Lincoln’s singer/songwriter Alexa Redd greets the world today with her CD “Right Time”

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[May 03, 2018]   Sixteen year-old Alexa Redd from right here in Lincoln, Illinois, is released her new music worldwide on Monday, April 30th. It is available on digital download right now at iTunes, Spotify, and over 150 places on the internet that teens know where to find music. Check it out.

In addition, there are big things ahead this Friday in Lincoln as fans can get a hard copy of her debut CD entitled “Right Time” at a special CD Release Party from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the VFW located at 915 Fifth Street.

For $10 fans can pay the entry fee to the release party that includes a free copy of the CD. Or fans can pay a $5 general admission fee. Or, if you are a student at LCHS just flash that student ID and you get in for FREE.

Alexa will be performing many of the songs from her new album and it’s going to be a treat to see this girl put on a show in front of her hometown fans.

Redd's debut CD features an intro and nine songs. The CD will continue to be sold after the May 4th release party. This is just the beginning of great things to come. Stay tuned.

In the meantime take a moment and process all this. Alexa Redd. In concert. In Lincoln. Her voice will give you goosebumps. This girl is amazing. Upon meeting her, it takes just seconds to realize she radiates positivity. She is so focused and mature at 16 years old. Her talent will blow you away.

As a sophomore at Lincoln Community High School, who has been leading a bit of a double life lately, she is one busy girl. She goes to high school by day and by night her evenings are filled with the same homework all typical teenagers tackle. But many of those nights she hops in a car to Bloomington’s Eclipse Studios to work on her music. She has a God-given music and writing talent and she’s been chasing after her dream for a solid year-and-a-half.

That pursuit of her passion has driven her to this day. It is the right time to tell the world about Alexa Redd. And Lincoln, you should be very proud of this young woman.

She already has a music video for the debut single off the debut CD of the same name. The video “Right Time” is available now on YouTube.

If you haven’t already seen the video, please join the nearly 35,000 people who have. The song and the video will give you chills. In just a couple weeks the YouTube views on the song have soared. It happened so quickly and maybe seemingly so easy, or did it?

Sitting down recently at Guest House Coffee and Pastries on the square in Lincoln, Alexa with her mom, Sandy Mapes, and her manager, David Daringer, listening in and occasionally chiming in, spoke candidly about her music and shared her story.

“Since it’s only been a year-and-a-half it feels like it’s been so much longer than that because for as long as I can remember I’ve been wanting to work with music,” the young artist began. “Like I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do but I knew it had to be in music. Like I couldn’t imagine myself going anywhere else. My family on my mom’s side wasn’t really that into music, but my dad was. And my ex-step dad was always into music and he had a studio in the back room and I just watched him do it and I was so impressed.”

A simple life-changing moment happened by chance when Alexa was 12 years old. “My mom got me a piano from the dumpster and didn’t really think anything of it. She was like “Okay, you know, whatever,” said Alexa. “And I started playing it the next day. I just learned a few songs,” she says nonchalantly. “Then my mom was like, “Oh…okay,” Alexa laughs.

The girl not only took to the piano quickly, but also the guitar. “And then she got me a guitar and I taught myself that, too. Then for my eighth grade graduation she got me a ukulele and I taught myself that. So I just always was practicing. I really didn’t do anything music-wise. I didn’t really put myself out there. I had maybe a Facebook page and I posted videos and on one of my videos, Deezy saw it,” said Alexa.


David "Deezy" Daringer and Alexa Redd

Sitting nearby is a grinning and nodding David Daringer, also known as Deezy. He hails from Lincoln and he is Alexa’s manager. He is an artist and producer himself who goes by the name Deezy Da Paperboy professionally. Deezy, for short, is a four-time award winner, he’s won several music competitions in his own right, he’s won many cash competitions, he’s been flown coast-to-coast LA to Miami for his music and he’s had interactions with Warner Brothers and Def Jam. He’s also toured all over the country as a supporting act. He brings a lot to the table and with his love and enthusiasm for music, Deezy entered Alexa’s life at the right time if you will.

