folk, I like country. This one still touches on all of those. But with this album I feel like I was trying to bridge the gap between my influences in old-time country with newer artists like Sturgill Simpson and Jason Isbell, whose albums have opened my eyes to what modern country can be.” Wallace’s previous releases include 2011’s Sweet Madness and 2013’s A Thousand Miles From Home.
All of the 11 tracks on the CD are originals, with the exception of Wallace’s cover of the classic 1935 Patsy Montana hit “I Want to be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.” Montana was the first major female country and western solo singing star, and Wallace, who took up yodeling after hearing Jewel talk about the old country singing style on her early records, had to reach back to the style of such earlier yodeling recording artists as Montana, Jimmie Rodgers, and Slim Whitman for her interpretation of the tune. “I’ve never done anything in the style of Patsy Montana, and I was trying to make it true to the original in a way.”
Every track is stunning, with Wallace’s amazing vocals bringing life to her thought-provoking lyrics and melodies. Everything you like about Americana music is there – the emotions, the vocal range and the steel guitar combine to create songs that are instantly memorable and reach deep inside the listener to connect on a deeper level than most music being produced today.
Two songs that stand out are “Leave” and “If I Didn’t Win.” You can literally feel the pain and the joy in these songs, with universal themes of loneliness, love and struggle. Not only are they great songs to listen to, but they are also the perfect soundtrack for dancing.
Among the amazing musicians that play on the record are jazz-schooled guitarist Tom Bremer, who has worked with Wallace for the past five years; drummer Josh Huppert, another longtime band mate; multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Long, now the pedal steel player in Sam Outlaw’s touring group; and bassist Robert Bowman. Special guests on the album include Ted Russell Kamp, a well-known Los Angeles solo artist who plays with Shooter Jennings’ band and is a frequent guest player with CALICO, who contributes upright bass on the track “Leave.”
Wallace, who was born in Los Angeles and raised in St. Cloud, Florida, began playing guitar at the age of 10 but didn’t truly devote her time to music until she was 15. Over the years, she absorbed a variety of influences, from her parents’ favorites like Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris to ‘80s and ‘90s country performers like Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless, and Mary Chapin
Carpenter and singer-songwriters like Jewel, Alanis Morisette and Sarah McLachlan.
It was these songwriters that brought Wallace back to music: “That’s why I picked up the guitar again and made a more serious attempt at playing and writing songs – I was so inspired by hearing female artists on the radio.”
Wallace and her family left Florida in 2008 and relocated to Fullerton, California. By 2013, Wallace was doing music full-time, traveling across the country on the strength of her first two albums, and gathering material for what became Memories, Music & Pride.
It should come as no surprise that “A Traveling Song” (Track 8) was inspired by some of those chance companions on the American byways. “I’ve spent the last two years getting used to traveling – usually by myself,” Wallace says. “It’s definitely been a personal learning experience, dealing with being alone a lot, and the songs reflect that.” In addition, some of the album’s most intimate songs – like “Rough Around the Edges” and “Ohio Boy” – are drawn from relationships that developed on the road. Wallace continues, “Traveling full-time does not lend itself well to romantic relationships; the few that I’ve had have been temporary, and usually they end badly. They make for good songwriting material, but I definitely look back and say, ‘All right, Alice, you should have seen that coming.’”
For more on this amazing artist, check out her website and Facebook page, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribe to her YouTube channel. And if you’re lucky enough to be in Los Angeles, don’t miss her release show at the Hotel Cafe’ on October 9.
