Little Body, Big Sound

Singing with Austin Legends

Words by Jessi Devenyns Photos by Eric Morales

Although she didn’t know it at the time, when Alexia Finney first began singing into her toy microphones, she was practicing for a career that would take off before she would become a teenager. As soon as she could talk, she was singing, and already at 12, she has performed and recorded with Austin notables like SaulPaul, Candy Coburn, Mark Eric, and Memphis Train Band.

She hasn’t yet told anyone at her school what she does. “It’s weird for me because I’m curious why they don’t know because it’s pretty obvious,” Alexia muses. Still, she confesses that she is content to be out of the spotlight with her peers. “Nobody at my school knows what I do because I don’t want to be treated differently because of it.”

It all began with a serendipitous meeting at an Austin Music Foundation event. Alexia’s father Rich Finney, who has been in the music business for decades, had just introduced her to SaulPaul’s music, and she had fallen in love with his song Rise. Coincidentally, SaulPaul happened to be performing at the event when she bumped into him ten minutes prior to his set and gushed her admiration for the tune. In typical SaulPaul style, she was invited onto the stage to perform with him impromptu. Of course the rest is history, and now the track is recorded with her voice accompanying SaulPaul’s sultry vocals.

Despite the unconventional nature of her debut, Alexia describes the experience of performing as calming. “I love the rush before I get on stage. I’m all nervous, but then [I] go on stage and it’s all good,” she quips. Even with four years of performing under her belt, Alexia admits that she still prefers to be on stage in the company of others. However, this year “I think I can start lifting myself up on stage,” she says. “I’m trying to compose my own music. That’s one of my big goals this year.” It is also a goal she is likely to achieve.

Although she is still a middle schooler with homework and responsibilities, Alexia finds time to work toward her goal with Kris Bergsnes, a songwriting coach from Nashville who is guiding her through her development as a lyricist. “She’s very, very, very talented. Very enthusiastic. A natural poet,” Kris effuses.

Alexia’s natural talent is hard to miss. In person as on stage, her beaming smile peeks from underneath the bill of her trademark fedora as she clearly articulates her thoughts. With wisdom beyond her age, she has already understood that building her career is a marathon, not a sprint, and she has years to arrive at the finish line. She smiles as she explains her philosophy, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I think it’s going to be good.”

Contact
Rich Finney
(512) 560-9091
rfinney@dotcommand.net

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