Alyssa Galvan has a voice of someone twice her age -- and the guitar chops to go with it. The Joplin, Mo., teen was kind enough to sit down with What's Up! to talk about her start in music, her experience at the International Blues Festival and more.
Q. What drew you to start making music?
A. I actually had always grown up in the car, listening to music and things like that. And then I started playing guitar before I really started singing. And I got really big into Nirvana. So I was listening to tons of Nirvana albums. And I actually started to play them on guitar. And then I started to sing with them. And then I ended up showing my mom ... and she was like, 'Well, that's not too bad.' And so we went to an open mic night. And ever since then, I just kind of started playing music around and met great musicians, and it's grown so much since then.
Q. Are you a self-taught guitar player?
A. I actually had lessons for a little while at Ernie Williamson Music in Joplin. And I kind of learned the basics, but my dad says I don't like to be told what to do. So I didn't take it too serious. But right after I stopped lessons, I started to learn more in my room. And that's when it really started to grow a lot is when I really started to focus on it.
Q. You got to participate in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Tell us a little bit about that experience.
A. That was a crazy experience. I was truly honored. I was sponsored to go by the Springfield (Mo.) Blues Society of the Ozarks. They sponsored me to be [in the] youth showcase. So basically, that helped raise money for me to go for the week. And I also got to perform a 30-minute set on Sunday of that week at King Lawler's.
But there were youth musicians everywhere. And it was a very, very cool experience. I met tons of incredible musicians. And I had never really done anything like that before. So that was new for me, too -- music all day, all night, every single day. And everybody's just so good and talented. And because of that I was also invited to be a part of Pinetop Perkins Foundation, which is highly encouraging youth to continue blues music and keep it alive. So that takes place in Clarksdale, Miss., actually in like two weeks. And it's a bunch of little workshops where you can learn different skills and music like guitar, harmonica, bass and things like that. And then on Friday, everybody gets to perform at Ground Zero Blues Club, which is actually Morgan Freeman's blues club. So it's kind of a cool deal that all these young musicians are able to work together and perform there on Friday night. So that's something that I did get out of the IBC, which was a great time.
Q. So what are so what are you working on now?
A. I've been writing a lot of music. I have tons and tons of new songs. And I'm trying to continue to write tons and tons of new songs. So, hopefully soon, we can figure out where I want to record my music and things like that. And hopefully a new album will be on the way. [At the the House of Songs in Bentonville] I actually had the opportunity to write a song with Willie Carlisle. He is a big inspiration for me. So hopefully, maybe we'll see that song on the new album or something like that very soon.
Q. You have another album that's out already, correct?
A. So that came out in early 2021. It was more of an acoustic kind of laid back thing. It was just me and my guitar. And it was just basically an intro to kind of put myself out there. Like, here's a little compilation of my music for anybody who had wanted to hear it. And some songs that I felt were well enough crafted for an album. And so you can find that on all streaming platforms pretty much, just under Alyssa Galvan, it'll come up -- Spotify, Apple Music, things like that.
Keep up with Alyssa Galvan at alyssagalvanmusic.com.
If you're a music maker in NWA and would like to do a podcast performance like this one, email Monica Hooper at [email protected].
Singer/songwriter Alyssa Galvan has a voice bigger than she is and a talent for guitar that is the envy of those twice her age. She shares her experience at this year's International Blues Challenge, her plans for summer and one of her original songs with What's Up! (NWA Democrat-Gazette/Spencer Tirey)