Alexa smiles at Deezy and says of those early days posting videos, “I’ve improved a lot since then, but I guess he saw something in me, so he invited me to go and do this show where I would open for this act called “Crime Mob.” I did it and I mean he’s been helping and he’s been by my side ever since.”

Deezy can’t stop smiling and he’s more than ready to talk about that first impression of Alexa. “You know I thought it was a lot of unguided talent,” he said of seeing her for the first time. “Like, I could hear the pieces and the potential in it, she just needed a little molding and someone to work with her and really kind of open her eyes about what she was doing. And I figured I could hopefully do that.” Deezy himself does a lot of hip hop and R & B and he says he writes all the time, from poems to music, he’s admits he’s always writing.

For Alexa, who wrote “Right Time,” this opportunity with Deezy is a perfect fit.

Explaining how the song came to be, Alexa said, “This was just whenever Deezy and I started getting serious about making music and producing my own stuff. It was at a time in my life where I was really confused, you know, stressed out with school, just being a teenager I guess. After I started writing a lot more, everything just became so much more clear. I feel like I didn’t know what I wanted to write this song about, and a lot of people always think, “Oh is this topic about so and so, is it about Deezy, or like the music?”

Alexa answers her own question and says, “It was just about everything, and I guess that’s why so many people can relate to it, I feel like, is because it’s not about one thing.”

Upon seeing the video, it’s easy to get how the song and video are very relatable to anyone and everyone. “Right Time” is just that good. It sends a very powerful message of how kindness can come back around tenfold.

Alexa has included family members in the video. Mom Sandy is in the opening shot and again later in the video, her brother Steven has a role, her cousin Andrew Cook makes an appearance, and family friend Andrew Newman plays a homeless guy. The video also includes a shot of Alexa staring at a pamphlet from her father’s funeral. Her dad, Caymon Redd, died on March 19, 2011, when Alexa was just nine years old.

“I felt like I had to pay tribute to him because he was one of the people that had the most influence in my life with music growing up,” she said of her father. “So I had to have him in my first video of course.”

The video was shot in Lincoln and Bloomington. She is seen walking the streets of downtown Bloomington near the McClean County Courthouse and also around Lake Bloomington.

While Alexa penned the song, she did need help with putting it to music. That’s where Deezy and his connections also came in handy. “We messed around and tampered with the beat that was already there, to just increase it,” said Alexa.

“We actually connected with a producer online for the production and then we just wrote everything and mixed and matched everything ourselves,” jumps in Deezy.

The collaboration between Alexa and Deezy is indeed a winning combination.

Touching on the personal aspect of how a songwriter shares his or her own story, it takes a lot of courage for one to open up and share their vulnerabilities with an audience in the form of a song. For Alexa, she admitted, “I’ve always had trouble opening up to people about how I am feeling and my stories and what I’ve been through. It’s a work in progress. But music? It was never a question. I’d always write about how I felt. That was, I guess, the way that I expressed how I was feeling. So with music it’s helped me open up a lot better. Am I there yet? No. But I am getting there.”

This young lady is leaps and bounds ahead already in figuring out this game of life.

Alexa kind of reminds one of another young artist. A likeness to the young singer/songwriter named Alessia Cara is there. Both standout because of their young age, down to earth beauty and above all, their brilliant way of putting words down on paper. As for the comparison, Alexa said, “I get that a lot. Yea, I do. I love her.”

As for her own musical influences, Alexa says, “I listen to many genres of music. So I guess if you gave me a genre I could give you my influences. Whenever it comes to influences I don’t look at how they sound or the way their music is. I like the way that they write. So certain songs influence me, not certain artists. But I mean if I were to throw some names out there, I like Twenty-One Pilots, Billie Eilish, and there’s this person named Sabrina Claudio. I also like Chance the Rapper and Tyler, the Creator. Just people with lyrics that are out there.

I guess “Right Time” is a lot more of a radio-oriented song, but some of my songs on my album their lyrics are kind of, you know, not what you’d expect from “Right Time.” They are kind of set different, but it still works together.”

So after Friday night at the VFW in Lincoln, are there any other dates lined up?

“It’s so hard to work around school,” Alexa answered quickly.

