Jul 20, 2020
Singer Songwriter Allegra Miles:
From Local Stages to National TV, Teen Phenomenon Wows on The Voice
By Sandra Schulman
In person Allegra Miles is a tall, confident presence, with a sunny smile, a curtain of blond hair and a sweet smattering of freckles. Disarmingly polite and attentive, she listens and nods and laughs in the right measure. From writing songs about changing the world at age 12 in her bedroom to the small clubs of West Palm Beach and remarkably, to the semi-finals of The Voice TV show, 17 year-old Allegra has already made a big mark in the music world.
Sitting in the spacious lobby of the new Canopy by Hilton Hotel in downtown West Palm, she talks about her journey from San Diego where she was born, to living in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, then West Palm Beach since she was 11 — and her dreams of the future.
Surrounded by music since birth as her mother is a music therapist, she joined her family at open mic nights together around town. At 12, she wrote her first song.
“I didn’t really get formal education on how to write songs but I had the idea that what I would really like to do is change the world, so that became the first song,” she says. “It came out really quickly.”
Heady stuff for a 12 year-old. From there Allegra began songwriting and posting her music online, taking lessons and performing several times a week locally while juggling her schoolwork.
“I have really liked discovering the art and music community here in South Florida,” she says. “I joined up with some artist collectives and open mics nights to meet people. I do a mix of covers and originals, people are pretty supportive of hearing original music here.”
Her style is surprisingly sophisticated, complex lyrics with a jazzy undercurrent that is more classic school Joni Mitchell than teen pop fare.
One person she reached out to for voice lessons is Miami’s Matt Kramer of Kramer Voice Company, who hit it big in the 90s as the lead singer for Saigon Kick and had videos on early MTV. She sought him out as he had been a successful performer, not just a teacher.
“I don’t get that many students that are that sincere,” Kramer says of his young student. “She paid for lessons out of her own money at age 15, she reserved for an hour but I gave her 3 hours as she was so intriguing. People come to me for lots of types of coaching, she wanted coaching on a performance level. At that age people generally won’t criticize you, they will clap when you sing, but it will keep you from growing. I asked her ‘What are you aiming for — to sing in a coffeehouse or in front of millions?’ Big difference. She was a dreamer with discipline.”
Allegra had another plan — to get on a TV reality show. So she began auditioning at 13 and was turned away five times. Most people would get discouraged but she felt “I was learning more and getting better each time and that kept me going.”
When she finally passed the first step last year she was flown to Los Angeles for the big Blind Audition, where singers perform while the superstar judges — Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, John Legend and Blake Shelton — listen while turned away from her before committing to trying to be her coach. They put her and her mom up in a swank hotel near the studio.
“The Blind Audition was the scariest thing, I was shaking physically so bad!” Allegra recalls. “Mentally preparing myself was such a different thing than I’ve ever been through. You see it on TV but being there is so unreal. It doesn’t seem real to be with those performers. I wanted this for so long. It wasn’t a perfect performance but I’m still happy with it and then Kelly first turned around and then Nick. The two of them wanted to be my coach and they make it seem like a longer process on TV but I had to decide really quickly. John Legend was my first choice going into it but then it wasn’t an option. Nick connected with me best as he had started really young also. As the next steps and performances went along he was genuinely supportive. They give you a lot of choice as to your song and let me do my own arrangements and he was there every step of the way. He believed in me.”
“Wow @allegramiles your talent is truly one of a kind! You’re going to nail the live shows and I for one can’t wait! #TeamNick” — Nick Jonas (@nickjonas) said April 27, 2020, on Twitter.
Asked if it was hard to take critique on-air she says “not really as he was always kind and helpful. He talks to us people which made it very comfortable and natural.”
The pandemic lockdown started towards the end of her run which meant she had to go back home and perform through her computer.
“That was definitely a different shift in energy! Going from a live audience to doing this in my living room! So challenging because we had to set everything up at home too.”
After 6 performances her streak ended, and while she was disappointed, Jonas gave her his number.
“I’ve reached out to him a bit for advice and I’m really grateful as some of the coaches don’t have anything to do with the performers once it ends. I learned so much.”
Now that she is back in West Palm, she is focused on writing, finishing home schooling, and planning the future. She has lots of local fans now and gets recognized everywhere from the street to the diner.
“I am working on an EP release, and my hope is open for a band and tour a bit, have that experience. I go to the beach a lot here, I love seeing all the new art in town. It’s a cool city, it’s not too big and has been great for me.”
Check out her TV performances and new single at Allegramiles.com
This story was first published in WPB Magazine. To see the video for this interview and an exclusive performance click here https://www.wpbmagazine.com/singer-songwriter-allegra-mileslocal-stages-national-tv/
