Name: Middle Of America by Alyssa Bonagura
Duration: 4 min 15 s
Description: Written about my the love story between my Grandfather & Grandmother. When he was in the war and based in France, he wrote these letters back to america, and I was so moved I had to write this song!

Written about my the love story between my Grandfather & Grandmother. When he was in the war and based in France, he wrote these letters back to america, and I was so moved I had to write this song! 



Middle Of America

"A fixture on Nashville’s indie singer-songwriter scene..." - Rolling Stone

One listen and it becomes crystal clear that Alyssa Bonagura was born to make music. With a voice that touches somewhere deep inside, her melodies and lyrics are as haunting as they are beautiful. From the youthful, bouncing ukulele sing along you may have heard on the nation wide 2012 Lowe's commercial, “I Make My Own Sunshine” to her rockin’, power-pop influenced “Warrior,” and everything in between, Alyssa has polished her own unique musical style. In a world where most artists tend to sound the same, Alyssa sounds fresh; new yet familiar; provocative yet reassuring. Born into a musical family, her mom and dad were RCA country music stars “Baillie And The Boys,” her cradle was the gentle rocking of a tour bus. Her play ground encompassed sound checks and back stage catering. Her “extended” family consisted of managers, promoters, drummers, pedal steel players, keyboards, guitars and the like. 
Alyssa’s songs have found their way onto television shows, movies, as well as artists recording her songs on their own projects since she was 11 years old. After graduating high school, Alyssa received a full scholarship from Sennheiser to Paul McCartney’s Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts in the U.K., where she would spend the next three years earning a degree in Sound Technology while continuing to perform in local venues throughout Europe. It was there that Alyssa experienced what most artists never experience; a private performance requested by the Queen to help support one of Liverpool’s local charities. A performance with Ringo Starr at the 800th Anniversary of Liverpool’s, “Capital Of Culture 2008” event; a performance slot at two of the world’s largest music festivals; Glastonbury and Knowsley Hall on the same bill with super stars Jason Mraz, The Who, and Bruce Springsteen, and a UK tour with Raul Malo of The Mavericks.

Soon returning to her home in Nashville, TN, Alyssa got a publishing deal with Rondor Music in Los Angeles and landed one of the biggest nation wide commercial placements of 2012 with her song "I Make My Own Sunshine," which independently sold 50,000 downloads and over a million plays on spotify. Playing countless venues in nashville, not to mention festivals including Bonnaroo and the Sundance Film Festival, Alyssa has continued to hone her stage show in America and has created an underground buzz in the singer/songwriter community. “The English Diaries” was the first CD release, an all acoustic intimate collection of songs she produced and recorded herself in her apartment in Liverpool about her UK experiences. This was followed by another somewhat acoustic CD, “Before The Breaking”. The songs on those 2 CD’s are classic singer-songwriter styling’s showing what Alyssa can do all by herself armed with a guitar or a mandolin. The next CD “Love Hard”, which was funded by a 10K dollar global kickstarter campaign, takes us straight into the pop world where Alyssa spent her time programming beats, arranging strings, and rocking out on electric guitar.

After spending time in LA, New York & London writing with the top songwriters across the globe, Alyssa has come back to Nashville and has been writing with the likes of Jeffrey Steele, Hunter Hayes, and JD Souther. She's won Canadian songwriter of the year and song of the year for the song "I Only Smoke When I Drink" by the Small Town Pistols; co written Jessie James Decker's Billboard top 40 country single "Lights Down Low" and "Circles" on Warner Brother's country artist Jana Kramer's newest album "Thirty One." Alyssa currently finished her newest album "Road Less Traveled" which she produced with engineer & producer Mark Petaccia (Jason Isbell's Southeastern) and is currently setting a release date for 2016.

Middle Of America

Alyssa Bonagura

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