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“We will be doing a small promotional tour during the summer,” chimed in Deezy. “We don’t have the dates locked in yet, but we know we are going to do it from June to July. We need to let her finish school up. We are still in contact with the booking coordinators. We definitely will be doing some shows this summer.”

Deezy added that Alexa is still doing outstanding in her schoolwork. “I just want to point out that with all the work we’ve been doing, she’s still been tiptop with her grades and stuff. Her academic performance has not slacked at all considering all the music we’ve been doing.”

As for Alexa’s mom, well she’s kind'a been hiding this one. Alexa has three older brothers, all of whom were involved in sports. Not Alexa. As the youngest and the only girl in the bunch, she just wasn’t feeling the sports. Thank goodness her mom picked up that old piano from the dumpster.

“I am glad that she’s following her passion and….she’s good,” said Sandy. “And she amazes me. Whenever I see it I am just speechless. Wow.”

“My brothers were always into sports and for the longest time my mom couldn’t realize like why didn’t I do sports,” said Alexa, smiling. “She even said, “Listen let’s compromise and you can do volleyball or track.” And I tried basketball, and I mean I guess I did okay eighth grade year for never playing it before and I was a starter, but it just didn’t make me happy. I just wanted to do music. So I guess she’s always understood, but it was just then, I was like, “Mom…stop.”"

Sandy sits there grinning as the two lock eyes. “I tried,” laughed Sandy, in reference to trying to make Alexa be like her brothers.

Jordan, Steven and Austin are Alexa’s older and athletic brothers. Then along came Alexa who dared to be different.

“Music is a sport for me I guess,” says the youngest of Sandy’s children. “It’s time consuming. You don’t just take 5-10 minutes and write down what you’re feeling and then just do it. It takes so much time and effort. I am really happy to have Deezy to show me how to take what I have, he adds to it and then puts it to good use.”

Deezy isn’t the only one who has helped Alexa in this journey toward a musical career. She and Deezy both speak very highly of Eric Nelson, the production engineer on “Right Time” and the owner of Eclipse Studios in Bloomington. “He is so amazing. I can’t work with anyone else,” said Alexa.

Early on when Deezy had to be out of town for a while and Alexa was just getting started in studio, Nelson was there to help. Alexa said she literally had no idea what to do in the studio and it was Nelson who put in the extra time and effort for months and even helped her finish the album. “It’s hard in the music industry to find people who genuinely have your best interests at heart and he genuinely did. You could tell. He’s such a great engineer. He really is.”

Alexa just lights up talking about Nelson and even Deezy puts his two cents in. “He’s really nice, he’s really kind, he’s just so knowledgeable about what’s going on.”

Nelson’s prior history includes working with big name artists like JoJo, Boyz II Men and Mudvayne.

“He’s very diversified,” said Deezy, as Alexa tosses out the Disney name as being part of Nelson’s resume. “When it comes to genres in music he knows how to engineer and produce. He’s just so open and very nice. He was always giving her tips and really keeping us in tiptop shape. He did the same thing for me when I started recording there. I knew it was going to be the best spot for her,” he added.

Deezy spotted Alexa’s talent early on and hooking her up with Eclipse Studios has been a fabulous situation for her, but she’s also found ways to help her manager.

“I feel like as he’s helping me I’m also helping him (Deezy),” she says.

Deezy quickly nods his head in agreement and says, “Yea.”

“He’s a rapper, but his new album “Rhythm and Poetry” it’s.…pretty good stuff,” Alexa brings to light. “The lyrics are so diverse. He’s such an excellent writer,” she says of Deezy. “I feel I’ve really made him get out of his box with his lyrics. I’ve changed his perspective on things I guess. I mean we are both helping each other. It’s beneficial.”

Deezy has a mutual respect for the young artist. “She helps me re-phrase what I want to say, kinda more poetic, as opposed to so blunt and just out there, as I’m used to as a rapper,” he says. “She kinda helps me dial it down and add the mystery to it. Like I said, to be more poetic within my lyrics. I really get more conscious about what I am saying now when I am writing. Considering the work we’ve done and the people that we can influence, I really want to be more aware of what I am putting out there and the type of message I put off."

