Instead of getting the “show on the road” and performing in-person this year for the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center Youth Talent Show, talented locals brought the show to the online sphere of YouTube. The four top winners of the annual talent show were first place winner Alina Peterson, second place winner Finley Rhodes and tying for third place, Emily Russell and Violet Skye Wright.
For the contest, participants had to audition and submit a piece to the center’s Facebook page. If selected for the finals, they were notified and required to submit a second piece.
Four judges, actor Alyssa Jirrels, King Street Giants bandleader Casey Jones, award-winning theatre artist Bronwen Shears, 2017 Sebastopol Talent Show Winner Everest Rosa-Barnette and world-class jazz guitarist Dave MacNab, were directed to select their three favorite finalists out of the 12, and talent show viewers had the opportunity to send in their votes for a winner. Through this process, four winners were selected.
Sonoma West interviewed the young winners to learn more about their act, how they got involved in music and what inspires them to perform.
Alina Peterson
Peterson — who just finished sixth grade at Hillcrest Middle School — submitted two original songs, one for her audition and one for her final act.
“Both of them are kind of personal,” she said.
Her audition song, “Us,” was written for her friends, while her other song, “When I’m with You,” is more of a personal reflection on emotion and on being true to yourself.
“The one that I wrote for the audition was for my best friend Miranda, but it’s kind of about all of my friends and it’s really just about anyone that is close to you who you want to be with, but you can’t. In this quarantine weird thing that is going on right now, all I wanted to do was hug her and just dance with her, so I just wrote that down,” she said. “The second song is more about being true to yourself, but also having the longing to go against what you think you should do even though you know it’s the wrong thing to do.”
As an accompaniment to each song, she played the ukulele.
According to Peterson, a fellow talent show contestant who also writes original songs inspired her to pen her own song.
“Emily Russell, who got one of the third place spots in the talent show, wrote an original song last year and I did a summer camp with her last summer, so she really inspired me to write. She writes amazing, beautiful, original songs and I used to write songs but they weren’t that good, so she really inspired me to challenge myself,” Peterson said.
Peterson has been singing ever since she was a little girl and eventually found a love for writing. When she started looking at song writing more seriously, she did a summer “diva camp” with Sebastopol singer/songwriter, Spencer Burrows.
She said it helped her develop stronger writing skills, “I started writing my own experiences down and my opinion on the world.”
When asked if any particular artists inspire her, she pointed towards Billie Eilish. Peterson added that songwriting is a great outlet for getting complex feelings off your chest.
“I see it as making a statement and each song that I write is personal to me, and in a way it’s kind of like letting something go,” Peterson said.
Violet Skye Wright
Wright, an incoming sophomore at Analy High School, played an instrument for her audition and a different instrument for her second act in order to showcase her various skills.
For the audition she played guitar and performed a cover of a song that she learned with Burrows. For her final act she played the piano and performed a song by Sampha called, “No One Knows Me Like the Piano.”
“He made an album called ‘Process,’ about his journey living with his mom who had cancer and passed away, and that song was just kind of about how he used the piano in his mother’s home to cope with everything while helping her through her sickness,” Wright explained.
She added that she likes this specific song because it is soft and helps her control her voice and has a “really pretty dynamic.”
While she was happy with the songs she chose to perform, she said she was a bit nervous since there were so many other talented participants.
“When I first submitted my (audition) video and about a week went by and only one other person submitted a video and then I looked two days later and there were 20 who submitted a video, so then I felt kind of nervous because at first I thought, ‘This is really low-key,’ and then they showed up and I know how talented they all are,” she said.
Wright has been singing and playing the piano for six years and took up the guitar about a year ago. She said learning the piano was definitely easier than guitar.
“Knowing the whole piano is definitely a lot easier than knowing the guitar and the rules of it,” she said.
As for her inspiration, Wright said it’s not one specific artist or group that inspires her, rather tidbits of music, videos or performances
“There are definitely things I see or hear that just make me want to do it and part of that is lots of soul singers and their rifts and the ability to know each scale and go through it. It’s little things here and there, even with things I don’t play. Sometimes I’ll see a video of someone playing the trumpet and I’ll say, ‘I want to learn how to play the trumpet,’” she said.
Emily Russell
Russell, an incoming Analy High School freshman, also wrote and performed her own original song. Her song, “Rise Above,” reflects on the difficult times associated with quarantine and the impact that it has on folks.
“I was sitting on the floor in my room and thought, “What can I do to help people and connect and this song started pouring out,” Russell said.
She said this was an interesting challenge because she had to figure out how to establish a connection with the audience while performing at home.
“It helped me grow in a different way,” she said. “I hope I was able to connect with people who are looking for hope right now.”
For last year’s talent show she also wrote and performed an original song and played the ukulele, her usual instrument of choice. She took second place in the 2019 contest.
Russell, 14, said she started writing her own songs in the second grade and picked up the piano about a few years ago. While she has been involved with music for a long time, she said she still has to work on growing more confidence.
“After I record a song and put it out there, I kind of start to doubt myself. I told myself that I did great, but as time goes by I start to question myself. I was surprised when I made it in the top three. It’s a nice feeling that I did good and that people recognized that,” she said.
When asked who inspires her, she cited Adele, Halsey and Noah Cyrus. Wright said she loves the rawness to Adele’s music as well as Halsey’s strong lyrics and the vulnerability of Cyrus’ lyrics.
In terms of her involvement with music at school, Russell, like her fellow contestants, has participated in band and choir. She said she’s looking forward to exploring the various musical outlets offered at Analy.
Finley Rhodes
Rhodes, who will be attending the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan this fall, also wrote two original songs for the youth talent show.
“My audition video that I made is a song that I wrote (about) the Texas shooting in August 2019. I was at the Interlochen Arts Academy summer camp and I had a performance the next day and I decided to write that. I think there is a lot wrong going on right now, so I thought it was relevant,” Rhodes said.
Since she didn’t realize she made the finals until late in the game, Rhodes wrote another original song the morning the video submission was due.
“I didn’t know that I made the finals and I kept checking the Facebook page and then figured out that we were supposed to email them and then I found out the night before we were supposed to turn in our things,” she said.
Despite a tight deadline, she was able to complete her song and the song earned her second place.
Rhodes, a longtime music lover, has been playing the piano since she was five-years-old. She wrote her first original song when she was six. She said she’s always loved to write.
When working on her music, she said she draws inspiration from Elton John and Billy Joel.
“I love Elton John so much and I also really like Billy Joel and Brandi Carlile,” Reidenbach said.
Talented students
While each contestant demonstrated different musical skills, the judges applauded each winner’s professionalism and passion for performing. They also highlighted each performer’s individual skills.
Jirrels said Wright not only had a strong voice, but lots of soul to her performance. As for Rhodes, Jirrels called her a “young Billy Joel.”
“I wrote down in my notes that you are the female, teenage, Billy Joel and I think that you should go to New Orleans and play jazz, because it was ridiculous,” Jirrels said.
Jones appreciated the originality of Russell’s song and Shears said Peterson’s performance was moving.
To view all the performances and the final acts, visit: https://www.seb.org/virtual-events.
