Blog

Greengrass Radio: Album Review

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:14:03 GMT

Nick Murray at Greengrass Radio in Moose Jaw, SK, was kind enough to take some time to listen to "Young Love." Check out the full article by clicking on the quote below:

"The best tracks on Young Love are the ones Alex penned herself; she is a brilliant and thoughtful lyricist. The title track is fantastic; “Letting Go” and “Room to Grow” are both sentimental and self-explanatory. Those three alone would make a pretty impressive EP."

"YOUNG LOVE" May 24th, 2013

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 10:10:00 GMT

Young Love is going to be released in Edmonton, AB on Friday, May 24th at the Fiddler's Roost. I really can't wait to show it to you.

Ticket information will be available SOON. They will be $15, and if you buy in advance, you receive a copy of Young Love at the door.

I am also very excited to have Hello, Doctor! open up the show. Hello, Doctor! is a solo music project by the endlessly talented Emily Bachynski. You can check her out HERE! You should also check out this awesome video she did HERE.

MarchMarchMarch

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 05:13:19 GMT

ShowsShowsShows in Edmonton this month...

MARCH 14 - Accent European Lounge - w/Vicky Berg (SOLO)
MARCH 15 - Private House Concert - email me!
MARCH 21 - Krush Ultra Lounge - Mr. Yu Events official launch party
MARCH 22 - The Haven Social Club - w/JD Edwards, The Moanin' After
MARCH 24 - Center for Spiritual Living - guest artist

READ THE DETAILS.

"Fragile Bones" LIVE Video

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 03:59:32 GMT

The first of a series of four live videos is now up! I recorded Fragile Bones (from A Lot Less Gold), and three songs from the upcoming Young Love EP at home in our living room. These videos are made possible by the support of the Edmonton Arts Council and the City of Edmonton. Special thanks to Andrea Clark, Bryce Croucher, Nich Davies, Kurtis Cockerill, and Jon Lagore.

WATCH THE VIDEO

"Alberta Backstage" on CKUA

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:15:00 GMT

I was over at the new CKUA station the other day to record a few acoustic tunes and have a chat with Grant Stovel. You can hear it all on Friday, January 18th. The session will be featured on CKUA Radio for the Alberta Backstage program (8-9pm MST). The show highlights Alberta’s up-and-coming artists. You can tune in across the province of Alberta, or online at CKUA.ca

Athabasca 98.3
Banff/Canmore 104.3
Calgary 93.7
Drumheller/Hanna 91.3
Edmonton 94.9
Edson 103.7
Fort McMurray 96.7
Grande Prairie 100.9

Hinton 102.5
Lethbridge 99.3
Lloydminster 97.5
Medicine Hat 97.3
Peace River 96.9
Red Deer 107.7
Spirit River 99.5
Whitecourt 107.1

Northern Sky by Nick Drake

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 13:10:00 GMT

This is a cover of Nick Drake's "Northern Sky." I recorded it as part of a Holiday EP project my roommates and I made for family and friends this year. Thanks to Nich Davies for playing drums, and Jon Lagore for playing lead guitar and helping me record vocals. The rest of the instruments were played by me :)

January Dates

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 19:15:00 GMT

This month I am playing a few local dates in Edmonton while finishing up the new EP and planning my spring tour! January 12 at The Artery JJ Shiplett (Calgary AB) and Daniel Huscroft (Creston BC) are bringing their bands to the Artery for a killer night of folk-rock/indie-country music. I am really looking forward to kicking off the night. Doors at 8pm. Tickets are available at the door, or you can preorder HERE. View the Facebook Event. January 26 at the Elevation Room with Cayley Thomas (Edmonton AB) and Chris Tenz (Calgary AB). The Elevation room is an all ages venue below Transcend Coffee on Jasper Avenue. Plus it's licensed. $8 at the door. View the Facebook Event.

Winter 2012 Western Canada Tour - Part II

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:10:00 GMT

06/12 - Wunderbar - Edmonton AB
07/12 - Owl Acoustic Lounge - Lethbridge AB
08/12 - Lyric Theatre - Swift Current SK (opening for Del Barber)
09/12 - 23 Main Street - Moose Jaw SK
10/12 - Suds @ Brandon University - Brandon MB
12/12 - Ozzy's - Winnipeg MB
13/12 - Accent Lounge - Edmonton AB

B.C. Bound

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:10:00 GMT

Kurtis, Nich and I are headed to B.C. for about a week of shows! Details are on the Shows page.

