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Alyssa Bonagura at Orchard Sessions
Issue: October - 2022
A lifetime in the making, Alyssa Bonagura’s Orchard Session at The Farm at Old Edwards, set for October 5, is an exclusive glimpse into a brilliant musician’s artistry.
On Wednesday, October 5, American country music talent Alyssa Bonagura returns to Orchard Sessions, the live music concert series at The Farm at Old Edwards. The daughter of singer/songwriter parents Michael Bonagura & Kathie Baillie, Bonagura was literally born into music. As she recounts, “I was three weeks old when my parents landed another Top 10 single. My mom said, ‘Alright, let’s take the kid on the road,’ and I grew up on their tour bus. My life was waking up in a different city every day and singing with them. I wanted to be just like them.” She began performing at the age of two and by the time she was 10 she’d already recorded a duet with Kenny Rogers. “He really gave me my first shot,” she says. “I grew up this traveling country music gypsy who was around Vince Gill, Kenny Rogers and Reba McEntire. There was never a doubt in my mind what I should be doing with my life”. At 11, her father encouraged her to begin writing songs, teaching her how to layer harmonies and ultimately outfitting their attic into a makeshift recording studio. By 16 Alyssa had a 50-date tour opening for Marty Stuart and was serving as a session singer on the side. She received her college diploma from Paul McCartney for her studies at the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts in the U.K. Four years later, her song, I Make My Own Sunshine, inspired by Liverpool’s rainy weather, was featured in a Lowe’s commercial. Alyssa honed a reputation as a “songwriting seamstress,” writing songs for Jessie James Decker, Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler, and others. She formed the west coast folk and classic rock ‘n roll duo The Sisterhood Band with another child of song, Ruby Stewart (daughter of Rod Stewart). In the past 10 years, she has fine-tuned a sound that reaches far beyond her Nashville roots. Her music blurs the boundaries between genres, mixing the southern storytelling of country, the free-thinking spirit of rock & roll, and the cinematic sweep of Brit-pop into its own hybrid. it’s a sound that’s every bit as diverse as her own story. After a tumultuous year that included a pandemic uprooting and the disbanding of The Sisterhood Band, Bonagura has embraced a season of change. Last year she released New Wings her first single from her upcoming fourth studio album which took her around the world with major appearances including the Opry and a sold-out UK headline tour. Online ticket sales open to the public two weeks prior to each session. For updates and to book online, visit OldEdwardsHospitality.com/OrchardSessions.
