Photo by Vaughan Risher
Alyssandra Nighswonger is nothing if not ambitious. She’s the mastermind behind The Dovelles, a band that leapt to popularity after performing at, and winning, this year’s BuskerFest. She’s also been hosting music at Viento y Agua for quite some time, recently launched a weekly tribute series at 4th Street Vine, and completed a 1447 mile, three state, bicycle tour earlier this year.
The Dovelles have had a string of shows this month, culminating with a spot this Wednesday night at the OC Weekly‘s Plugged Into Local show, taking place this month at Harvelle’s. Headlining the evening is Slow Learner, and also on the bill are Pebaluna and Whiteboy James and the Blues Express.
“This show will be a fun one. The bar has such a swanky atmosphere and makes great drinks. The other bands, Pebaluna and Slow Learner are friends of ours, too. Pebaluna is about to release their first album. Lauren Coleman, the lead singer has a killer voice and is pretty much one of the nicest people in the whole world. Slow Learner is Eugene Owen’s new project that features a rotating cast, so I’m excited to see who he brings in for that night. Also, since it’s so close to Christmas, The Dovelles might be learning a few fun holiday songs to add to the mix.”
The Dovelles were a departure for Alyssandra, who had been known for her sassy songwriting. After returning from a three state coastal tour by bicycle, she wanted to go in a different direction.
“I wanted to make something really dreamy. So I invited Tess Shapiro, Jenny Stockdale, and Mary McKeever to sing back up vocals for a show at 4th st. Vine, and focused a lot of their vocal layers in the new songs I had been writing. I also invited Jon Sacks as our drummer, who I had admired in Tiger Tank Euphoria. I had been playing with Mike Plell, bass, and Jon Zell, guitar, for a while already.
“The final element was strings, I invited Joy Shannon of Joy Shannon and the Beauty Marks, to play cello, and Laura Merryfield to play violin. I wanted to curate a performance with lots of dynamics, and very dreamy. We recorded that first show and, when Rand Foster found out that Jenny, Mary, Tess and I were collaborating together, he asked us to play BuskerFest.
“After that, we started mixing it up and working on everybody else’s songs. We officially presented ourselves as The Dovelles at Buskerfest, and won, at what was essentially our second show.”
Not long after BuskerFest, they were invited to perform in Fingerprints. The show was packed.
“It was unbelievable. As soon as I got there, it was like the downhill of a wonderful roller coaster. Once a night like that gets going, it keeps going. There’s no time to dote on this moment or that. It’s just a ride. There were so many faces, some unexpected, that I was happy to see. It ended too fast.”
Many have bemoaned the departure of Jenny Stockdale. Alyssandra admits that her absence has called for adjustments.
“Artistically, she’s got such a warm and sultry voice that added such a rich texture to our vocal harmonies. And her songs are so classic and make your heart break in the most beautiful way. Behind the scenes, we were a great team as an organizational force. We could tag team the project very well when it came to organizing shows and practices and promotion. Greggory Moore called us promotional juggernauts.
“Without her, we’re shifting and settling into the next phase, which might be a little more bumpin’ with some of Tess’ and Mary’s influences. Also, without the deadline of tour, we can take things a little slower. She’ll come back to visit, and we’ll be happy to have her sing with us when she’s around.
“I think it’s really important to know boundaries and talents, and what you can count on and where you can push each other harder, and where to let up. It’s also important to have fun, and do stuff other than music together, to build a stronger bond. Respect is key. I always play with people I really look up to.”
In addition to singing, songwriting, and playing guitar, Alyssandra has also been known to lug around and play an upright acoustic bass.
“I love old jazz records with upright bass. It just warms up a song. When I used to play with Dustin Gustus, we would borrow an upright bass for some of our shows, and I always loved the sound of it. It was hard to get one for some shows so, eventually, I bought one off of craigslist. After Dustin and I stopped playing together, I had this massive upright bass in my room. When I started playing with Lucky Penny, with Lexi Lee, David Sinclair Robison and Merrady, all four of us were primarily guitar players. The project was a great opportunity to dust off my bass and start learning, so I took a few lessons and played the instrument in the band.”