For now Deezy is looking forward to helping Alexa spread her message on Friday night at the CD release party with family, friends and fans in the crowd. And you better believe it, Alexa is ready to start spreading the word and performing it in front of a live audience, too.

“We’ve started, continued and finished performance practices. We’re on top of it. Trust us,” laughed Alexa.

Deezy agreed Alexa is ready and he’s excited for the fans, too. ”I think May 4th is going to be a really great experience for the fans to see Alexa Redd in action and not just hear her, but really see her and visually feel the passion that she shares with her music.”

Alexa gets more excited as the conversation goes on. “We’ve put so much effort into everything from the setlist to the lighting to the snacks.” Everyone laughs. The snacks thing is an inside joke, but not really, there will be snacks. And Alexa takes the topic of snacks very serious. This girl wants all her bases covered and as an avid fan of French fries, she admits, “You could wake me up and be like, “Alexa, do you want fries? And I’d be like “Yes, of course, that’s it.”

Deezy teases, “We will have a buffet of local fries.”

“My kinda party,” says Alexa.

What else can fans expect Friday night at the show? “I feel like they can expect just a genuine good time. There’s going to be a lot of smiling faces, a lot of friends, a lot of family” says Deezy. “We’re going to have a lot of entertainment. Snacks. Just come, mingle and hang out.” A live DJ will also be on hand.

The CD release party is open to all ages. Again $10 gets you in the door and a free hard copy of the CD “Right Time.” For $5 you can come in and just enjoy the music and get an autograph, a picture or a poster. And oh, FREE snacks. The snacks are indeed free. LCHS students get in free with a student ID. It’s a win-win all the way around. The bar will be open for the older crowd and kids can enjoy free juice and soda.

Because Alexa has been so busy lately this will be a great opportunity for people to stop in and say hello and wish her well and hear her new music. In fact, two other songs Alexa is excited to debut in front of a live audience Friday night are “Losing Game” and “Colors.” Her favorite song on the new album she says is “Losing Game.”

Alexa Redd, the little girl who now has four pianos, three guitars, a ukulele and a photographic memory when it comes to music, also used to play the trumpet until a music teacher discouraged her. “I used to play the trumpet….don’t have one anymore because my music teacher told me in about the fourth grade, during one music lesson, she told me, “If I were you, I’d just quit.”

Alexa admitted, “It broke my heart. I went to my mom and said I don’t want to play trumpet anymore.”

Alexa is self-taught on all of her musical instruments. Although she said Eric (Nelson) is trying to teach her to play the bass. “I am going to make him teach me the bass,” she laughed. She primarily plays music by ear. “I can’t read sheet music,” said Alexa.

But she loves to read books and has one in her car she has yet to finish. She admits to obsessing over the movie and music of “The Greatest Showman.”

She also laughs and says, “If you take anything from this interview, I am very opinionated and very stubborn.” One could just interpret that as focused and determined. No need to change for anyone else. Being true to herself and her passion has gotten her this far. Kudos again to her mom for encouraging Alexa to pursue her passion.

One more little fact about Alexa and her mom. Her mom was originally going to name her “Alexis” but since there were so many girls with that name born around that same time, she settled on Alexa. It honestly has a nice ring to it with Redd. And it will look good on the cover of a CD or as her fans scroll through iTunes or Spotify.

But currently Alexa is a very popular name. Almost to the point of being annoying if you think of a certain commercial. Our girl from Lincoln is well aware. ”And then there’s that Amazon Echo, don’t even get me started,” she jokes. “Don’t get me started. It’s so bad.” The teen flashes a gorgeous smile over her flawless skin and laughs.

That other Alexa is Amazon’s digital assistant built into devices such as the Amazon Echo. Say the word “Alexa” to Echo followed by a simple voice command, and the device could play music, allow you to shop on Amazon, search the Internet, set reminders for yourself and the list goes on and on.

So for the little girl who knew at a very young age that she wanted to pursue music, yet likes to remain quiet until a project is complete before she releases it and lets the world know what she’s been doing, it is without a doubt the right time to say, “Hey, Alexa, let’s hear that CD “Right Time” by Alexa Redd.”

[Teena Lowrey]

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