Earlier this week we were able to sit down with West Virginian singer-songwriter Alexis Cunningham for a video interview. From a young age she would secretly write songs in her journals, and this would inspire her to ask for a guitar so she could perform these on her own. Alexis started her career on Youtube by writing and performing songs on accoustic guitar, which would later land her with her first ever label at the age of 19. From there she went on to produce an EP with Robin DiMaggio, a folk album with Eric Bazilian, and toured in Sweden back in 2015. Ironically during her time in Sweden she learned about Eurovision and always wished the US had a version like it.
However, Alexis has had some struggles figuring out what kind of music she wanted to put out into the world. During the interview she shared that her music career began in the genres of folk and country, but then moved into other genres like punk and pop. She has even recorded entire albums and songs from some of these genres but never released them due to changing her mind so many times. Depsite drifting through numerous genres, Alexis confirmed that her ASC song “Working on a Miracle” comes from the vein of music she hopes to be associated with moving forward.
Throughout the entire interview, Alexis’ love for the American Song Contest was evident, as she stated numerous times about how amazing it was that a group of 56 diverse and talented artists could come together to compete on live television with original songs. The latter is what really hooked her into the format and concept of the show, there are numerous singing shows on the US airwaves, but nothing that puts the spotlight on original music like ASC does. She went on to mention that “There are so many amazing singers that, you know I think I can sing but it’s not really – that is not my particular I would say gift. Like there are way better singers than me and I accept that. But with songwriting it’s artistic and totally objective and I wanted to be a part of that.”
Alexis also admitted that she is likely one of the lesser known artists on the show, and that she has a lot of pressure to do well for her home state of West Virginia. But as she stated, “everyone loves an underdog.” And it seems like she’s done just that on last night’s episode of the American Song Contest – as despite being a new and upcoming artist, Alexis finished 5th overall with the jury. Check out her performance of “Working on a Miracle” below.
Now it’s up to the American public to decide if she will advance to the semi-final rounds on April 25th and May 2nd – and voting is open until 8 AM Wednesday Eastern Time via the NBC website, NBC app, and TikTok. You will have to wait until next week’s episode however to learn if Alexis is successful in reaching the semi-finals, as hosts Kelly and Snoop announce the final three qualifiers at the top of the every episode.
Remember #YOU can see if Alexis qualifies to the semi-final on Monday, April 18th at 8 PM Eastern/7 PM Central. #YOU can also jump into the ASC discussions on social media @ESCUnited, on our discord, or on our forum page!
