Alex Voegele

"Like with many other singer-songwriters, the primary focus to which you attend when listening to the music of Alex Voegele is her vocals and the lyrical message which they convey. However, Alex also uses her guitar to punctuate what she is saying in each song. The guitar work is simple but emphasizes the poignancy of her lyrics in the same way that italics emphasize words in written text, drawing attention to what you are supposed to be noticing to make it easier for you to understand the story that is being conveyed for you. In some songs, “Bird Song” is the perfect example, Alex switches over to a more traditional use of the guitar as providing the tune for the piece but then supplements this with an italicized emphasis provided by shaker sounds and whistling. The result is a piece of musical work that is simple enough to point directly to the power of her music without coming across as dramatic.

Alex is said to have been musically influenced by independent female musicians from the late twentieth century including Ani DiFranco, Edie Brickell and Dar Williams. Anyone with knowledge of these artists will find that the influences are clear in her work but that she melds their impact upon her work into a sound that doesn’t quite draw comparisons to any of them. She has the fingerpicking guitar skills heard on some of Ani’s songs but lacks the hyper-political edge for which the singer is known. She has the ability to take less-than-happy lyrics and give them an upbeat sound like Edie, but her music doesn’t have the intricate instrumentals reflected in the work of Edie’s New Bohemians on the famous artist’s songs. And Alex has the griping, heart-wrought lyrics inspired by Dar but doesn’t go as far as the artist in staining her audience with the blood of her heart.

The resulting combination is a musically simple, lyrically deep approach to music that takes the emotional experience of life and articulates it clearly without being whiny. Alex’s work reflects the growth of women in music since the time that those famous names helped to pioneer the personal / political voice of female singer-songwriters. These new artists have a multi-dimensional approach to their music that reflects the greater array of options for women in today’s society in general. This also means that the issues being dealt with in today’s music are broader and it will be interesting to see if Alex’s music continues to push at the edges of this experience as her work develops.

Alex Voegele is currently completing her first full-length EP, which will be independently released. Her work on this album includes molding by the hands of a number of influential people in the business today such as bassist Michael Visceglia (known for his work with Dar Williams) and producer David Seitz (who worked with such artists as Natalie Merchant). Alex is still quite young in her career but has that old soul quality to her sound which could mean she’ll withstand the test of time, helping to define the sound that will be what the women of next generation remember growing up with."

-Kathryn Vercillo - Indie In-Tune Magazine

Your Wounds voted Best Pop Song of 2008 by the Portland Songwriters Association! For more info:

www.portlandsongwriters.org - Portland Songwriters Association

"Alex Voegele was a memorable performer, but for a different reason. As she played her guitar and kept the beat by hitting her hand on the guitar as she strummed, she began to sing and everyone in the audience stopped what they were doing and listened. Her powerful, melodious voice captured my attention as she sang an original "I will be home before the paper's strewn at my door." - Cara Walsh

"FOR THE LONGEST time, Alex Voegele had no idea she could sing. It was only after her post-high school indie band, for which Voegele played bass, called it quits, that she decided to give the microphone a whirl.

Though her first attempt at singing in front of an audience, three years ago at an open-mike night at Whitlow's On Wilson in Arlington, was a disaster (''I had the worst case of cotton mouth known to man''), Voegele has come a long way.

The 24-year-old Reston resident describes her sound as ''contemporary folk,'' along the same lines as other percussive acoustic musicians like Ani DiFranco.

Voegele is currently splitting her time between Alexandria, where she works as a teacher's assistant at an adult community and education center, and New York City, where she meets up with a full band to put the final touches on a four-song EP scheduled for release next month.

The EP is in production with the help of David Seitz, who is credited for producing music for Natalie Merchant, Jeff Buckley and R.E.M.

''I came across an advertisement from his label. They were advertising to produce an independent artist. So out of like 100 submissions they had to narrow it down to 10 people, and they just happened to say that my music was fitting to his style,'' Voegele says, adding that she writes about a variety of topics.

''It varies from time to time,'' she says. ''I've written a lot of songs about ex-girlfriends, but now I'm writing a lot about nature, politics, [and] I've had to focus on the environment because that's one of my passions.''

--yusef najafi - Metro Weekly

"Alex Voegele gets the "Beck, Your Unimaginative Use of the Bird Outside the Window as A Lyrical Crutch is Rendered Embarrassing Next to My Song Award.""

-Ben Krieger
Brooklyn, NY
November 4th, 2007
- Williamsburg Live Songwriter Contest