Carrying a pencil and endless scraps of paper in his pockets, Alex Hallahan’s inner monologue of lyrics and prose is for the most part unyielding. His partner Jean-Louise once gave him a sturdy notebook and a stapler so that he can fasten those loose pages to safety… Alex is still attempting to master the technique.
Alex’s first guitar was given to him as a gift when he was twelve years old. After a brief stint taking lessons he figured out the rest by watching others play and surrounding himself with a great record collection. The first song he learned was Willin’ by Little Feat which his Uncle Mark taught him.
Alex’s youth saw him jump from skateboarder to dancer to cartoonist and everything in between until he finally found his home as a musician. He took the support of his creative parents through his adventures in visual arts, acting pursuits, writing short stories, screen plays and even an unfinished novel. Out of all those words, all those notes and all those years came a deluge of music and lyrics and somewhere in there Alex quite naturally developed a style all of his own.
What genre is his music? Who knows… we call it ‘non specific’ roots. Like the boundless child he was growing up constantly exploring new mediums to express himself, Alex moves though the musical styles of folk, alt-country, soul, blues, gospel and rock simply because that’s the way it all comes out.
He is influenced by soul, he is influenced by Motown, by blues, by country, by old pop and by jazz – pretty much whatever he comes in contact with. There are no boundaries for Alex, he is an artist and that’s it, always has been and always will be no matter what the discipline, that’s just his way. He has been a practicing artist, albeit in many different forms, since he was a child and he works hard at his craft, never settling for less than the absolute best of what he can offer.
You can see Alex this weekend at the Sheoak Shack in Fingal Head on Saturday, and The Rails in Byron Bay on Sunday
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srnT5lfsmh0&feature=relmfu
Alex Hallahan Sheoak Shack Fingal Head Saturday, The Rails Byron Sunday
