Alexa Ray Joel

“I describe [my music] as pop soul blues, though there are also elements of rock and R&B,” says Alexa Ray, calling into Keyboard central from a tour stopover in Illinois. “My piano accompaniment is classically influenced because I was classically trained, but my ideas and melodies are very contemporary. At the same time, a lot of people say my music is a throwback to an older jazz, bluesy style. My musical tastes are very eclectic, so it’s all over the place.”

Vocally, Alexa Ray does draw inspiration from such influential jazz and blues artists as Norah Jones, Sarah Vaughn, Etta James, and Billie Holiday, but her pianistic influences begin closer to home. “My dad,” cites Alexa Ray, laughing. “He’s such a better piano player than I am. I also love the way Ray Charles used to play, and Randy Newman is an excellent piano player and a great role model for me. His style is simple, but so well thought-out.” Alexa Ray’s classical background also comes to bare on her original music. “My piano playing’s very much influenced by the composers I’ve studied: Chopin, Debussy, Bach,” she says. “You can see that style of playing resonate the most on ‘Resistance,’” a song on her EP that opens with a flowing, classically-infused piano intro.

Perhaps the most ear-grabbing track on Sketches is the rocking “Revolution Song,” which journeys from standard singer-songwriter chord changes to a driving chorus that sounds equally informed by Soundgarden and Rent. “I wrote that song while I was at New York University studying musical theater,” she says. “Before I got it together with my band, it was a theater song — the verses are very long, the lyrics are specific and tell a story. But when I played it with the band, the drums lifted it up and it naturally took on this rock feel.”

No longer aiming at Broadway (“I didn’t feel like I belonged,” says Alexa Ray of her experience at NYU. “It made me realize that I was using it as a diversion from songwriting, which is what I’m most passionate about.”), the young artist has big plans, including more studying. “I’d love to improve my piano skills and work towards a jazzier, looser style of playing,” she says. “I’d love to do a voice in a Disney movie. It’s always been a dream of mine.” She continues, laughing, “And I’d love to play Madison Square Garden. I’m ambitious and a little impatient.”