Interview: Alexa Rose
Alexa Rose describes her indie folk songs as intimate but ephemeral expressions of how she felt in the moments she sat down to write them.
“Human,” from the Asheville-area singer/songwriter’s 2021 album, Headwaters, articulates the emotional turbulence and disorientation felt during the peak of COVID-19 isolation. Other standouts from that record are nostalgic ruminations on how milestone memories — of her childhood best friend, first love, and road trips taken during her early-20s — inform both her present and longer tail of personal growth.
Now, as she puts pen to paper for her next release, she finds herself exploring slightly softer themes.
“The music that has been coming out of me is the music I want to hear,” Rose says. “What feels good to me is putting on music that makes me feel better, and that puts me at ease. Writing a song like ‘Human,’ which is about the turmoil of a moment we're all collectively in, was pretty intense. I've changed the state of that intensity, if that makes sense — because I, like a lot of people in this world that are really hurting, really crave things that feel a bit kinder and gentler.”
Rose grew up in Clifton Forge, a tiny railroad town in the Alleghany Highlands of western Virginia. A self-proclaimed “theater kid,” she portrayed June Carter Cash in a musical production about Patsy Cline and picked up guitar in high school, plucking out tunes from the sanctuary of her bedroom. In 2013, she transferred from Virginia Commonwealth University to Appalachian State University and immersed herself in the region’s old-time bluegrass and folk traditions, gradually nurturing her voice as a singer and storyteller.
But she didn’t actively perform for an audience until after college graduation when she hit the highway in a beat-up van, playing any gig she could find and sleeping at truck stops and on friends’ couches. Her travels, and the colorful characters she met along the way, inspired the songs that made it on her 2019 debut album, Medicine for Living. That spring, the title track won first place in the esteemed Chris Austin Songwriting Competition at Merlefest, helping to land her a deal with Fat Possum imprint Big Legal Mess Records.
After releasing the critically acclaimed Headwaters, Rose quietly dropped a pair of seasonal EPs, Summer Break and Winter Break, to better represent the (mostly) solo shows she’s played these last few years and give listeners a preview of what to expect on her next LP. “I specifically wanted them to be a palate cleanser, if that makes sense,” Rose says.
Prior to her fully-seated show on Sunday, Jan. 28, at The Grey Eagle, Rose spoke to Asheville Stages from Knoxville, Tenn., where she’d been watching more than a foot of snow fall during a short visit. Between bites of a homemade frittata pulled from the oven just as our conversation began, she spoke about the evolution of her songwriting, her recent collaboration with Matt Pond PA, and much more.
Jay Moye: Are you still based in Asheville?
Alexa Rose: I live out in Burnsville now. It’s beautiful and quiet. I love being able to come down into town and hang out, then retreat back into the mountains.
JM: You grew up in a pretty rural area, right?
AR: I did. So, I feel pretty at home here. It's ingrained in me to not lock my car, which is something people in my life tend to get frustrated about.
JM: You’ve got a short touring run coming up, starting with a hometown show at The Grey Eagle. Will you do that one solo or with a band?
AR: I’m excited to have a great band with me. Ryan Stigman, a great pedal steel and guitar player, will be playing and singing harmonies. Folks might know him from Chatham Rabbits and Town Mountain. Our buddy, Alex Bingham, who plays with Hiss Golden Messenger, will be on bass. And we’ll have Julian Pinelli on a couple of tunes. He's a wonderful fiddle player — I don't know how he does what he does. It should be really special.
JM: Speaking of Hiss, I saw the first and last shows of the 2022 tour you opened for them, in Greenville [S.C.] and Nashville. What was that like for you?
AR: It was my first support tour, so it was such a learning experience. I’d opened for some other bands, like Watchhouse, but usually just three or four shows in the region. I’d never hit the road for over a month with the same people every night. [Hiss Golden Messenger] turned out to be the most fun crew, such welcoming people, and we had a really good time on that tour. I absolutely love everybody in that band. I love Mike [“M.C.” Taylor]’s songwriting so much, and they're so unique. There'll be songs that stand alone with an acoustic guitar, then they’ll break out into, like, a funk/jam band. I love that fusion. And it makes for a really interesting audience, with lots of different types of listeners drawn to those shows.
JM: As an early-career artist, what do you learn from going on the road with a veteran act in a supporting capacity?
AR: First of all, I love these questions. I could talk about this for hours. I've been really lucky in that all the bands I've supported have been excellent, across the board. Their crews are such passionate people who put their best foot forward to create a positive experience, which is key to putting on a successful show. You have to be able to lift your head up out of the water of all the stresses of logistics and traveling and stay present in the moment. I’m grateful that I've been shown that mindset because I think it’s a really important thing to carry forward in order for this to be sustainable.
JM: Speaking of veteran acts, you’ve got some co-headlining shows on the calendar next month in the Northeast with Matt Pond PA, whose name you drop in your song, “Wild Peppermint.” How’d you connect with him?
AR: When I released that song, it made it onto one of those Rolling Stone weekly lists. The write-up called out that lyric specifically, which I think is how he caught wind of it. He reached out and was like, “I love this and would love to collaborate.” He invited me to come up to Kingston, New York, where he and his wife live, to sing on some of his songs and make some cool stuff together. We ended up collaborating on an EP he just put out, which includes a cover of “Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve.