Nov 9 - The Last Drop - Revelstoke BC
Nov 10 - Art We Are - Kamloops BC
Nov 11 - Voodoo's - Penticton BC
Nov 13 - Melodies in Mind Radio Show - Vancouver BC
Nov 15 - Heritage Grill - New Westminster BC
Nov 16 - Trees Coffee House - Vancouver BC
Nov 17 - The Cliffs Cafe - Enderby BC

Snap

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 07:30:00 GMT

Thanks to this nifty new phone of mine, I am now addicted to taking photos and posting them to Instagram. So in addition to Twitter and Facebook and all of the crazy social networking sites of today, I can now be found on Instagram. Same handle @alexvissia. There are a lot of pictures of my adorable dog, Bailey, and a lot of music-related pictures as well, and just some great of-the-moment fun.

October, I'm not sure where that month went. It was a blur, a whirlwind. Three nights a week teaching kiddies how to play guitar, plus rehearsals for my own trio, a cover band, and a Sonic Youth tribute show (which was incredibly fun and awesome... more details later), plus recording my new EP, plus singing/playing on my good friend Jordan Norman's new EP, plus a mini-Saskatchewan weekend tour smack in the middle, plus a couple other gigs and a fundraiser... it was kind of like being on one of those spinning strawberry rides found at most amusement parks. But for the record, I didn't throw up.

So I played one of the funnest (it's a word because spellcheck didn't underline it in a squiggly red line) shows on November 2nd at the one and only Wunderbar here in Edmonton. It was "Bands as Bands" night. Kicked off with a Neutral Milk Hotel band, then Sonic Youth (that's me!), Fugazi, and finally Guided By Voices. I had the great opportunity of rocking some noisy post-punk with the boys from Very Dangerous Animals. And thanks to the good people that came out to the show, it was indeed a packed house with a line-up trickling down the front steps just outside the door. I hope that those people all managed to get in at some point, because after all, it is Canada in November.

November... I am heading into a week-long tour of B.C. I won't be hitting the Island this time around, but I am going to be going all the way to Vancouver. Once again I will try and fit everything I need into a duffle bag, pack up the truck with the boys, and hit the road. And this time I won't leave my sleeping bag out on the grass in a public area to be forgotten and then taken by someone. We were having a picnic lunch in case you are wondering what we were even up to. That sleeping bag was nicer than the one I have now. I hope that whoever has it is out there still enjoying it. They probably really needed it.

That's all for now!

This photo courtesy of Matt Kraus' iPhone. That's me doing my best at being the badass Kim Gordon.

Saskatchewan Bound

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 19:05:00 GMT

We are off to Saskatchewan next week! Details are on the Shows page.

Friday, Oct 19 - The Root - Lloydminster SK
Saturday, Oct 20 - Lydia's - Saskatoon SK
Sunday, Oct 21 - The Last Resort - Moose Jaw SK

Breakout West 2012

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:05:00 GMT

It was a full weekend in Regina, SK for the Breakout West music conference and festival. The days were packed with information sessions on everything from international touring, to social media, to artist Q & A's (with the likes of Dan Mangan). It was an awesome opportunity to hang out with friends, and especially to meet new people. But it wasn't all business. It's music, man, and we know how to party. With 50 different bands showcasing in 10 different venues, there definitely wasn't a shortage of music to see and beers to cheers. Overall, a great weekend. Now it's time to catch up on some sleep!

In Concert at the Blue Chair - Sept 22

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:40:00 GMT

Saturday, Sept 22nd
The Blue Chair
9624 - 76 ave.
Edmonton AB
Music 8:30pm
Admission is $10.

Casual, eclectic and electric.

The Blue Chair Cafe provides a comfortable place to spend an evening with friends sharing exciting food, wine and music.

The crew in Blue Chair Cafe's kitchen share a love for food and cooking, proudly carrying the torch of a scratch kitchen. Local ingredients are preferred whenever possible, even if it is a challenge in this far-northern centre.

Check out the menu!

Reservations are strongly recommended:
Online
Phone: 780.989.2861

So This is Love

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 10:20:00 GMT

We've been on Vancouver Island since Thursday. This really has to be one of the greatest places on earth. Starting out in Nanaimo, we headed to Duncan, and have now arrived in Victoria.

After checking out Cowichan Bay, we spent the day at Old Mill Park on Shawnigan Lake swimming, eating cherries, and otherwise basking in the awesomeness of Vancouver Island. You just don't get lakes like this in Alberta. Even when the water is twice as deep as you are tall, you can still see the lake bottom.

