Nevada City native Alela Diane has already made quite a splash with her just-released album, To Be Still. The record was released on her new label, Rough Trade Records and she was written up in the illustrious Mojo as one to watch in 2009. Alela's music sounds fresh and true and it rings with evocative references to nature, life and love. Her voice commands attention with its bold and warbling tones and her songs intertwine tales of days new and old. To read my review of Alela's album, click here, and for images from her Amoeba instore back in 2007, click here. For our recent chat, read on.
Miss Ess: Was there a lightning bolt moment when you were young and you realized how important music was for you? What albums/artists were important to you during that time?
Alela Diane: I think I always knew I loved song and melody. I remember being small and hearing my dad’s guitar through the wall as I fell asleep. I’d crash out on random couches as my folks finished up band practice. I remember listening to Patsy Cline with my mom, singing along… always singing along. As I got older I
branched out into more ‘popular’ music of the time and went through my preteen obsession with Hanson: I was not completely sheltered from pop culture, as it turns out. I began to write songs & play the guitar at 19. And shortly thereafter, when I was working at a breakfast café in Nevada City, I realized I was a lot better at singing than I was at filling water and coffee-- so I stuck to it. 
