Do We Discover or Find New Music?

Alyssa Reid

Several people have asked me what it takes to write a music blog post every week. They want to know how I choose an artist, and then what part of their career to feature. It is not really too difficult because usually I look for the news item first, and then the artist naturally follows. The one constant is the research. I am always reading about musicians past and present, viewing video interviews and performances in order to gain insight about them. Things can sometimes be a little complex because I’m simultaneously planning for another electronic publication. My normal workweek involves (if you can call it normal) monitoring advertisements and analytics, gathering photographs, researching statistics, information and more. As I’m involved in research for one artist, many times I come across interesting information and discover another. Now you have a short explanation for what occurred this week, as I found this week’s featured artist – Alyssa Reid.

As I worked in preparation for one fairly recent post, I was drawn to a young artist who shares my family name, Reid. The young woman shared my daughter’s first name (although spelled slightly different), and her age at twenty-one. Intrigued, I wanted to find out a little more. Reid rose to fame in 2011, following the release of her single “Alone Again”. The song entered the Canadian Hot 100 at #79 for the week of January 1, 2011 and peaked at #11 the week of April 23, 2011. As of the week of September 24, 2011, the single has spent 39 weeks on the chart. It has gone on to be CRIA certified double platinum in Canada and sold over a million copies around the world.

Even though I discovered this young artist because of her name, many had already discovered her musical talent. Yes, without much research I found that Alyssa Reid was Canadian. For me that was hardly a deterrent to continue to find out more about Alyssa’s music, as I have written about a number of very successful Canadian musicians. That’s when I made the decision to carefully listen to some of her music. The Game is Alyssa Reid’s debut studio album recorded in 2010 and released on June 21, 2011 by Wax Records. The album was released in the US as a digital download on May 7, 2013. I was able to secure a digital copy and was pleasantly surprised by Reid’s powerful voice and musical style. After a little more research I found a newer single, “Satisfaction Guaranteed” taken from a new album titled Time Bomb, released February 11, 2014. The singles from Alyssa Reid’s second album are starting to rise in popularity and may push her second album to more notoriety than the first throughout the rest of the world. I love the fact that Alyssa Reid’s music is so accessible today. It’s easy for all of us to take notice of her and other artists from anywhere around the world. Many music fans worldwide have already discovered Alyssa Reid and now she is one of their favorites.

Alyssa Reid was born in Edmonton, Alberta on March 15, 1993 and raised in Brampton, Ontario. Reid wrote her first song at the age of 7 and started vocal lessons at the age of 9. The self -taught musician writes on the guitar and piano both of which she’s skillfully mastered over the past few years. “Music is my entire world” she admits, “it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do with my life”. If you have not noticed I used the word “discovered” throughout this post. Is the use of the word “discovered” accurate in this case?  Well, did Columbus really discover America or did he find a place previously inhabited by people? Get the point? As I listened to the music from this very talented young artist I realized that I did not discover her at all. For sure I heard her music. I recognized what was already in the homes of millions of others. How can any of us discover what already exists? The only one who really made a discovery is Alyssa Reid herself. She created the music and was the first one to hear it. Then millions of music buyers made the decision to invest, time and finances, in response to what we heard and enjoyed. We all do this depending upon our musical tastes.

Alyssa is another artist like so many today who write all of their own material. I remember stating in a previous post that this gives us insight into the writers’ musicianship and personality. She is comfortable singing her music because it’s personal, containing her thoughtful and expressive lyrics. At the young age of twenty-one, and two successful albums of music in the music marketplace, Alyssa should easily create more music. I cannot “discover” Alyssa Reid again, but I sure can look out for future singles and albums in years to come.

9 thoughts on “Do We Discover or Find New Music?

  1. I understand that. Pushing myself to the limits is my way of keeping me young however my body does not find this amusing.

  2. Really hard to comment on this without showing my age but yeah, she's great. It's getting harder and harder to find something that doesn't sound just like everyone else. Thanks for sharing.

  3. Nice! I will definitely check out her stuff. As a fellow music blogger, I'm always interested in finding new music….If it's music from a new artist, or even stuff from an older artist's catalog that I've never heard before. It's kind of a high for me…lol

  4. Love your posts in large part because I rarely watch music videos otherwise. So much to unravel in the subtle and not so subtle imagery 🙂 Gives good insight to what younger fans are getting their fill of. The pleated skirt is obviously essential to these types of videos 😉 All in good jest of course.

  5. Thanks for the introduction to Alyssa Reid – The fact that she is Canadian makes her all the more appealing to me, although by now you know I'm old enough to not really identify with her type of music. However, I hope she goes on to great success. We Canucks have to stick together.
    Lenie

  6. I understand the feeling as my body reminds me of my age, especially in the mornings. The music of young artists keep me young at heart at least.

  7. I have a younger niece and I know she would be all over this. The props used are a bit much in my opinion but just reinforces the fact that I am now over the hill and this is a difficult pill to swallow. She does have a great tone though which is often missing in music artists these days. Actually what I should say is that when you come across a young artist with a great tone they certainly stand out.

  8. Hi Edward. Thanks for an introduction to Alyssa Reid. My winter home is just a few miles from Brampton but had not heard her music until my son who is closer to her age played Alone Again in the car. I enjoyed Satisfaction Guaranteed though its not a genre I would listen to often

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