New Singer Angela Arnolds Voice Inspired By Billy Holiday

This 25 year old Louisville, Kentucky native has been singing since age 4 and is excited about the upcoming release of her first album, Asa: Loves Experience, A Steve Wallis Project.

Where do you currently live?

I’m in East Orange, but I claim Louisville. I’m a native of Louisville, Kentucky. I love New Jersey but my sound– a lot of people you will see talking about me will tell you that it’s a Louisville sound.

Did you go to school, what was your major?

My major was Theatre Arts with a concentration in music. Rather than just having a God given talent, I have studied music. I’m definitely an actor as well.

College was much harder for me at one point. But I made it through!

Who influences you?

Anywhere from Billie Holiday to Tina Marie, Dinah Washington…

I could name a lot of folks, and that will definitely reflect on my album. The greatest of the influences that I’ve had when it comes to my music has been those greats of the 1930s.

If I took your iPod, what music would I find?

Tina Marie, she is one of the ultimate artists to me; Stevie Wonder, a lot of older cats. (Laughs). One of the newer cats: John Legend.

Ne-Yo, I think he’s a genius. Billie Holiday. And Jill Scott of course, Jill is all over the place in my iPod.

I tell you what; if I ever got the chance to work with Prince I’d be done. He’s probably one of the only artists I admire no matter what he does.

Does your album have a release date? What was some of your motivation for the album?

It doesn’t have a release date at this time, either at the end of December or early January. Steve Wallis is the producer of this project; we wanted it to be very exclusive. He really brought out what I wanted to do with the album.

I wrote all of the lyrics on the album except for two, and two of those were collaborations with Steve. I’m very proud of this album.

In February I lost a really good friend of mine and a good friend of a lot of people in the industry, Static Major. I started thinking to myself, “What is my purpose here? What did I come to the east coast to do and why am I not doing it? “ I feel there was some kind of force leading me there, whether it has been the spirit of my father or static’s spirit or even reminiscing on my father.

What do you do for fun?

A lot of times I just hang out with my friends, we might go see a theatre show, I might take in a film or support fellow artists. I make jewelry. That might be the next thing on the list to bring to the forefront.

Any advice for aspiring artists?

Have a plan. Educate yourself about the industry and don’t give up. It’s a lot of work but in the end, as long as you’re true to the art and as long as you stay true to the message that you’re trying to send to others, you will succeed.

View Asa’s blog here.