Alice Wallace, with Xander Hitzig

Country songbird Alice Wallace returns to the Seattle Folklore Society concert series September 30, accompanied by the talents of fiddle player Xander Hitzig.

When Alice Wallace picked up and moved to Nashville from her longtime home in Southern California in December 2019, she could never have predicted that three months later the world would come to a grinding halt. In fact, she and Xander were scheduled to play here in Seattle in April of 2020, and that obviously did not happen once the pandemic set in.
But Alice made the best of the lockdown, performing weekly livestreams for her fans, and writing lots of songs that would spawn a duo project with her friend Caitlin Cannon called Side Pony. As Side Pony, Alice and Caitlin released their debut album “Lucky Break” in October of 2021 to rave reviews and spent the better part of a year and a half zigzagging across the country playing venues as well as stages at Stagecoach, the Four Corners Folk Festival, the Hudson West Folk Festival and so many more.
After Alice’s scheduled return to the Pacific NW in a tour planned for Spring of 2020 could not happen, we were lucky enough to be able to feature a special online concert for SFS streamed from Nashville in 2021. We are so pleased that she is now able to return to our stage!

Now that the world is regaining a sense of normalcy, Alice has been busy recording a new solo record to feature the many songs she’s written since moving to Nashville – songs about coming to love her new home in Tennessee, songs about navigating her life as a touring artist and the relationships that come and go as a result, and songs that truly tap into what Alice does best when she stands on a stage behind a microphone.

“Wallace’s voice is a powerful natural occurrence…an awe-striking wonder of the West,” said Saving Country Music.

On her 2019 album, “Into the Blue”, released on Los Angeles-based Rebelle Road Records, Alice received praise across the country from publications ranging from American Songwriter to Paste Magazine. With Into the Blue, the singer-songwriter taps into the influence of her native California – conjuring the atmospheric sound of the Golden State’s canyons and deserts, mountains and crashing waves, its crowning beauty and its tragic losses. Rolling Stone Country named the title track, “The Blue”, one of the Top 10 Country and Americana Songs to Hear Now when it was released as a single, and several publications put the album on their list of highlights for 2019, including Saving Country Music and Americana Highways.

“Sometimes you hear an album and the only way you can think to describe it is stunning,” wrote Gary Schwind at Americana Highways.

Back in 2017, Alice was named the Female Vocalist of the Year at the California Country Awards, and her vocal power is one of the first things noted in every review she ever receives. She draws influence from iconic voices ranging from Linda Ronstadt to Patsy Cline, not to mention keeping the country yodel alive with songs from classic artists like Patsy Montana and Don Walser. Alice is currently recording her fifth solo studio album with producer/drummer Nick Buda (Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, Martina McBride) for release in early 2024, and this tour will be a part of the promo for the new release.

Joining Alice will be fiddle player Xander Hitzig. Hailing from the mountains of West Virginia but now residing on Maui, Xander is almost solely self taught, but you’d never know it to hear his incredible proficiency on fiddle, guitar, and tenor banjo. Using the music of his inspirations as his guide, Xander has been recording and touring back and forth across the U.S. for more than a decade with multiple bands and as a solo artist. His latest project with his girlfriend Nicole Olney, Desert Hollow, was described as “A refreshing blend of old-timey country folk, blood harmonies, knee-slapping hoedowns” by Pop Matters.

Don’t miss this!