JANUARY 2, 2012
On January 10, newly-turned-30 singer/songwriter Alyssa Jacey moved to Nashville, where she recorded most of her upcoming full-length with producer/singer/songwriter Jim Reilley (the New Dylans). A new single "Gush" is on iTunes.
"Going back in the studio three days later," she says, "to record more songs to add to On The Spot, the new 2012 album, which will have a minimum of 10 songs."
One thing she's leaving behind, however: "I broke up with my boyfriend, who I was head over heels for, because I'm moving and I know how long distance relationships work. And they don't. At least, not for me."
"I've had a whirlwind of emotions come at me like tidal waves on a weekly basis since I've been home from tour. Between the breakup and being heartbroken and a little lonely, my birthday, and moving, there have been tears, laughs, joyful memories with family and friends, and even some new songs. Well, of course some new songs, for God's sakes, we're talking about ME here."
One new song, "More Than Half (I Can Hear You Love Me)," planned for the new album, can already be viewed on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf7waPUcV6A
"I never focused on the music scene until around 2004," says Jacey. "I always listened to music and appreciated everyone who was on the radio, selling out shows, but ever since I decided to pursue music instead of a dance career -- such as a choreographer for someone like Usher or one of JT's backup dancers -- I have been paying more attention to acoustic artists and local talent, not so much bands."
Jacey was born in La Jolla, and raised in Rancho Santa Fe and Del Mar. She attended Torrey Pines High School, went to Sonoma State her freshman year of college, then attended Mira Costa (Junior College) for a couple years part time and decided to take a break. She took 2.5 years off, to follow her life long dream to become a dancer (touring with Usher as a back up dancer and/or choreograph for artists such as him), eventually going back and graduating from Cal State University, San Marcos with a degree in Communications. In her time off, she taught hip-hop classes in gyms and colleges and danced with professional, traveling teams.
Before pursuing music, she had many unrelated gigs, including "Nannying three kids -- all under 9 years old -- when I was 17. While living in L.A., one of my three jobs was talent scouting for child actors and models. It sucked. [And] working for Victoria's Secret during the holiday season -- you haven't experienced mayhem until you've been around hundreds of women fighting over bras, panties, and dressing rooms."
"I spent almost 20 years as a dancer," says Jacey, whose high point as a hoofer was her 2003 appearance at Super Bowl XXXVII. "But then, in 2004, I started doing karaoke, mainly as a joke. I never had a vocal lesson in my life, I didn't play any instruments, and had only messed around with songwriting a little. But I ended up emailing a producer who said he was willing to record me."
In 2005, Jacey submitted her demo CD to the Del Mar County Fair and was surprised when they booked her for eight shows. "Each set paid something like $50 to $100, and they were two hours each. I had to learn a ton of cover songs, plus I wrote a few originals and hired a guitar player."
Jacey was given a guitar by world famous classical guitarist and very close family friend, Pepe Romero in October of 2005. She took one lesson from him that day and, hoping to evolve as a solo act, Jacey began teaching herself guitar; she landed a paying gig behind the axe two weeks later.
"SDSU found my MySpace page and asked if I was interested in performing for their CASE series, held every Wednesday inside one of their Starbucks. I had to get someone else to play with me because I could only perform the first two songs I ever wrote on guitar. We mostly did covers the rest of the hour, so I could sing while he played."
"When I was recording my first full-length album, I bought a keyboard and taught myself to play.I was in my mid-20s when I started, which is pretty old when it comes to the music industry I started way late."
In Autumn 2010, Jacey was featured in the September issue of RediLifestyle Magazine and was the Music Go Round Band of the Month for August. A few weeks later, she announced "I will not be performing in public for a long long time. At least, nowhere you'll know about." She was taking time from performing to work on new material and get mentored by a few people in the biz, in hopes of becoming "the artist this person could already see was there, [I] just needed some professional TLC. Kind of a lot of it."
In Autumn 2011, she began recording an album in Nashville with drummers Nick Buda (Taylor Swift) and Steve Bowman (Counting Crows), guitarist/engineer Eric Fritsch, bassist James Haggerty (Autumn Defense), keyboardist Michael Webb (LeAnn Rimes, John Fogerty), and producer/singer/songwriter Jim Reilley (the New Dylans).
So why the permanent move to Nashville? "Thirty years in one place is long enough for me. I've hit a musical wall here, and all over Cali, and done virtually everything I could possibly do here. Played on the main stage of the SD House of Blues, opened for Bruno Mars up in L.A. a few times, put out five albums in 7 years, soon to be six in 8, performed over 500 shows that I booked all myself, put myself on four tours, two nationwide, got on local and national radio, local and national TV interviews and performances, won contests here in SD, headlined at the Belly Up Tavern a few times, made a music video, spoken at schools and private events to inspire young women and children to follow their dreams, done interviews with every local paper and magazine, started playing and singing on the drums, even been recognized off the streets a time or two, the list could continue, I mean I really have done it all here."
"But there is so much more out there that I've yet to tap into and can't here in San Diego, and can't here in California. I've now been to Nashville four times, and each time something magnificent happens. Just when I feel this next trip can't possibly be better than the last, poof! Something so super bad ass happens, so it just finally came down to 'Why am I NOT living [in Nashville]?'"
