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Cover songs make the world go ‘round.

We sing them at campfires and as lullabies, as comedy or catharsis on karaoke night, as love letters at a wedding or a funeral.

We use them as vehicles to discover and promote talented performers.

We sing them to pay tribute to the artistic giants that have come before us.

What’s rarer nowadays is to come across a gem of a cover record—one which takes songs we’ve heard a thousand times and suffuses them with new and kaleidoscopic colors, holding them up to the light and turning them until a new pattern locks into place.

Singer-songwriter Alexa Wildish’s new EP, After Love, set for release on September 27, 2024, is just such a record and comes after her celebrated run as a contestant on NBC’s The Voice in 2023. Her appearance on The Voice was a life-changing event for Wildish, who released her self-titled debut EP of original music in early 2020. While her performances on the show were watched by millions of viewers, behind the scenes, Wildish was on a journey of profound self-discovery and vulnerability, one in which she honed her craft as a stellar vocalist and showcased her talent in the art of conveying what is at the heart of a song.

Colorado acclaimed NPR radio station KGNU 88.5FM exclusively premiered the first single track, “everything i wanted,” on the Morning Sound Alternative program. After Love’s “everything i wanted” originally by Billie Eilish, was a heavily requested cover from Wildish’s time on The Voice. In it, she subtly remakes a modern pop hit into an ethereal folk-tinged dreamscape.

Wildish goes on to boldly cover Tom Petty’s ode to autonomy, “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” one of the tracks from 1994’s Wildflowers, with a raw rock edge that showcases a powerful new side of her artistry. Wildish’s love for country music runs deep on After Love’s third single, the trenchant country classic “I’m No Stranger to the Rain,” by Keith Whitley.

Add in Wildish’s takes on Cher’s “Believe,” Brandi Carlile’s “This Time Tomorrow” featuring fellow The Voice alum Lennon VanderDoes, and “Songbird” by Fleetwood Mac, the song which originally won her a spot on the show, and you have a snapshot of a sensibility that takes in a vast swath of American music.

Receiving praise from Billboard, the magazine writes, “Alexa Wildish puts a country spin on Cher’s ‘Believe,’… [with] swooping high notes and lush vocal runs to differentiate it from the original.”

Alexa’s new cover project comes as the Lyons, Colorado-residing singer and songwriter marks the latest step in her journey as one of Americana’s most compelling voices.

Alexa grew up in a musical family in the horse country of Southern California, where her father collected vintage guitars. She began studying classical voice when she was seven, and she attended the Orange County School of the Arts and Elon University, where she delved into musical theater.

At age 17, however, an entirely different musical spark was ignited when she saw The Wailin’ Jennys open for Nickel Creek, and she took the hard-left turn from musical theater to Americana. She had been on her way to Broadway, but the lure of performing original material was strong.

As she says about her change of focus: “Musical theater’s be-honest-and-tell-the-truth training taught me how to tell other people’s stories as if they were my own. But because they weren’t my own, there was no real passion.” Nowadays, Alexa’s live performances of her original songs signal the advent of a major new voice in folk, with passion to spare – with Taste of Country writing, “Alexa Wildish has been steadily building herself a reputation of being a soulful and deeply emotional artist.”

Before the pandemic changed everything, Alexa had auditioned in 2019 for The Voice, wanting to increase her visibility as a singer. As a songwriter, she was equally ambitious, submitting her work to Planet Bluegrass competitions that resulted in her taking home first place in 2019 at Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. With her unique command of vocals, guitar, and octave mandolin, Alexa traveled to Nashville just before COVID shut down the country to record her self-titled debut EP, released in 2020.

Co-produced by Dan Knobler and Russell Durham, Alexa Wildish also features vocals by Wailin’ Jennys singer Ruth Moody, the guitar playing of Hawktail’s Jordan Tice, Miranda Lambert’s keys player Danny Mitchell, and pedal steel by Midland’s Philip Sterk. Continuing to build out the modern Americana soundscape she so richly created on her self-titled debut, she enlisted Durham once again to produce After Love.

There’s so much to admire about After Love, an inspired and inspirational slice of progressive folk that tends to the heart of its source materials. After Love is both lush and disciplined, performed with the sensitivity of a poet and the vocal control of a true technician. It’s an ode to the art of crafting a cover song with staying power.