Californian singer songwriter Alela Diane plays her first Irish gig in 15 years when she appears at Whelan's of Dublin on 30 of September. We asked her the BIG questions . . .
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Raised in the historic gold-rush town of Nevada City California, she taught herself guitar and piano and began writing songs at 19 while living in San Francisco.
Now based in Portland Oregon, Alela is a mother of two daughters and has released seven full-length albums, with her latest Who's Keeping Time? due out on 22 May.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I’ve been writing songs for 23 years; I live in an eccentric 1892 Victorian with my husband, daughters, two cats and a dog; I have a vast collection of antique lace.
How would you describe your music?
My songs are stories from my life - generally written on acoustic guitar and sometimes piano. I grew up in California, and my parents played bluegrass music, so the folk tradition has seeped into my approach to writing. I’d call it somewhere in the indie-folk-American music tradition.
Who are your musical inspirations?
Neil Young is probably my number one favourite musician. A lot of the older generation of folkies - Joni Mitchell, Sandy Denny, Kate Wolf. These days I’m super inspired by Adrienne Lenker’s writing approach; she’s the real deal. I’ve always been a huge Cat Power fan as well.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
I grew up going to little music festivals and local gigs my parents performed at. The first gigs I went to of my own choosing were 1990’s brother boy band Hanson, and Fiona Apple in San Francisco in 1998.
What was the first record you ever bought?
In 6th grade, I got Alanis Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill, followed by Jewel’s Pieces of You, amongst other 1990’s female icons.
What’s your favourite song right now?
I think Change by Big Thief is an incredible song. I’ve been listening to more modern music lately than I have in the past. There is a lot of incredible music being made right now.
Favourite lyric of all time?
I love the lyrics of Michael Hurley’s song, Wildegeeses.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Probably Comes A Time by Neil Young.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Updates on my Instagram @aleladiane or my website aleladiane.com - you can hear my music on any streaming platform. My new album, Who’s Keeping Time?, is out May 22nd on Loose Music.
Alan Corr
