Alyssa Hendrix

At two years old, Alyssa picked out "Happy Birthday" on the piano, and she hasn't left the keys since. Starting out on the East Coast, Alyssa has played coffeehouses on Martha's Vineyard, charity events at Northwestern University (where she studied poetry) and a short set at the New York International Music Festival in Las Vegas where the crowd managed to convince the MC that she deserved an encore, despite the strict time limit.

Alyssa's influences are as varied as her music, and range from Bruce Hornsby and Leonard Cohen to Etta James, Ani DiFranco and Joni Mitchell. A classically trained pianist, she tries to fuse her roots with her love of storytelling, jazz, gospel and opera (as best as one can do that), and prides herself on putting on a show with something for everyone to love. She's a self-proclaimed grammar nerd, book collector, whiskey drinker and Tom Waits lover - you've gotta see her take on a piano to believe it.

Called "angelic" and "soulful" by her former bandmates, Pieces of Flair, Alyssa continues to bring her music to the Chicago scene, impressing audiences wherever she plays.