Alyssa Bonagura: Southern storyteller shaped by rock, roots country and a decade on America’s backroads

# Overview Alyssa Bonagura is a Nashville-based singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose fourth album, America's Backroads, gathers songs that document roughly the past decade of her life. The record is framed as highly autobiographical: material she's played live, songs that finally fit her, and tracks that arrived for her in a later moment than when they were written.

# Roots and early breaks Bonagura grew up inside the music business. Her parents, Kathie Baillie and Michael Bonagura, founded country trio Baillie & The Boys, and music was a constant presence during her childhood. She began working professionally early: at ten she duetted with Kenny Rogers, and at sixteen she opened for Marty Stuart. Those early experiences set a practical, road-tested foundation for a career spent moving between stages and studios.

# Liverpool, The Mighty Wah! and coming into her own In 2006 Bonagura won an overseas scholarship to study sound technology at the Liverpool Institute For Performing Arts (LIPA). While performing at the Zanzibar Club in Liverpool she was asked by Pete Wylie to join his band, The Mighty Wah!. She spent two to three years playing with them. Bonagura credits that period with transforming her songwriting — it was a moment when she came into her own as a writer and performer.

# America's Backroads: a decade in songs

# Musical influences and style Bonagura places herself firmly at the intersection of rock'n'roll and rootsy country. She grew up listening to electric-guitar forward rock and names women artists who mixed rock, blues and singer-songwriter approaches as touchstones. The result is music that leans toward sweeping choruses and Southern storytelling, melding electric energy with country-rooted narratives.

# Recognition and covers

# Portrait of a working musician Across the details of her biography — early industry exposure, formal study in sound technology, years spent on the road in the U.S. and abroad, and a recent album that looks back over a decade — Bonagura presents the profile of a working musician who prioritizes music and songwriting. America's Backroads is both a collection of songs and a record of a life built around performing and writing.

# What to listen for Listen for songs that blend strong choruses with narrative lyrics about travel and personal change. The album collects pieces that were written at different times but now serve a single autobiographical arc.