It's going to be hard to settle back in once we're home. The touring musician develops an incurrable condition that can only be subdued by more travel and experience. It's hard to believe that there is a large percentage of Canadians that will never see what we have already seen over the past ten months. Many people will end up visiting Mexico, or Hawaii, the Dominican Replublic, all kinds of faraway dream vacation spots, but never seize the opportunity to really explore the prairies, or breathe in the semi-tropical air of British Columbia, or look down into a valley from the top of a mountain ridge.

West Coast Mini-Tour

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 08:40:00 GMT

I've got a handful of shows coming right up on the West Coast...

Aug. 30 - Nanaimo - New York Style Pizza - 6PM to 8PM
Aug. 31 - Nanaimo - New York Style Pizza - 6PM to 8PM
Sept. 1 - Duncan - Duncan Garage Showroom (with Peirson Ross McLean) - 8PM
Sept. 3 - Port Alberni - Salmon Festival - 2PM
Sept. 5 - Banff AB - The Storm Cellar - 10PM

"Young Love" EP

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 08:35:00 GMT

I have been working on some new tunes, mostly stashing them away for the next full-length record, but I have also been working on a new EP. It's called Young Love after a brand new song that I wrote recently. It will be comprised of 6 tracks; 3 re-worked cover tunes, and 3 original tunes.

The EP will bridge between the current full-length and the next, creeping into new sonic territories, but not straying too far from A Lot Less Gold. You can expect the recording to be slightly heavier and somewhat more laid-back than my current album. It will still be led by the vocals, but I have also been focussing more on instrumental arrangements.

The way things have worked out, I've been using the summer to write new songs and record the EP. Release date hasn't been set yet, but I am thinking spring 2013!

2nd Place at New Artist Showcase

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 08:35:00 GMT

On Saturday, June 16th, the Easter Seals 24 Hour Relay presented their first annual New Artist Showcase Competition in corellation with this year's relay. The afternoon started with 12 semi-finalists, which were selected from up to 100 submissions. Six finalists were then chosen and asked to perform another number, and from those six, three prizes were awarded:

1st - Brian McLeod
2nd - Alex Vissia
3rd - The Doll Sisters

I would like to thank Darla Zuk and everyone that worked hard to make the event possible. Also, thank you to Alberta Music, Global Country, A Taste of Edmonton, Corus Entertainment, and On the Rocks for their sponsorship of the event.

NEXTFEST 2012

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:45:00 GMT

The CBC Nextfest Music Series is always a talent bomb prepped to explode. Once again Chris Martin has assembled a ridiculously talented and diverse CBC Nextfest Music Series presenting in The Roxy Lobby, TheARTery (as part of the Nextfest Nite Clubs), and a new venue this year: Eddie Shorts Bar & Grill.

My trio and I will be playing a FREE show this Thursday, June 14th, at Eddie Shorts as part of the CBC Nextfest Music Series.

Please call The Roxy Theatre box office at 780.453.2440 to purchase tickets in advance, or buy your tickets online! Individual tickets are $10, or get a festival pass for $40. Day passes are only $18.Tickets for all shows are available through The Roxy Theatre box office, and one hour before each performance at the respective venue.

Graveyard Playlist

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 04:49:36 GMT

THE GRAVEYARD PLAYLIST

(A.K.A. this is what shows up when I type "graveyard" into the search in my iTunes library)

Sukie in the Graveyard - Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Graveyard - Feist - Metals
In a Graveyard - Rufus Wainwright - Poses
Graveyard Shift - Sam Roberts Band - Collider
The Graveyard Shift - Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band - The Mountain
Whistin' Past the Graveyard - Tom Waits - Used Songs 1973-1980
Graveyard - Loudon Wainwright III - Last Man On Earth

Pressing "play"...

June 8th at The Carrot

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:15:00 GMT

Friday, June 8th
ALEX VISSIA
at The Carrot

Joined by Nich Davies (drums) & Murray Wood (bass)

The Carrot is a Community Arts Coffeehouse.
Every Friday & Saturday they feature live art–
whether it be music, poetry, drama, or comedy.

Cover charge is only a $5 donation,
and the show starts at 7:30 PM.
Kids up to 18 get in free!

Espresso drinks, teas, & snacks will be available.

The Carrot
9351 - 118 Ave
Edmonton, AB

FACEBOOK EVENT PAGE