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Singer and guitarist Alela Diane Menig, formerly of Nevada City, and bassist Tom Beviton in their Portland home.
In a sea of folk singers, Alela Diane Menig stands out with a voice that beckons.
Not long ago, Menig was learning to play guitar and waiting tables at South Pine Café in Nevada City.
Now, though she’s just 25 years old, Menig has a Wikipedia entry and goes by her first and middle names as she spreads her “campfire gospel” one continent at a time.
She often sells out concerts in France and performs at popular festivals such as the Green Man in Wales.
Stateside, shows sell out in places including Chicago and New York, which are on her upcoming tour for her third album, “To Be Still,” coming out Feb. 17.
Her father Tom Menig is the lead guitarist in the Grateful Dead cover band, the DeadBeats. Her mother Suzanne Chonette is an accomplished singer.
But she didn’t pick up a guitar until she was 19.
“My mom taught me to sing without fear,” Menig said. “Seeing the way she lets everything pour out when she sings taught me to not hold back.”
In 2003, Menig entered her father’s home studio to record her first album, “Forest Parade.” A year later, Menig released her second album, “Pirate’s Gospel,” again
recorded and self-produced in her father’s studio.
She gave copies to friends in hand-sewn covers of paper and tattered lace. She also decided to pursue her music full time and move to Oregon.
“After spilling water on many of the customers at South Pine Café, I realized I was much better at singing than I was at waiting on folks,” she said.
In Portland, Menig was approached by local record label and venue Holocene Music to re-release “Pirate’s Gospel.” Take two was released in October of 2006 to critical acclaim.
The United Kingdom-based NME called it “an album with heart, soul and above all originality.” America’s Spin Magazine described Menig’s voice as “a large, lived-in growl.”
In 2007, she performed in the US and Europe at festivals and opening for acts including Tom Brosseau, the Decemberists, Akron/Family and folk icon Vashti Bunyan.
She keeps her hectic schedule in perspective.
“I am going to keep (touring) and enjoy it until I am able to post up on some acreage in the woods,” she said. She wants a home “where I can raise my children.”
New album coming out
After nearly a year of touring, Menig returned to Portland and began work on her next album. She knew the songs wanted more instrumentation than on her previous albums, which featured her vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar.
She also wanted to record the album in analog.
“I originally chose analog because old records sound so magical, but what I did not know was that there is a huge amount of preproduction that goes into making an analog record,” Menig said.
Unfazed, she took the bones of the Portland recording session, which by now also featured cello, bass and drum tracks, and returned last summer to the comfort of her father’s studio to add banjo, fiddle and finish the album.
“To Be Still,” her most accessible album, will be released on the esteemed British label Rough Trade, whose roster includes My Morning Jacket, Belle and Sebastian and Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley.
After playing her CD release show in Portland with Nevada City musicians Aaron Ross and Neal Morgan, Menig will tour the US with sub pop artists Blitzen Trapper and head back to Europe this spring and summer.
How she has grown as an artist and as a person since “Pirate’s Gospel”?
“My voice has opened up and grown,” Menig answered. “My fingers are a bit more capable on the guitar...
“And I think I might have even become a grown woman.”
Jesse Locks is a Nevada City freelancer who writes the Lemonade column in The Union’s weekly Prospector. Contact her at jesse@arthurmag.com.
Not long ago, Menig was learning to play guitar and waiting tables at South Pine Café in Nevada City.
Now, though she’s just 25 years old, Menig has a Wikipedia entry and goes by her first and middle names as she spreads her “campfire gospel” one continent at a time.
She often sells out concerts in France and performs at popular festivals such as the Green Man in Wales.
Stateside, shows sell out in places including Chicago and New York, which are on her upcoming tour for her third album, “To Be Still,” coming out Feb. 17.
Her father Tom Menig is the lead guitarist in the Grateful Dead cover band, the DeadBeats. Her mother Suzanne Chonette is an accomplished singer.
But she didn’t pick up a guitar until she was 19.
“My mom taught me to sing without fear,” Menig said. “Seeing the way she lets everything pour out when she sings taught me to not hold back.”
In 2003, Menig entered her father’s home studio to record her first album, “Forest Parade.” A year later, Menig released her second album, “Pirate’s Gospel,” again
recorded and self-produced in her father’s studio.
She gave copies to friends in hand-sewn covers of paper and tattered lace. She also decided to pursue her music full time and move to Oregon.
“After spilling water on many of the customers at South Pine Café, I realized I was much better at singing than I was at waiting on folks,” she said.
In Portland, Menig was approached by local record label and venue Holocene Music to re-release “Pirate’s Gospel.” Take two was released in October of 2006 to critical acclaim.
The United Kingdom-based NME called it “an album with heart, soul and above all originality.” America’s Spin Magazine described Menig’s voice as “a large, lived-in growl.”
In 2007, she performed in the US and Europe at festivals and opening for acts including Tom Brosseau, the Decemberists, Akron/Family and folk icon Vashti Bunyan.
She keeps her hectic schedule in perspective.
“I am going to keep (touring) and enjoy it until I am able to post up on some acreage in the woods,” she said. She wants a home “where I can raise my children.”
New album coming out
After nearly a year of touring, Menig returned to Portland and began work on her next album. She knew the songs wanted more instrumentation than on her previous albums, which featured her vocal harmonies and acoustic guitar.
She also wanted to record the album in analog.
“I originally chose analog because old records sound so magical, but what I did not know was that there is a huge amount of preproduction that goes into making an analog record,” Menig said.
Unfazed, she took the bones of the Portland recording session, which by now also featured cello, bass and drum tracks, and returned last summer to the comfort of her father’s studio to add banjo, fiddle and finish the album.
“To Be Still,” her most accessible album, will be released on the esteemed British label Rough Trade, whose roster includes My Morning Jacket, Belle and Sebastian and Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley.
After playing her CD release show in Portland with Nevada City musicians Aaron Ross and Neal Morgan, Menig will tour the US with sub pop artists Blitzen Trapper and head back to Europe this spring and summer.
How she has grown as an artist and as a person since “Pirate’s Gospel”?
“My voice has opened up and grown,” Menig answered. “My fingers are a bit more capable on the guitar...
“And I think I might have even become a grown woman.”
Jesse Locks is a Nevada City freelancer who writes the Lemonade column in The Union’s weekly Prospector. Contact her at jesse@arthurmag.com.
