By Elena Coe-McNamara
Staff Writer
One more song, one more word, done, thinks Mira Costa junior Alyssa Davis as she finishes her last song of many after a long night of writing.
Davis has been following her dreams of singing and songwriting since she was eight years old by actively writing songs that she emotionally connects to.
“Sometimes when I have bad days, I’ll sit down and write a song,” Davis said. “It always helps me feel better.”
At the age of five, Davis began taking singing lessons and continued with them throughout elementary school. Davis says she doesn’t have a strong preference between singing and songwriting because she loves to hear her voice singing the songs she wrote.
“Starting everything so early helped me a lot because I was able to really grow with my voice and learn what I needed to work on at a young age,” Davis said.
Davis began songwriting because she wanted to connect to herself and people around her more and finds that it is the best way for her to express her emotions.
“I like to teach myself how to sing,” Davis said. “It lets me use my voice the way I want to and I hate reading music and music theory.”
The songs Davis writes depend on how her day or week was. Most of Davis’ writing occurs late at night. Davis sings every day, whether it’s in the car, at home, or with friends. Once she sits down and starts writing, she will write multiple songs.
“Songwriting helps me feel better, and it comes easily to me,” Davis said. “It’s the best way for me to be able to make people feel better and feel understood.”
Davis says her musical inspiration is Beyonce because of her work with charity. Davis says this is because Beyonce has inspired many women and has used her gift to reach out to people and make them stronger.
“She [Beyonce] isn’t just one of the world’s most known female recording artist ,” Davis said. “She’s left her mark on the world in so many positive ways, and I hope to one day be able to inspire women and change as many lives as she did.”
“Rising From a Fall,” is the single Davis recorded in Harvey Mason Jr.’s studio, Mason Studios. “Rising From a Fall,” is available online on Davis’ soundcloud, along with original, “Heartbreak I’ll Say,” and five cover songs.
“Recording in the studio is a lot more work than it seems,” Davis said. “But in the end, it definitely all pays off when you get to hear the recording.”
Davis has written at least twenty songs, and plans on writing many more. Davis’ current goals with singing and songwriting are to get back in the studio, and record enough songs to release an EP of original songs. However, Davis’ eventual goals are to become a songwriter for other artists and eventually become a professional singer-songwriter.
“It’s really up to me to work hard if I want these dreams to come true,” Davis said. “The music industry is a hard one to make it in, and everything takes time and really hard work.”
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