Dana Alexandra Interview Pt. 1

Dana Alexandra - "Hand Me Down" -- download now!

Seeing Dana Alexandra last week at The Fire made me realize what was missing from the last two shows I saw her play: an audience slowly filling the room and being won over one person at a time.

Like most of the best things in life, finding Dana's music is all about being in the right place at the right time. I can't imagine anyone not being impressed by her voice once they hear her -- the problem is getting the People to the Voice. Over the course of a breathless 45-minute set which featured new songs, old songs, increasingly unmanageable hair and a story about how boa constrictors size you up before eating you, she won over a good-sized crowd for an unknown performer opening a show at Philly's grungeiest of grungy venues.

But the real magic happens on her debut album. Dana uses harmonies the same way Keith Richards and Jimmy Page use guitar riffs, as something both stylized and structural, decorative and devastating. The songs are catchy, her voice and melodies grow on you quickly and unexpectedly, extra touches (piano and ukelele) never seem unneccessary or gimmicky, and the "live-on-the-floor" immediacy really shines through.
My prediction: If she keeps writing this way, she'll be one of the biggest singer-songwriter draws in the Philly scene within a year. But don't take my word for it -- see her live at Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore on August 21st, and check back here tomorrow for Pt 2.

Dana Alexandra Interview Pt 1 from Ian Messinger on Vimeo.

Dana Alexandra - "Dont" from Ian Messinger on Vimeo.