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.