The interviews keep on coming! Alyssa Bonagura's is a name that I have known for years, having initially seen her perform at Nashville Meets London in 2018, and then had a planned interview with her at CMC Rocks in 2019 (before the Aussie weather had it's way) so it was a joy to finally catch up with her. We chatted about growing up in a musical family, being inspired by English rain, new music and so much more - read on!
Ciara’s Country (CC): I am thrilled to be joined today by Nashville singer-songwriter Alyssa Bonagura! Alyssa, thank you so much for joining me - your latest single New Wings made the coveted list of my top songs from July, so it's a real pleasure to be speaking with you.
Alyssa Bonagura (AB): Oh my gosh, thank you so much, what an honour. I'm so excited!
CC: You’ve just released your new single, but it seems like music itself is nothing new for you. You grew up in a musical family, being the daughter of members from 80s band Baillie and the Boys; have been singing since the age of two; recorded a Christmas duet with Kenny Rogers - the list goes on and on! Was a career in music ever not an option for you?
AB: Ever since I was born, I've always made music, and so I've never really known anything else. I was three weeks old on the tour bus with my parents, and watching my mom and dad sing every night just made me want to do it. I started singing when I was two and then haven't stopped, so there was no denying it - it's in my blood! I'm an only child too, so my parents have always been my best friends, so it was kind of the environment I grew up in.
CC: Not a bad start to life! You mentioned there that during your first steps into the music industry, you basically grew up on a tour bus. I have to be honest, experiencing life on a tour bus is a bit of a bucket list item for me, what was that like?
AB: Oh my gosh, growing up on a tour bus is really fun because you wake up and you're in a different city - you finish the show, you get offstage, you walk on the bus, you get on the bus, you have dinner, you go to sleep and you wake up in a different city. It's so cool to live that way - it's really fun to take in all the different cultures. I grew up basically touring around the United States, so the only state I haven't been to is Alaska - I've been everywhere else, which is nuts! I've seen all the roads of America, and that was such a fun learning experience for me, and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
CC: So you just have Alaska to tick off now?
AB: Absolutely. I got to go to Hawaii a couple years ago, and that was the first time I'd been there. It's definitely on my bucket list to go to Alaska - I hear you can see the Northern Lights up there, so I think that'd be really fun.
CC: Definitely! You’ve obviously travelled a lot around the US, but you also have really deep roots in the UK too – you studied here, your debut album was called The English Diaries - can you tell me a bit more about your connection with our side of the pond?
AB: When I was a junior in high school, I came to Scotland with my parents - they were playing a country music festival up in Thurso, at the very top of Scotland. I was obsessed with the UK - I remember walking through Edinburgh and being like, ‘wow, I feel like I've been here before’. It's so strange because I'd never been overseas before - it was my first time coming over to the UK. I just had this weird soul connection with England and Scotland. I remember my mom telling me that my great great grandfather's name is actually on the Edinburgh Castle list, he was in the army, and so I feel like I have a soul tie to the United Kingdom, which is so cool.
I also found out about the Paul McCartney school in Liverpool - it was the only place I applied to go to college, because I looked up everywhere else and none of the schools had what he had to offer there. They had this really amazing sound technology course, one of the best in the world. I told myself if I got in, I would go; and if I didn't get in, I would do music full time and just start touring. I got in on a full scholarship, so that was like the universe was pointing me in that direction, and it was some of the best three years of my life. I made some of the best friends I've ever made - I was in school with Jess from The Staves, she’s one of my best friends; and there were so many amazing musicians there.
I actually wrote The English Diaries when I was living in the old maternity ward where John Lennon was born – they’d turned it into apartments, so that was pretty crazy! I love the UK so much, and I've been coming back ever since. The UK music community’s really embraced me with open arms, and I just feel so grateful for that. It's definitely my second home.
CC: We’re certainly glad you’ve made it so! I also heard a rumour that one of your songs, I Make My Own Sunshine, was inspired by the British weather – is that true?
AB: Yes, that is true. I actually wrote it in Liverpool when it was raining every day. One of my friends had said to me, ‘it's okay, Alyssa, you have to make your own sunshine,’ and I thought, ‘wow, that's such a good line!’ It made so much sense to me to put into a song, so I wrote a song about it!
CC: It would be so easy to look out your window, see rainy Liverpool and write a sad song about it, but that one's actually really upbeat and feel good.
AB: My mom and dad always taught me to be that way - they both always look on the bright side of life. When I was in Liverpool, it was hard - being an 18 year old in a new country, starting over and being an only child. Going on my own to England was scary and exciting all at the same time, and my mom was always in the background like, ‘it's okay, you can do it, you're gonna get through it,’ and so that was what inspired that song - realising that there are times in life that are going to be hard, and you've got to make your own sunshine always. I think we can always try and find the good in something, even if it's a tough time. Especially in 2020 - that was a really tough year for everyone, and in a lot of instances, I think we had to create our own sunshine, you know?
CC: I don’t think songs like that have ever really been more relevant than they are right now.
AB: It's so true, and I love that outlook. I love being more on the optimistic side of things, because I think when you when you do that, even when it's hard, if you can try and find something good about a situation, it makes the day better. We're all here for who knows how long, so may as well have fun!
CC: I love that mantra! Speaking of songs that I think really help us to look on the bright side of life, I mentioned at the beginning of this interview that I really do love your latest single song New Wings, a song that talks about how sometimes the hardest times in life are the most strengthening. I think I fell in love with it a bit more after hearing that it was inspired by a Paolo Coelho poem - can you speak a bit more about that?
AB: Yeah, so last year I really went through a transformative time - I was in a band called the Sisterhood Band, and we toured for five years. It was so much fun but at the start of 2020, we parted ways when the pandemic started. That was just a really uprooting thing for me, because when you've been doing something for so long, change sometimes can be exciting, but can also be debilitating as well.
It was my first chance to just take a moment - when you're on the road that much, you really don't have time to pause - you're constantly doing shows, talking to people and sometimes, you just have to bury what's happening inside, like if you're going through something in your personal life or anything.
2020 really gave me that time of reflection, and throughout that whole healing journey, I found this poem called The Lesson of the Butterfly by Paulo Coelho. This man is walking through a forest and he sees this cocoon hanging from a branch. It's a butterfly that's struggling to get out, and after watching it for quite a long time, the man feels bad for the butterfly because it’s struggling so much. He goes and gets a pair of scissors to cut open the cocoon, thinking that it will just fly away and make it easier on the butterfly, but unfortunately, the butterfly falls right to the ground because its wings are shrivelled and underdeveloped.
The whole lesson of the story is that that struggle that that butterfly goes through to get through the cocoon is what makes its wings strong enough to fly - you can't skip that step because it's necessary for growth. I was crying reading this poem. I thought, this is my cocoon year - I'm struggling in the cocoon, and I've got to make my wings strong. That's how the song was written and inspired, and I wrote it with my friend Tawgs Salter over Zoom. I told him about that poem, we talked about transformation, and the song was written in an hour!
Don't worry, that's not all! Check back for Part 2 coming soon, where we talk about vulnerability, hidden talents, the up-and-coming artists you need to know, and much more. Stay tuned on my Twitter @CiarasCountry to be the first to know when it's posted - thanks so much for reading!
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