Malissa Alanna: Country Strong

Barbados is known for its beautiful beaches, crystal clear water, and lush greenery. But it is also known for its charismatic people that make the island one for visitors to continuously return to. With so many beautiful, talented and interesting individuals on this small rock we call Bim, we at Kurama Magazine decided that we needed to highlight and showcase such persons to the public; to not only give them a chance to be known but to try and help give Barbados another reason to be a place to visit. Having said that, I know that there are many residents of the island who know so little (and yet so much!) about who actually occupies the same space as them.

This is why I decided to choose Malissa Alanna as the first personality for this new feature of the magazine. Being Caucasian, she is already a minority within the community. On top of that, she occupies a niche that literally no one else on the island resides. Malissa Alanna is a Country singer, the last genre of music one would expect from a Bajan artist. But that is only the beginning of what makes this 16-year-old unique.

Malissa Alanna (All photos by Mikey Rap)

Those of you who follow us have already heard the name from our articles on the COSCAP Foundation Gala and “Taste of Honey Jam”, which launched the start of Malissa Alanna’s career.

But where did this girl come from? As Malissa Alanna (and her father) recalls, she was just 7-years-old and singing along to Kelly Clarkson’s “Beautiful Disaster” in her room as her dad walked by. Dad opened the door and requested that Malissa Alanna sing again, but she was too shy to comply. Regardless, from that moment, her father knew that she had a special talent.

Malissa Alanna started writing songs at the age of 9, and the year after decided to “come out” to her parents about wanting to be a singer. After hearing her, they encouraged the dream wherever possible, even having her sing for guests as practice. Malissa Alanna took up vocal lessons at the age of 13 for a few months, but that was short-lived as school took first priority.

She returned to vocal lessons with Indrani (another amazing Bajan talent) as her coach, and after just 3 months Indrani thought she was ready. As great as that may seem, this meant that Malissa Alanna was in the same position as before, and with CXCs (a very important exam for Caribbean students) around the corner, it looked as if school would yet again be her sole priority.

That’s where Honey Jam provided the opportunity she needed. Indrani was asked by producer Ebonnie Rowe if she knew of any unusual female artists to join the showcase. Well, how much more unusual do you get than a blue-eyed, blonde girl from Barbados who sings Country?

So Ebonnie sent Malissa Alanna a Facebook message requesting that she perform at the show held in February this year. It was decided over a meeting of the “Fam Jam” (the nickname given to her parents as her management team) that this was definitely to be the debut of Malissa’s career. After preparing a cover for the show, Malissa Alanna then finally admitted that she actually had written her own material, which ended up being the track of choice to be performed. Naturally, Malissa Alanna was nervous (as it’s not easy to please a Bajan crowd!). However, she blew our socks off and the rest is history.

Shortly after, Malissa Alanna recorded some covers at Commercial Music Inc (CMI Studios) in Barbados and also performed at a fund-raiser in the nightclub Harbour Lights. However, after the COSCAP Foundation Gala, it was time to crack down on school work. And no rest for the wicked, for while she was studying, the Fam Jam were also working hard; with mum’s research and dad’s persuasion, Malissa Alanna finally got accepted to come to the Sound Kitchen recording studio in Nashville. With that, the Fam Jam left Bim for three weeks on July 21st.

Sound Kitchen isn’t just any recording studio. The likes of Dolly Parton, Carrie Underwood, Earth Wind and Fire, Rascal Flats, Miley Cyrus, Paramore, Faith Hill and Jewel have all recorded there. In fact, Malissa Alanna got to meet Dolly, one of her greatest writing influences! She describes Dolly as extremely down-to-earth (as was everyone else she met and worked with) and even took 5 minutes of her busy time to give Malissa Alanna words of encouragement and sign her guitar.

Malissa Alanna was taken through the whole production process, working with Grammy Award winning Ronnie Brookshire as her producer. Not only did she manage to record 5 songs, but she came home with 5 new ones written after working with Alan Laney, who has written for stars like Celine Dion and Shania Twain.

Upon returning to Barbados, Malissa Alanna continued to get down to business, co-writing with upcoming local artist Simon Pipe, and picking up the guitar.

Malissa Alanna also made a guest performance at the Miss Barbados Pageant and a surprise appearance a few weekends ago at the Jamming for Tomorrow event, where she wasn’t a part of the original line up, but after being asked, got up on stage and performed two original songs with her instrumental recordings from Nashville, and wasn’t allowed to leave the stage until she sang another.

Next week you’ll find out what’s in store for Malissa Alanna, some personal information on the young girl’s life, and have a look at the full photoshoot!