Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I started singing before I could walk. When I was nine, I was offered a Singing scholarship to attend choir school in England. We had two church services a day, plus a choir practice, so I got lots of ear training and lots of solos. When I was 14, I quit all that and immersed myself in sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll. It wasn’t until my 18th summer that I discovered the guitar, and my mind was blown. I finally found what I was supposed to do with my life. All that ear training in the choir accelerated my advancement on guitar. I started learning music by ear. Starting with Bruce Coburn, Leo Kottke, John Renbourn, Bert Jansch, Jimi Hendrix, and the Beatles.
Q: Can you describe the musical style of Alison Whiteacre in three words?
A: No LOL…
Q: How do you stay connected with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your musical journey?
A: I have a few regular gigs in Los Angeles clubs, where I connect with fans and make new ones, as well as enjoy the artistry and camaraderie of many talented LA performers/artists. I also enjoy the connection with fans and followers on social media. I have a small but engaged following on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube that keeps me inspired to share my songs and instrumentals. I also really enjoy making tutorial videos to show people how to play my guitar parts.
Q: You have just released your new album, ‘Coming Out Alive.” Is there a story behind it?
A: In 2015, I turned down scoring a TV series for Discovery Networks because I was burned out on living the solitary studio life. A composer NEVER turns down work, but I was aching to find out other reasons for living and connecting with people in a more personal and authentic way. I discovered life coaching and loved how it was all about helping others find the answers to realizing their potential. It was during that training that I discovered a missing puzzle piece that I had been looking for my whole life. Being transgender is not something that folks of my generation thought about when trying to explain why they felt out of place in the world. I could never have learned about this had I remained a solitary slave to the grind in the studio. The title “Coming Out Alive” refers to all the decades I spent using sex, drugs, and booze to transport me to a world where it felt like I belonged. Nothing I tried felt permanent, and I’m lucky it didn’t kill me. So Coming Out Alive is the celebration of surviving my gender dysphoria, self-destructive behavior, discovering the missing puzzle piece, and coming out to the world as Alison.
Q: What is your favorite track from the album and why?
A: Oh, you know that’s an impossible question to answer lol. They’re all my favorite children lol. I like each of them for their own unique reasons.
Q: Can you walk us through the creative process of producing the album, “Coming Out ALIVE”?
A: In 2013, I grabbed a Guitalele, a backpack, and went on a 7-week train adventure. I went up the west coast, across Canada, down the east coast to Atlanta, and ended in New Orleans, staying with friends and family along the way. All the while recording musical ideas on my voice memo app. When I was excited to get back into music after a seven-year break, I turned to those 250 diary entry recordings for inspiration. From all those voice memos, I sorted them down to about 60 potential compositions. Of those 60, I narrowed it down to 30, and when it came time to release an album, I chose the 10 tracks that were most ready. Coming Out Alive represents that lifelong journey of discovering how to be comfortable in my own skin.
Q: How has being transgender affected your overall reception as a person and as a musician?
A: Mostly, I’m super fortunate to have so much support from my family, friends, and strangers. They see how much transitioning has improved my outlook on life and my ability to share that joy with others. Having grown up with white male privilege, it’s easy to see how my male-to-female transition brings out my most authentic personality while occasionally bringing out bigotry that I’d never experienced before. Personally and socially, I’m over the moon about living in the world as a trans woman. Professionally, however, it’s always curious when I experience misogyny and disrespect that I never experienced before.
I do feel hopeful that as people meet transgender folks, they find out we are really quite lovely and loving. You can imagine the amount of soul-searching and personal growth trans folks have to go through to hopefully come out alive on the other side.
Q: Reflecting on your body of work, each song holding its unique significance, could you share a particular track that stands out to you personally? What makes that specific tune special, and why does it hold a place of pride in your musical journey?
A: They each have a special story, but, off the top of my head, The Lively Maiden is special to me because it represents the joy of my transition. The Fake McCoy is exciting to me because it honors one of my major influences, the Real McCoy Tyner, who got me hooked on quartal harmony, which is chords built in 4ths, not 3rds. Tanworth-in-Arden is my homage to the delicate and underappreciated, in his time, Nick Drake. I was thrilled to reconnect with Canadian flute master Brian McConnell to record the epic journey, Long Drive Home. Enby and the Unicorn is a play on a John Renbourn tune called ” The Lady and the Unicorn. It has been updated to include non-binary folks who also fall in love with unicorns lol. There’s a story behind every composition, as you can imagine. Curious folks are always welcome to reach out to me online if they want to learn more. I’m an open book.
Q: Exploring the diverse creative processes within the music industry is always fascinating. Could you provide insight into Alison Whiteacre’s unique approach to crafting music? From the initial spark of an idea to the finished song, how do you navigate the creative journey and bring its musical concepts to life?
A: From the moment I learned, Dear Prudence by The Beatles and realized I had a very clear musical purpose in life. I have always followed my ear. My improvement as a guitar player came from my ear telling me to write music I couldn’t quite play yet. For the album Coming Out Alive, I was working off those nuggets of inspiration from my 2013 iPhone voice memos, developing them by following whatever my ear told me to hear next. That’s always been my main process: of course, some of the best ideas occur as happy accidents, and I always enjoy embracing them as gifts. My favorite Duke Ellington direction is “Wrong but Strong.” I imagine that all of my favorite composers through time are primarily guided by what they would like to hear, more than how fancy their fingers can get. Can you imagine Beethoven composing his 9th symphony whilst completely deaf? Mindblowing!
Q: As we wrap up our conversation, looking ahead, what aspirations or dreams do you have, and what message would you like to share with your fans as they continue to accompany you on this musical journey?
A: I’m very excited about sharing my compositions, techniques, and repertoire on social media and in private online lessons. I have set up a three-camera video studio so I can illustrate exactly how I play my pieces and share the process behind their composition. I taught music for many years before I went full-time into producing artists and composing for film, TV, and commercials. I feel like at this point in my life, I’m coming full circle with the added excitement of reaching a global audience through my little video studio and social media. I really appreciate Bored City for this thoughtful interview, and I look forward to meeting your subscribers out in the clubs and over the Interwebs 😉
