Alyssa Carlson

A young and very impressionable girl’s life changed when she was rummaging around the family garage. Her Dad, growing more irritated by the second, thought that the only way to get her to sit still might be to play some music. So he did. But, what he wasn’t prepared for was that the voice he played for her, would be the voice she would follow for the rest of her life.

That voice was Bob Dylan. “I was five years old, and I remember it like it was yesterday. I was in the garage where my Dad was working, and he played a song called ‘My Back Pages’. From the first chord of that guitar, I was speechless. I remember I immediately sat on the concrete floor, and stared at the radio. I asked my Dad who was singing, and he said, ‘Bob Dylan.’ I was blown away. I told my dad to play it again, and he said no, but instead he played ‘Chimes of Freedom’ for me. I literally sat there barely breathing, my eyes wide open, and my life was changed from that moment on. It was the greatest feeling I have ever had, and a feeling I wish everyone could have, because this world would be a much better place. I remember I was wearing a yellow and white polka-dot sweater, with jean shorts, and white shoes. My Dad was wearing jeans, a gray t-shirt, and a green baseball cap. That is how much that moment meant to me, because I remember everything around me…the sights, the sounds, the smells, and how I felt. And every time I hear that song, it’s like I’m hearing it for the first time. I have such a passion for his music, that it hurts.” If you ask her what it was about Dylan that got to her so much, she probably won’t be able to give you a straight answer. “I honestly don’t know what it is about him that moves me so much, that inspires me more than anyone. There was just something in the way he played that guitar, the way he sang; it was like he was crying, like he just had to sing those songs or he would burst. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him, or what they thought about his writing, or singing…he did it, because it was what he had to do. He was a loner, he stood up for himself, he was different, he didn’t fit in… and I was going through the same. I never fit in anywhere, with anyone.” Especially in grade school, she was always the outcast. “Kids used to make fun of me because I was always writing. While they were out doing whatever it was they were doing, I was sitting at home writing and playing my guitar. I found that so much more fun, so much more useful and so much more educational because I was learning about myself while I was writing. I would get my butt kicked for saying that I was going to be a songwriter. If you asked me if I would go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t hesitate to say yes. All of that made me who I am today, and I am proud of that person.”

Alyssa also claims that no matter where she is, she never feels like she belongs. “I’ve always been an out-cast, never really fit in anywhere. No matter where I am, I always feel like I’m on the outside looking in. Music was the only thing that made sense to me, that accepted me for who I was, and didn’t judge me. It was always there for me, no matter what. So, I guess you could say that I fit in with my music. I’ve been an outsider my entire life, but that’s fine. It’s comfortable for me; it’s where I know I can be myself. I wouldn’t change that at all…it’s where I feel safe.” It was that same year that her Grandma gave her, her first guitar. “My Grandma worked in a music store, and she had an acoustic guitar she wanted to give me. She said, ‘would you get any use out of this?’ My eyes were huge and I screamed, ‘YES!’ I wrote my first song that same day.”

Growing up in Minneapolis, Alyssa was always curious and always listening to new music, of all kinds. “I grew up in a big city, so there was always music around me. My family was pretty diverse in the styles of music that was always being played. My sister would be upstairs listening to rap and hip-hop, and my mom would be downstairs listening to John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen and Cher; my dad would be in the garage listening to Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Janis Joplin, the Beatles, Jimmi Hendrix, Bob Dylan. I was never not around music. I listened to all of it, but I was most drawn to the hippie/folk/Woodstock-era music…I loved hearing Fleetwood Mac, the Beatles, Woody Guthrie, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Strawberry Alarm Clock, Joan Baez, Simon and Garfunkel, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan. There was something so concrete about that music…it was so free, and it was all going towards one purpose and one meaning, but doing it so beautifully and gracefully. I used to love riding in the truck with my Dad on his trips to the lumber yard, because he would always be listening to great music and I would soak it all up. And my Mom would always be playing Elvis vinyl and I would be in Heaven!"

Alyssa says that most of her writing happens when she least expects it. “I get inspiration from everything and everyone, at every moment.” She believes that an artist should never change or stray from who they are. “When I see a talented musician go and change for society, or the changing trends, it breaks my heart. That is when you lose sight of yourself, and from that moment on, you (as an artist) will be living a lie.” She watches, learns, writes. Even just sitting in a coffee shop listening to other people’s conversations, she will be writing about it. “I believe in the music. I believe that a song should speak for itself…a good song doesn’t need explaining, and it doesn’t need any fancy instrumentation. It should be able to stand on its own, it doesn’t need any frosting. Songs are like paintings…a thousand people could be looking at the exact same painting, but that painting could mean something completely different to each one of them. Once someone tells them what it meant to the artist, then that perception is flawed. It is supposed to mean something different to everyone; otherwise life would be pretty dull. I’m not a great songwriter, by any means, and I certainly don’t pretend to be. If nothing comes of it, I’m still going to be me, and I will still be happy. I am not one of those people who are constantly going out to ‘network’, follow a formula, or push my songs around to people…I hate that, and I hate people that do that. I am not desperate; I am not going to sell myself out like that. If it comes, it comes. I know people that push so hard, and lose themselves in the process. They pretend to be someone they’re not, while losing their dignity and ethic. I am not going to change myself, or the way I write, because that would be changing who I am and I can‘t do that. I would much rather be broke, living in my little corner of the world for the rest of my life, writing my own songs, than to be living in the biggest mansion, with all the money in the world, writing songs I don’t believe in. People say that I should do it this way, or that way, but what it really comes down to is yourself, and timing. You can’t force anything, and you can’t rush anything in life. If it’s going to happen, it will happen when it’s meant to; you just have to give it time. You have to have faith; you have to keep believing that what you put out into this world will eventually come back to you. But, don’t give just to get. Be nice to those you meet, don’t put yourself before others, and give back to those who have helped you along the way. This is a small world, and karma does come. It may not come right away, but it does come. Just make sure that when it does come, that it’s good to you…and the only way to do that is to do good in this world."

Background from flickr user