Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Pritchard.
Hi Alexandra, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Well, I grew up in a small town in Appalachian Ohio with my parents and my two older brothers. My oldest brother Grant has a rare developmental disability and my parents put him in piano and voice lessons when he was 9 and I was 3. It was his outlet to learn and grow both developmentally and artistically. He loved and still absolutely loves music. I would go in at the end of his lessons and sing little duets with him… sooner or later that turned into lessons of my own. I started somewhere between 3 and 4 years old and just never really stopped. I taught myself guitar around 13 and started writing music in high school. There wasn’t a ton of opportunity for music in my small town, but I did every single thing that I could. I eventually went to Ohio University to study music production where I really dove into my songwriting. I was performing around campus, directing groups, leading studio sessions – really doing anything I could do… I just jumped feet-first into the music scene on campus. When I graduated, I moved to Dallas and started teaching at Dallas Academy of Music & Performing Arts as a way to keep my bills paid and ensure I was playing music every day, all while trying to write music and understand the scene in Dallas. I also got a job as a music curator at a blog called Glasse Factory and that kept me listening to new music all of the time. The combination of being in a new city totally starting from scratch, working with young artists, and diving into curation was unconsciously shaping my writing process. Slowly but surely, I’ve connected myself with an incredible community in Dallas that has flourished into me finally releasing this music I’ve spent years working on and playing these amazing shows every weekend. I’m now totally immersed in the creative process for this new music I’m set to put out this year with a beautiful support system by my side.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Oh goodness, no. I don’t necessarily think I would’ve wanted it to be a smooth road. In the moment, of course, I did, but not now looking back in retrospect. When I first moved to Texas, I was living in Waxahachie, actually, and I was barely writing or playing gigs. I was disconnected from the creative process totally and my mental health was really struggling. I was grabbing at straws, trying to hold onto this part of myself that I felt almost obligated to hold onto, because it was all I had ever attached my identity to. It was my life’s work, being a musician. But I felt so far away from that part of myself. When I moved out of Waxahachie and into the city, I had no friends besides my coworkers and my neighbors and no sense of hope that things were going to get any better… and then the pandemic hit. And I was even more isolated. While this period of isolation was incredibly difficult, it forced me into realizing so many truths about myself. After hopelessness came a small light of motivation. I started, very slowly, looking at my truth and chipping away at the process of honoring it. Through this healing, I fell in love with creating again. I was making music again because I loved it, not because I felt an obligation to it. In creating, I was forced to face a lot of pain and I am still struggling with the vulnerability of being so honest about it in front of the world. I am a very private person. But I have endured far too much to not be proud of it. Making a living in a creative field is not for the faint of heart. It is not black in white. Artists live in the gray. Every day, I face the challenges of that reality. But, man, do I love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think what I am enormously proud of is how I am sharing what I have learned with young artists in Dallas. I never planned on teaching… like at ALL. But I have found that in sharing this knowledge, my legacy exists far beyond myself or my music. There are little pieces of myself in the community that will hopefully expand even further outside of myself as these young artists develop and grow in their own lives. I used to have this resistance to teaching. That bogus saying “those that can’t do, teach” would sit as a little seed in my gut, contributing to my feelings of inferiority. But I quickly realized that I am doing this in real-time alongside them, picking up artifacts as I go and bringing them back to share. When I leave to go on another journey, whether that be traveling to go record or taking time off to play shows, they know that I will come back with new things to show them. It motivates me in a way I didn’t know I needed.
I am also very proud of my ability as a vocalist. Granted, I am proud of my songwriting and my ability to produce music or play instruments, but learning how to sing, that technical ability is my life’s work. I worked so hard to be good at this thing. I’ve put in my 10,000 hours there. When people come to my shows, I hope they appreciate my songwriting and they are thoroughly entertained, but I hope they think “dang, that girl can sing.”
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I think one of the most important things I have learned in my journey is that most skills are teachable, but you have to be someone that other people genuinely want to be around. If you are in a space to contribute a specific skill, there’s an expiration date to that. In that context, usually, there will be a time when whatever you’re contributing isn’t needed anymore. But if your energy is one of a kind and your personality is irreplaceable to people, you are invaluable. People will want you around. I have found a beautiful community through not what I view as “networking”, but really just me being a decent human being that other people want to be around. And vice versa. My entire circle is full of incredibly gifted and talented people and we utilize each other often, but we elevate each other into new spaces because we love each other. We believe in each other. My advice might seem quite rudimentary, but it’s worked for me. Just be kind. Treat other people well. Go to the places you eventually want to be a regular at and ask people questions about their lives. Listen intently and offer your time authentically. We attract what we put out… so if you want goodness, be good.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://alexandramakingmusic.start.page
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexandramusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexandramakingmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexandramusic
Image Credits
Kelsey Reid
Allen Bryant
Callie Dixon
Lobo Rivera
