In honor of Women’s History Month, Atwood Magazine has invited artists to participate in a series of essays reflecting on identity, music, culture, inclusion, and more.
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Today, Nashville-based recording artist Xanthe Alexis shares her unique perspective of raising her children while building her career as a touring musician, reflecting on the value of the voices of Mothers on an international stage, in a special essay for Atwood Magazine’s Women’s History Month series!
Xanthe Alexis is unmistakable for her powerful voice and enchanting lyrics. The singular aura of magic surrounding her is a reflection, in equal measure, of her birth in the Superstition Mountains in Mesa, Arizona. Her childhood was steeped in the mysticism of blended cultures and gave her a passion and sensitivity for the unseen world of Spirit. She also experienced the effects of being treated as an “other” in America. She found her own voice in activism, at the peaceful protests for Water Protection at Standing Rock and in her work as a Natural Healer in her community. Her Mother introduced her to the likes of Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, and Ella Fitzgerald at an early age, and she began writing songs just before her beloved sister died of heart disease. This gave her an additional window into the depth of pain and the need for a language in which we can speak the expanse of human emotion.
A passionate nurturing force, Alexis continues to work with her mother at their healing center in Colorado Springs. Her critically acclaimed 2020 release, ‘The Offering,’ was her gift of healing in the form of song meant for these times as a guide and soothing light. She is currently is working on her third studio album, Lover’s Mark, set for release in 2025 and featuring music legends Jimbo Hart and Jeff King.
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A WOMAN’S PLACE IS ON THE ROAD
by Xanthe Alexis
I got my start touring as a hired hand backup singer for a nationally touring act.
I was single minded in learning how to live a life in music. The only female in this traveling band of misfits. I was not coddled. I hauled equipment. I slept on filthy van floors. I worked and learned the craft with a hunger and focus that fueled me. I was an unlikely woman on the road. At home were my two young sons. I had to calculate my moves to be out there. It had to be justified because there were lights to keep on and mouths to feed and a single parent home that depended on me.
A woman in the music business, sovereign and self-led is rare enough. A mother is almost unheard of. My motherhood and music seemed like opposing forces at times. Mothers are expected to be home. A good Mother doesn’t dream too big. But there I was, hauling equipment, out for brief runs. Home in time to take a shift as a waitress or whatever I could find and put something in the crock pot. Drive young boys to baseball practice and stand up tall when people thought my dreams were selfish or too wild for a woman with children. I did it anyway.
In 2020 I released what would become a critically acclaimed record called The Offering. At the time, my sons were home with me from their junior years of college and high school. Although it was the pandemic, it was the ideal circumstance for me. I was able to take interviews, and do all of the promotion from my home where my children and I attempted to make sense of our isolated world. It gave me an opportunity to explain my life. Not one of the people who said the music mattered to them judged me for what it took to get it in front of an audience. I often wonder what great works we miss out on from women and especially mothers who think they’re voices only belong in their homes. Sometimes not even there. It motivates me to continue forward. To take a seat at the table of music with my motherhood as an essential part of my value, not an obstacle that held me back.
My sons are now grown and in their adulthood, and I have taken my passion for nurturing others to CelloTree Arts presents in Nashville Tennessee.
Along with touring, I host a home concert series there with my best friend, Sarah Clanton, and her partner, Andy Beckey. We gather national and international artists in an environment where creativity and upliftment comes first. I often feel like I’m just getting started.
Then I remember that young woman with children at home washing her face in the gas station bathroom – and I’m so glad she didn’t give up. – Xanthe Alexis
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Stream: “Moon” – Xanthe Alexis
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