Alyce Metallo
INTRODUCING: ALYCE METALLO
The path to soulful pop prominence is often defined by the company one keeps, and in the case of Alyce Metallo, the journey\'s been riddled with a remarkable collaborative lineage. Though music (particularly playing piano) was in her blood since the tender age of two, the Singer/Songwriter would eventually encounter a series of extraordinary circumstances that paved the way to her full time artistic endeavors. From her earliest professional performances at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music at Catholic University, the College of Fine Arts at Howard University in Washington D.C. (where she earned an Education and Piano degree) or at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain as an exchange student (she is also fluent in Spanish), the young troubadour was blessed with powerful pipes and also developed additionally expressive gifts for writing, performing, arranging and producing.
Along the way, she amassed a plethora of prominent credits, including a choir slot alongside the likes of Luther Vandross, Diana Ross and Kenny Rogers at Bill Clinton\'s inauguration, a return engagement to the White House as a choir director for VH1\'s Save the Music with John Mellencamp, plus multiple appearances with that same star and Stevie Wonder at School Night (also in the nation\'s capital). Add in a private performance for Jesse Jackson, Jr., an appearance at National Building Museum with Bill Cosby (benefiting Fight For Children), numerous Kennedy Center concerts (alongside Vanessa Williams, Yolanda Adams, Regina Belle and Richard Smallwood), plus a twelve- date performance tour throughout Europe (with a prestigious \"International Song of Peace\" Award from Ireland to her credit) and Metallo\'s earned her artistic stripes with an unflinching commitment to the performance arena.
Even amid such high profile periods, the switch-hitter also balanced her concert schedule with a mission to teach high-schoolers throughout the D.C. area. But, thanks to the continual prodding of her husband and manager Walter Metallo, plus their Creative Arts Pastor Marty McCall (from the critically-acclaimed act First Call) and Grammy-Award-winning producer friend Fletch Wiley (Andrae Crouch), she eventually dove deep into a solo career, anchored by a recently released self-titled CD.
\"It\'s all been a very natural transition for me,\" the charismatic singer says of her tremendous career evolution. \"I\'d spent so many years writing and arranging for my students and always getting them ready for shows, so, that helped me see that this is really what I\'m supposed to be doing.\"
Besides support from her home base, Metallo\'s self-titled album sessions were also birthed out of prayer and praise, resulting in her desire to pursue excellence to the utmost extent. Despite an independent ranking, the project\'s packaging (and most importantly the songs themselves) easily rival the major label level, yielding a slick sonic hybrid that falls somewhere in between Roberta Flack, Oleta Adams, Anita Baker, Alicia Keys, Rachael Lampa, and Natalie Grant.
\"If stars like Jennifer Lopez or Celine Dion have one ounce of something, they work that ounce until it\'s 1000% maximized,\" she states. \"How much more should musicians in ministry be successful with what God has given us?\" she states. \"I want to personally maximize my potential and give God all I can. I pray that my ministry continues to be cultivated and I look at this record as a building block in that plan.\"
The Alyce Metallo/Anthony Myers (Natalie Wilson, Donell Jones, Usher) produced project is replete with ten relevant, original illustrations, from the stirring introduction of \"Stay\" to the joyful \"Mourning Into Dance\" and the
friendship-based \"Sisters In Christ,\" plus the completely one-of-a-kind covers \"Blessed Assurance (My Story)\" and \"I\'ll Fly Away.\" No matter what the message, Metallo draws inspiration straight out of the Bible, and presents her observations in a relatable and seeker-friendly light.
\"The one thread that ties all these songs together is the fact that they\'re all inspired by Scripture,\" the tunesmith confirms. \"As Christians, sometimes we don\'t really know the Bible like we should; and these songs will certainly have a place with believers, but, they also present the idea of a personal relationship with Christ to non-believers and the world at large.\"
As has been her tradition throughout the past decade plus, Metallo will let her listeners judge for themselves on an extensive outing appropriately dubbed the Alyce Metallo Album Tour. While her original tunes will be a bulk of the focus, each evening also features worship selections with just enough time left over for storytelling (and she certainly has plenty to talk about!)
\"I\'ve got to just keep plugging away,\" she promises of her God-ordained calling. \"It\'s very important that I use my performance ministry to spread God\'s message to as many people as possible. No matter what background you come from, the album and the tour are reasons to come out and celebrate all the great things God has done in our lives and get a glimpse of the beauty of a life in Christ!\"
Alyce is currently in ministry at McLean Bible Church located in Northern Virginia, United Sates