By Gerri Miller
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
Alyssa Ruffin was only five years old when she first lit up the stage singing in the Bill Riley Talent Show at the North Iowa State Fair. She never dreamed that she would one day win global awards, record her own album, and work with some of the hottest bands and producers in the world.
Ruffin, a Prattville resident, recently won Vocalist of the Year-Modern Country Female in the 2021 Josie Music Awards. Out of 38,997 submissions, she was nominated in four categories: Song of the Year-Modern Country Female; Vocalist of the Year-Modern Country Female; Stage Fashion Trailblazer; and Songwriter Achievement.
The Josie Music Awards is an all-genre music awards show ceremony and is the largest independent artists award show globally. Nominees go through a lengthy review process by a team of industry leaders and the official nomination list is created from their final decisions. This team also selects the winners.
Ruffin, 37, said she was greatly influenced by her mother, who is also a singer. She grew up going to her shows and singing with her bands. “I had great opportunities growing up. I sang for Maria Elena Holly, Buddy Holly’s wife, when I was nine-years-old,” she said.
She moved from Mason City, Iowa, to Denver, Colorado when she was five and spent her childhood growing up between those places. She spent six years in Minot, North Dakota, where she met her husband, Chuck. He serves in the United States Space Force. Ruffin said she is a proud military wife and mother.
She auditioned for Star Search when she was 10 years old and by age 13, her mother moved the family to Nashville. The two of them performed on the original Music Row in Nashville and in front of the Country Music Hall of Fame Gift Shop on several occasions.
“My first inspiration and fan was my mom,” Ruffin said. “She competed in a singing competition in Iowa and made it to the finals in Nashville. It was held at the Grand Ole Opry, and it was televised, so I got to watch it back on the VCR when she got home.”
But it was another performance from that event that made a significant impact on Ruffin. “There was a little girl named Ashley on the show that sang, ‘All My Ex’s Live in Texas,’ and seeing her gave me the inspiration I needed to want it on my own,” Ruffin said.
Ruffin said she and her mom sang anywhere they saw the opportunity. “Music was our constant in life,” she said. She said it is still her passion. “This is my life. It’s my destiny,” she said. “One plan, one path, and this is it. People ask me who I am. It’s not just what I do; it is truly who I am.”
She said her biggest influences have been Mariah Carey and Trish Yearwood. “They have been my two biggest inspirations my entire life. As a teen, I was inspired by Christina Aguilara and Miranda Lambert.”
She has joined several bands who play everything from dance music to eighties rock. She has opened for some of the hottest names in rock and country music such as Grammy-nominated Confederate Railroad, Billboard-topping rock band Hinder, Billboard winner J.R. Richards of Dishwalla, legendary hip-hop artist Coolio, AMA award-winning rock band Firehouse, and ACMA Vocal Group of the Year Award winner Sawyer Brown, performing for 30,000 people in a sold-out arena.
Most recently, Ruffin performed in the Global Green “Music for the Planet” benefit concert along with Grammy Award-winner Lisa Loeb, Paula Cole, Taylor Dayne, Jody Watley, Melody Thornton of the Pussy Cat Dolls and Vanessa Bell Armstrong.
Ruffin’s biggest fan now may be her husband Chuck, a space operations officer in the United States Air Force. “He is so awesome and so completely supportive of my career. He is a super-amazing human being,” she said.
She said she was honored to sing the National Anthem for the Activation and Assumption of Command for Space Delta 13.
Ruffin said she is currently working on an album with producer Scott Wilson of the band Saving Abel and expects it to be out in 2022. Wilson also produced her upcoming singles “Enough” and “Where I Need You Now.” Both tracks feature Kent Slucher, the drummer for Luke Bryan, Wilson on bass and guitar, and Nashville pro Steve Hinson on steel guitar, banjo and mandolin. Hinson has worked with everyone from Dolly Parton to Kenny Chesney and Luke Bryan.
Ruffin is flying solo when it comes to management. She acts as her own manager and has no booking agents. To contact her, visit www.alyssaruffinmusic.com. You can also follow her by name on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
To hear Ruffin live in the River Region area, visit The Rex in Millbrook on October 8th from 6 to 9 p.m. or The Thirsty Turtle on October 22 where she will be singing with Tony Mills at 8:30 p.m. Come support a local talent whose raw emotion and life experiences drive impressive imagery into her lyrics, blending popular music and country with edgy rock and twists of rhythm and blues into her songwriting.