I was floored because this is someone I have all these nostalgic associations with. In high school, I was obsessed with a song of his called “Snow Day,” which I put on a mix CD and have probably listened to more than anyone else on the planet. It's so serendipitous and one of the reasons I love being in the music industry. Everyone is all over the place, but then things like that happen and make the world feel smaller, more connected, and less lonely.
Photo by Andy Ferrell
JM: Your interpretation of “Bittersweet Symphony” is great. Who picked that song?
AR: It was Matt’s choice. There were a couple of songs bouncing back and forth. He was like, “What about this one?” And I was like, “Oh, absolutely!” I immediately knew we could do a moody indie version of it and that it was suited for both of us because we're kind of different. We're not super similar singers or writers, but we gel really well. That song came together really easily.
JM: What was the thinking behind the two EPs you put out in 2023?
AR: They're lighthearted. They both have a cover song, a new song, and an acoustic version of a [previously released original] song. I wanted to shift the tone a bit more towards what my music will sound like in the future. I’ve been writing my third record since [right after] Headwaters came out, and I'm eager to record it and send it out into the world. There's going to be a bit of a vibe shift. I definitely want to make a more acoustic record.
JM: The EPs feel reflective of what you've been doing with the support shows you've played since the release of Headwaters.
AR: Yes, and thank you for reminding me of that, because it was intentional. I’ve done so much solo touring. After those shows, people are always like, “Where can I listen to something similar to what I heard tonight, with just you and a guitar?” So, I wanted to put something out for people to hear more acoustic versions of songs that were pretty heavily produced with a band. Those [originally recorded] versions are great and serve their purpose, but I specifically chose “Tried and True” and “Big Sky” to present the completely opposite end of the spectrum.
JM: Is it fun to do more produced, full-band stuff and then strip it down?
AR: This is one of those questions that brings up a lot for me, because you can take any song and make it sound any way and fit into any genre, depending on how you produce it. All of my songs start out stripped down. I write on either a guitar or piano. And, as a songwriter, I really enjoy hearing songs just as they are, in a bare-bones framework.
I don't know a lot about music theory, and I'm not really pursuing this to be on a huge stage or to have the biggest sound. I just really like writing my little songs. Some of my favorite artists are Anaïs Mitchell and Bonny Light Horseman [Mitchell’s collaborative project with Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats and Josh Kaufman]. I love the way they construct an expansive atmosphere around mostly acoustic songs to make them feel bigger. I love to live in that space where you still understand, elementally, what the song is — you could play it by picking up a guitar and strumming the chords — but it also has depth.
JM: You mentioned a sonic shift on your next record. What about your songwriting? How has your lyrical approach evolved, thematically, over the last few years?
AR: I don't know if I could tell you that secret! My friend, [local pedal steel guitarist] Jackson Delaney, always says — and I think he got it from somewhere else, so I don’t know who to credit — that talking about music is like dancing about architecture. It's just hard to talk about songs that haven’t been released yet.
JM: But you wrote Headwaters amidst the isolation and anxiety of the pandemic. Are you in a different headspace now?
AR: Yes, definitely. I guess what I’ll say is that so much has changed. We recorded Headwaters in 2020, which was crazy. So, some of the feelings of that time are reflected on it, but a lot of those songs were written pre-pandemic, so even though it was in the heat of that moment, we were all still processing what was happening. But I'll give you a clue: the theme of the next album is elemental.
JM: You read it here first! The best music coming out today, in my opinion, is being made by women in their 20s and 30s. You're surrounded by so many amazing peers. Do you feel that way?
AR: Absolutely. It's really inspiring to me to think about women younger than me growing up with an interest in this because they can see a place for them. That makes me really happy. And any time I see a peer getting recognition or the volume changing of women at the front in this industry, it feels like a win. I love Adrianne Lenker. I love Madison Cunningham. I love Julia Jacklin. I mentioned Anaïs. But I personally don't listen to that much music, so I'm not totally aware of everything.
JM: It makes sense. I write for a living, and people are always surprised to learn that I don't read very much.
AR: Totally. For me, it works best to have mental space because I spend so much time playing or writing music. I'm not saying I don't listen to music. I’m just not waking up and seeing what Rolling Stone’s 10 picks are or whatever. When I do listen to music, I tend to go back to my favorite artists and the songs and records I like, or something new that's really inspiring and reminds me why I started doing this.
JM: There’s such a rich reservoir of female music talent in Asheville. Have you felt supported and empowered by your peers here?
AR: I feel empowered by everyone in Asheville. I started gigging when I moved there and I think so much of feeling confident to keep going is because of the support from that community. It’s such a unique community that tries to lift everybody up.
I have a memory of entering the Brown Bag Songwriting Competition in 2017 as kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision. I wasn't dressed like I normally would for a gig and wasn't wearing makeup. I ended up winning that night and thinking, “I just did this without all the pomp and circumstance of getting ready for a show.” There's this really pure, genuine spirit in Asheville that sees the heart of what we do as songwriters.
IF YOU GO
Who: Alexa Rose with Amanda Neill
When: Sunday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.
Where: The Grey Eagle, 185 Clingman Ave., thegreyeagle.com
Tickets: $17/$25 premium seating
(Photo by Ashley Wright)
