Americana Music Magazine – Bluegrass, Roots, Folk, Blues, and Old-Time
Unlike so many artists we’ve profiled Alexa Rose (her real name) says, “I grew up in not a very musical family. I was just always drawn to singing and writing songs. Then when I was 13, my uncle gave me a guitar…” Once she dug in with her new songwriting tool, one musical predecessor came to light: “As soon as I took an interest in that instrument, I started hearing these stories about my great grandfather, Alvie Bell…” He had played with Lester Flatt, who asked Bell to come to Nashville with him. “He opted to stay on the farm,” Alexa says. 
She adds, “I’ve always felt like we were kindred spirits…I think about him especially when I get to do stuff like Merlefest, which is steeped in Appalachian, bluegrass, old-time music, because that’s the style of music he would play.”
Alexa’s style leans more into the singer-songwriter tradition, drawing on classic country and folk, along with elements of rock & roll and and mountain soul. It’s all woven together with a distinctly Appalachian vibe, born of her upbringing in Clifton Forge, Virginia, among the Allegheny Mountains.
The title track from her first album, Medicine For Living, made Alexa the 2019 winner of Merlefest’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, but keeps the honor in perspective: “That was a great honor, to win that one. I’ve done a few songwriting competitions, but I tend to shy away from them just because songwriting is so subjective.” She adds, with a laugh, “But I had to do the Merlefest contest because all my friends who I’ve gone to Merlefest for years were like ‘You have to enter this contest!’” Alexa has two albums out (Medicine For Living and Headwaters) and is beginning work on a third, while maintaining a well-crafted touring schedule.