(Editor’s note: Meet one of the six finalists of the Press Play Songwriter Contest. All six will perform Sept. 16 on the global stage of Arts in the Heart of Augusta)
Priscilla Alexander, an assistant principal at Langford Middle School, was announced as one of the finalists for our Press Play songwriter contest.
Alexander said she would not describe her music as a specific genre as she has a very wide vocal range and tries to use it in various ways.
“I wouldn’t say my music pulls from a specific genre. To me. I write anything that comes to my heart. Whatever I feel like is in there, it comes out,” she said.
Alexander’s song “Do We Learn” tells about the struggles people endured throughout the pandemic and poses the question of what we learn from it.
“It’s about things that I saw other people going through, just a mix of stories and stuff that I saw going on all around. I think it’s relatable and people went through that. COVID was really scary when it started, and it still is; people are still dying from it,” she said. “People are losing their parents to it; people are losing their kids; people are losing family members, jobs at one point; so it’s just about a person going through a lot.”
While writing the song, Alexander pondered how the pandemic affected people both emotionally and physically.
She said, “when something like this happens in society, it makes a statement. This was terrible so what are we supposed to learn from this? What are we supposed to learn?”
As a result of COVID-19, Alexander saw how it affected families and people through terrible grief and wanted to write a song which focused on how society can grow from these different experiences.
“These are the times that I feel like we come together and we free ourselves and we are able to love more, we cherish what we do have, and forgive things in the past so that we can move forward and do better in life,” she said. “We need to open our hearts more in life, so the song is about ‘you got a tough time? Now what do we learn from this tough time?’ and that tough time taught us to really cherish everything we have.”
Producing the song alone, Alexander said she has written several songs and she has been singing ever since she was little.
“I’ve been singing all my life, so it’s a very natural thing for me. I’ve always been able to write and sing, ever since I was a little girl,” she said. “It’s just something I’m drawn to. My inspiration is something inside me I can’t really describe.”
Her musical inspirations include Whitney Houston, hip-hop and African music.
“Believe it or not, I like a lot of hip-hop. I like the rhythm of it; I like anything that’s very similar to African beats, so the rhythm of hip-hop I really, really like and it tends to pull out the deeper part of me in songs,” she said. “The rhythm of hip-hop really inspires and drives me.”
Even though Alexander has been singing all her life, after finding out she was a finalist in the songwriter contest, she said, “I was really excited. I have not sung in front of people in probably about 12 years, that I’ve actually sung in front of people and did an actual performance. So I was super excited that I made it to the next round.”
Alexander will be performing with her friend’s band, Art of Xpression, and admitted, while she is a little nervous, she is thrilled. She also said her family and friends have always been a huge supporter of her love and creation of music.
“I just got so excited, I read the email and I was like ‘oh I did it, I got in. I’m gonna sing,’” she said.
After singing her original song, Alexander plans on singing some covers for her performance in the Arts in the Hearts, and in the future hopes to write even more music by following her musical passions. She also hopes that students from her school will be inspired by her performance and grow their love and appreciation for music.
“If they have a love for music, I hope it encourages them to continue to grow. Even if they don’t love music, I hope they have an appreciation for it and how it makes them feel, and how it can help them to keep their energy light,” she said. “I hope that matriculates through their lives and helps them become the best possible version of themselves that they can be, that’s what I hope they get from the whole Arts in the Hearts of Augusta.”
To find more of Alexander’s songs visit: https://soundcloud.com/alexanderpriscilla
Alexander will be one of six finalists performing on opening night at the Arts in the Hearts in Augusta on Sept. 16 for a chance to win $500.
