Alesia XO

Alesia XO Releases New Single “Awesometown”
by Santa Clarita Magazine | Sep 26, 2018 | Dining, Arts & Entertainment

The northern Los Angeles suburb that brought you “Santa Clarita Diet,” “Weeds” and “Edward Scissorhands” just produced the next big thing in suburban discontent with Alesia XO’s newest single, “Awesometown.”
Composed by the longtime locals of Dole|Humphries (Steve Dole and Alesia Humphries), “Awesometown” goes deep beneath the seemingly pristine surface of Santa Clarita, Calif., a suburb that has — until now — flown under the radar as a hot house of inspiration for the LA entertainment world.
With the characteristic wit of Alesia XO’s originally written lyrics, “Awesometown” hints at the secrets buried in the backyards of Santa Clarita’s finest: “Working that net just like a boss / Hiding in between the lines.”
Located about 30 miles from downtown Los Angeles, Santa Clarita is home to many of the entertainment world’s most brilliant and successful minds. B-list stars settle in the secluded communities, and big-name execs hide comfortably in ranch homes just off the beaten track.
Walt Disney’s massive Golden Oak Movie Ranch and iconic arts school, California Institute of the Arts, are both located in the heart of Santa Clarita, where life continues as if it were completely disconnected from the world’s most powerful content creators.
“Awesometown” talks about the Hollywood life behind closed doors: “Mickey Mouse makes his bed here / And all the folks behind the scenes / Like to think it’s an island / Like no one else can live in.”
Produced by Leslie Barker and Steve Dole, “Awesometown” was recorded and mixed by Barker and mastered by Nick Kirgo Music. Alesia XO sings lead and wrote lyrics. Alesia XO is a performer/singer/songwriter contributing lead vocals and lyrics to her one-of-a-kind sound fusion of indie blues with rock and soul undertones. “Awesometown” is available on iTunes and Amazon Music now! You can also purchase it online at: store.cdbaby.com/cd/alesiaxo. - Santa Clarita Magazine

A singer and songwriter from Santa Clarita recently released a single called “Awesometown” offering a satirical take on the California suburb.
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Ed. Note: Warning – This song may be found offensive by some and does not directly reflect the view or opinions held by KHTS.

Self-described as the “next big thing in suburban discontent,” “Awesometown” was composed by Santa Clarita residents Steve Dole and Alesia “XO” Humphries and takes a satirical look at various aspects of the city it’s named after.

The song goes “deep beneath the seemingly pristine surface of Santa Clarita, Calif., a suburb that has — until now — flown under the radar as a hot house of inspiration for the LA entertainment world,” according to a news release.

Much like the satirical tone of shows and movies like “Weeds,” “Edward Scissorhands” and “Santa Clarita Diet” in reference to their Santa Clarita setting, Alesia XO takes aim at the city, which has the designated nickname of “Awesometown.”

“I was thinking about Awesometown a few times,” Humphries said. “I wrote the word ‘Awesometown’ a few times, thinking of groups of people in Santa Clarita online. People lump each other together online, and I was just laughing at the way the people on the community forums throw up whatever they think. They fight and it just cracks me up.”

The chorus of the song begins with Alesia singing “Awesometown” in her “one-of-a-kind sound fusion of indie blues with rock and soul undertones,” but then immediately follows what sounds like a reverence of support to Santa Clarita by singing, “Coasters, swingers, mommy’s right-wingers, / pundits and masks, kick so much a*s.”

Other notable lyrics in the song include, “Everybody’s watching you, and your children too,” and, “If someone goes missing, all you do is listen.”

Humphries has been professionally singing since she was 15 years old.

“My style is this weird place that you can’t define that’s a mixture between country rock and blues,” Humphries said.

Humphries is a long-time resident of Santa Clarita, having grown-up here in the Santa Clarita Valley as well as having raised her three children here, and has been actively involved in the community and has even served as a PTA president at one point.

“I love this town, and I did touch on the givingness of Santa Clarita (in the song),” Humphries said. “I truly do love that so many people are so involved in giving back and putting so much into making sure people are taking care of.”

To listen to the full song, click here. - KHTS

Alesia Humphries knew that she wanted to write a song about the word that people often used for the place where she went to high school — “Awesometown.” One day, the singer, who goes by the stage name Alesia XO, sat down and started writing lyrics based on this word she heard so often. “It used to be this funny moniker that was like a marketing tool for Santa Clarita,” she said. “It’d be a way to talk about coming to Valencia. People would be making fun of the word ‘Awesometown,’ but I thought, ‘This is a perfect word to sing.’” “Awesometown” was once used by Newhall Land and Farming to promote the community of Valencia. In eight minutes, she had written a full song about the moniker. Humphries, upon finishing the lyrics, sent them to her writing partner, Steve Dole, who started composing the melody. “He said, ‘People are going to be so mad if we write about Awesometown,” she said. “But it doesn’t have to be just about our town — it’s about any town in the U.S.” The song made its debut Sept. 3, and is intended to paint a picture of what Santa Clarita is like, as a suburb located just north of Los Angeles, Humphries said. She infused phrases such as “working that net just like a boss, hiding in between the lines, and “Mickey Mouse makes his bed here, and all the folks behind the scenes like to think it’s an island like no one else can live in.” Humphries began singing professionally at age 15 and lived in Los Angeles as a solo artist. She said Awesometown is only the first of six songs she is releasing, one at a time, that will also infuse indie blues with rock and soul undertones. “Hopefully in two months, we’ll be talking about the next one — ‘Big Huge Secret,’” she said. The song is now available on Apple Music and Spotify. - The Signal