This week on Midday Music, WYSO music director Juliet Fromholt spoke to Nashville country musician Alex Hall, who will perform a free concert at the Little Art in Yellow Springs on September 8, 2023. This week marks a major milestone for Hall: he releases his debut full-length album, Side Effects of the Heart, on September 15. In the interview, he spoke with Juliet about collaborating with country giants like Brad Paisley during the COVID-19 pandemic, and about the personal themes of his new record.
Alex Hall’s passion for music was ignited early in life, when he heard his grandparents listening to an Elvis Presley record. “I became fascinated with him, his style and his music and everything, and all I knew is that’s what I wanted to grow up to be: Elvis Presley,” he told Juliet. His parents bought him a guitar soon after, but he was discouraged by his teacher and largely gave up music until age 13, when he became seriously interested in songwriting. While building his career as a solo musician has not always been easy, he said that coming from a family of self-employed people gave him confidence in the field:
“I come from a long line of small business owners and work-for-yourself mentality people, so being a musician isn’t that different from what my parents did or their parents did. It’s just that I’ve got a guitar in my hand instead of a hammer, or whatever else it might be.”
In 2020, Hall had the opportunity to work with several of his country music idols on his EP Six Strings. Each song on the album features a special guest, including Vince Gill, Brad Paisley, John Osborne, Tenille Townes, Brad Tursi, and Kassi Ashton. Since then, he finished recording his debut solo record, Side Effects of the Heart, which comes out this week on Monument Records. He described the album to Juliet as the culmination of of his lived experiences:
“Side Effects of the Heart is a record about all of the lives I have lived in the past 29 years, whether that’s things that I have experienced in my own life, or stories I’ve picked up from other people along the way. To me, this record is about falling in love, and having heartbreak, and losing people and chasing a dream, and, for me, about becoming a dad… It’s a rollercoaster of all the ups and downs that life is.”
Side Effects of the Heart will be released for streaming on September 15. This year, Alex Hall is touring with Tanya Tucker, who is slated to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. For more information about Alex Hall’s music, including upcoming tour dates, visit musicbyalexhall.com.