She credits her family for supporting her passion for music.
“My dad used to be on the radio, and is a huge blues fan. He showed me people like Toots Theilesmans. Then, going through his old records, I found The Luis Russell Louisiana Orchestra. I love jazz and blues from the 1920’s. The jazz is so hot and upbeat, and some of it can get weird and fun. When you get into the classic blues from people like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, it’s also melodramatic, which is so fun.
“My mom always tells me that she’s proud of everything I’m doing, and wishes she had done things like this when she was younger. Then my dad always checks in on me whenever I’m traveling. And they both come to shows whenever they can.
“Although, when I first started learning guitar, I would sneak my mom’s old guitar out of her closet, and she’d get mad, and told me not to touch her things. But eventually she softened and gave it to me for my birthday.”
Alyssandra’s connection to music evolved from her work as a visual artist.
“As I would learn how to use different mediums, oil paint, pastels, watercolors, clay, poems, stories, I learned that once you learn how to push a medium around and do what you want with it, you can use it to communicate. Music’s just another medium to me, as soon as I started pushing chords and melodies around, I started writing songs, the weirder the better.
“On the Alyssandra and the Daymakers album, there’s a song called The Ballade of Mark and Marylou, which is about a man with no arms and a woman with no legs who ride a tandem bicycle. He pedals and she steers. It’s about having a symbiotic relationship, that neither one can afford to leave. But with Lucky Penny it’s a little more day-dreamy. Bound North is about driving up the west coast to escape feelings of love that are developing. Then you’ve got Watch Out, Nosferatu, on When My Love Knot Slips, which is the most catastrophic love song in history.
“I went on a few dates after some time had passed after mending a broken heart, and realized I had my guard up and didn’t even want to deal with dating. Dinners, pretending to be whoever you want to be, trying to guess what would work and wouldn’t work. It’s sickening. I went home and was about to write some mopey ballade about feeling pessimistic of finding that true love, and as soon as I picked up my guitar, I was sick of that, too. So I did the opposite.
“Instead of writing about blasé dinner dates and half-connections, I decided to write about a love so strong it could hold through anything. It had to have lots of adventure, and silly lyrics. So it’s about holding each other in a final embrace after the sun explodes, and getting eaten up by sharks together after a big tsunami, and then the most adventurous thing for a young and uncertain spirit: Commitment–growing old and being boring together.”
Many people know Alyssandra from her work at Viento y Agua, where she’s been hosting music performances for five years.
“Viento y Agua is like my second home. I started regularly attending their open mic back in 2005. Then I started playing shows there, for a while that was pretty much the only place I played. Then, in 2007, Angie [Evans] and Bela [Mogyorody] asked me if I would start hosting the open mic when Angie wanted to take some time to focus more on her music and managerial duties. Then I started covering the sound board for her whenever she went on tour. Then, about 6 months ago, Angie moved on and started her own business, and I took over as the events coordinator. So I book all their events, run the soundboard, do their Internet promoting, and still host the open mic. Every once in a while you might find me working behind the counter, but it’s been a while.”
I’ve performed at Viento y Agua, and seen many shows there over the years. It is a lovely, intimate venue, and feels very cozy.
“One of my biggest priorities is making performers and audience members feel comfortable. Since we’re not a bar, and we’re located in a residential neighborhood, things can’t get too rowdy, anyway. So we might as well get cozy.”
Alyssandra recently launched Toro, Toro, Tributadour at 4th Street Vine. Every Friday night a different artist will perform songs by someone famous. On January 4th, she and Lili de la Mora will be performing the songs of Harry Nilsson.
For tickets to this and other shows at Harvelle’s, visit Harvelles.com.
To keep track of Alyssandra’s creative activities, visit AlyssandraNighswonger.com.
Last but not least, visit TheDovelles.com to hear music, see videos, and read stuff.
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