Alex Mejias

Virginia transplant Alex Mejias has taken the requisite twists and turns in his musical development -- from adolescent piano lessons and clarinet recitals to dreams of joining a Motley Crue cover band to time spent in local bands Florez and Portrait of Another. Little of that is immediately apparent in his fine work as a solo performer, though it's unclear how much his sunny, radio ready pop songs would benefit from an infusion of clarinet or Tommy Lee bombast. As it stands, Mejias' music is a welcome addition for fans of Jackson Browne or more contemporary artists such as Josh Rouse and John Mayer. Alex Mejias plays at a CD release party Thursday, along with The War and Tim Be Told, at the Satellite Ballroom in Charlottesville. Tickets are $8 at the door. The show starts at 7p.m.

by Ryan Muldoon - Richmond Times-Dispatch - January 31, 2008

If you are going to make it in the music business, you figure you are going to spend a lot of time hanging out at the bar.

Alex Mejias did.

But the University of Virginia graduate didn't follow the usual route of soaking up the suds on one side or supplementing his dream by serving as the bartender on the other. Instead, the law school grad went to the Big Apple and passed the New York Bar Exam this past February.

Six months later he hung out his shingle as ? a solo musician.

On Thursday night Mejias will be at the Satellite Ballroom to celebrate the release of his first solo pop-rock CD. His self-titled disc was recorded in Nashville and produced by Andy Hunt, who has worked with the likes of Buddy Guy, Good Charlotte, Glen Phillips and Jars of Clay.

"Music has been such a big part of my life," Mejias said. "I was not walking through law school thinking I was going to be a musician, but doors kept opening for me."

One of those doors was at a Florez concert.

"I sort of fell into it," he said. "I went to the concert and met the band, and they needed a drummer."

The next thing you know, Mejais was taking a semester off from law school to go on tour with the Richmond-based pop-rockers.

Florez has since moved to Nashville - a couple of members of the band will be coming back to Charlottesville to perform at Satellite on Thursday - but Mejias returned to the books. Still, he left the door open.

"I had a great time with the band, but I knew I wanted to finish law school," he said. "I dialed it back some, but I still arranged my schedule so that I would have Friday through Sunday free."

Good thing, because he spent the next year as the guitarist and lead singer for Portrait of Another.

"We played almost every weekend," he said. "We played Starr Hill several times. It was mainly around town, but with Florez, we toured from here to Florida and Michigan."

It was difficult, but somehow, he balanced both worlds - worlds that he has been straddling for a very long time.

"I've been interested in music since I was five or six years old," he said, "but when I went to college, I never really thought of music as a practical field.

"With my family dynamics, I was always arguing. My parents kept telling me that I argued so much, that I should be a lawyer," he said with a laugh.

And so he is. He's a lawyer with a full-time musical career.

"I've sure been blessed," he said, "super blessed."

And whether he ends up in a courtroom or in a coliseum singing about justice, he still has a goal of wanting to help people. You see, Alex Mejias isn't just a lawyer. He isn't just a musician. He's a genuinely nice guy.

When he was a UVa student, he didn't spend his spring break in sand-covered bars. He went on UVa's alternative spring breaks to help others in need. He also interned one summer with Legal Aid here in town and he worked with a non-profit urban rights project in D.C.

"I really wanted to be involved with community development and international human rights," he said.

Even his musical skills have been put to good use. Every Sunday night you can catch him at Christ Episcopal Church, where he heads up the music for the Anglican College Ministry's weekly service. (You can hear some of his arrangements of classic hymns on "High Street Hymns," a CD he recorded with former ACM band member Ross Byrd.)

Indeed, Mejias is a man of many professions. A musician of many genres.

"If you want to make a living as a musician, it is hard to do it in just one area," he said. "Many musicians fill in as session players or they teach music lessons. You have got to play where you can.

"I just love to play music, no matter where it is."

Case closed.

- Mary Alice Blackwell, Daily Progress Staff Writer - The Daily Progress - January 25th 2008