Vancouver Island musical sensation Alexandria Maillot was something of a child prodigy.
The precocious young talent started writing songs when she was nine. At the age of 12 she wrote her first EP called Just Another Girl.
Her beautiful voice and a maturity that contradicted her young age earned her accolades and opportunities. She performed for audiences as far away as Egypt and Romania and was showcased on Oprah Winfrey’s website in a feature on talented children.
She’s also performed at the Merritt Mountain and Vancouver Island Music Festivals and was invited by David Foster to perform in Toronto with Jann Arden.
In a telephone interview with The Free Press, Maillot said she began writing music at such a young age that she hadn’t developed the self-awareness to realize what she was creating.
“I didn’t know it was songwriting, I just wanted to write words on paper,” she said. “My mom helped me write my first song and I fell in love with it at a really young age.”
Growing up in Northern B.C. meant a lot of long car rides to visit family in Vancouver, which meant a lot of time listening to Disney albums and show tunes.
Maybe it was listening to all those different genres; musical theatre, old country and jazz, that allowed Maillot to develop a unique mix of a style, which she describes as alternative pseudo-pop.
“I feel like it’s still evolving,” she said.
Her music also arises from her own personal experiences as she does some of her best songwriting during times of emotional turmoil.
“A lot of the times I’m inspired when I’m dealing with something kind of heavy,” she said. “It might all stem from personal experiences, when I’m dealing with challenging times or when I’m having an identity crisis, which is pretty often.”
Last year the talented 24-year old added another notch to her belt with the release of her first album called Time. The project took over three years to complete.
“After so many years of pursuing music and wanting to find a place somewhere in the music community, It’s nice to finally have an offering and a sonic identity,” she said.
Maillot and fellow musician Kirsten Ludwig have embarked on a cross Canada tour called Two Coins, which is described as “a sonic and visual concept that originated from the idea that artists collaborating with other artists create bodies of work that are far bigger than one’s singular perspective.”
They will be stopping by the Infinitea T-Bar & Boutique on May 3.