http://www.tacomaweekly.com/article/1799

Drawn together by destiny
By John Larson
Tacoma Weekly
jlarson@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: April 03, 2008

Tacoma is the City of Destiny, a fitting base of operations for the members of Voxxy Vallejo, three people who clearly were meant to play music together.

The group consists of Voxxy on vocals, Gene Vallejo on guitar and vocals and Markal Harris on percussion. Their music could be described as a mix of blues, rock and pop. However one might try to classify it, they certainly have a sound and look that makes them stand out in the crowded local scene.

Last year Voxxy was living in Iowa when she and Vallejo connected through the website www.soundclick.com. They were posting material on the site and began communicating via e-mail.

Voxxy had already planned to move to Phoenix. They collaborated on a number that became "Bad Woman Blues." Intrigued by this singer he had never met, Vallejo kept in contact. Shortly after she arrived in Arizona, he invited her to move up here to start a group, an offer she took him up on.

Vallejo and his wife let Voxxy live in their home until she found her own place.

Voxxy’s grandfather was a Pentecostal minister and she grew up around the music of the church. Her relatives got her into singing and she wrote poetry growing up. She was 19 when Alanis Morrissette hit it big. That inspired Voxxy to learn enough keyboard and guitar to begin writing songs.

Voxxy is someone who was meant to perform in front of people. Between her captivating vocal style, great stage presence and hip and unique sense of fashion, she is perfectly suited for the role. But she recalled her first time on stage was hitting a bar with a roommate on a karaoke night. She reluctantly went up after her friends talked her into it, and remembers being quite nervous.

From karaoke she moved on to fronting some hard rock bands.

Vallejo is originally from Mississippi. His father, who was a musician, died when Vallejo was 13. To cope with his grief, he got some instruction books and began playing his father’s guitars.

A few years later his mother moved the family up here, and Vallejo enrolled at Lakes High School in Lakewood. The longhaired kid with the southern accent and cowboy boots felt like an outsider among his new Northwest classmates. It was the late 1970s and southern rock was at the peak of its popularity. "I cut my teeth on Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top," Vallejo remarked. His southern roots and guitar skills came in handy as he dived into the local music scene.

He made friends with another outsider, Harris, a classmate who moved here from the Bay Area.

"Music brought us together," Harris recalled. They jammed together at some parties, but lost touch with each other. Harris played in jazz outfits while Vallejo played in rock groups until the late 1980s, when he got out of the band scene.

A year or so ago Vallejo began having a reoccurring dream. He was onstage in a big dome with a longhaired female vocalist and a male drummer. Teaming up with Voxxy last year made the first part come true. They were playing local clubs as a duo for a while.

Reconnecting with Harris, who Vallejo had not seen or talked to in more than 20 years, was easy. A few months ago Harris was searching for happiness and fondly recalled the good times he had playing music with Vallejo long ago. He called information and got the phone number for Vallejo’s mother, which is how he was able to contact his old friend from high school.

He was asked to audition and recently joined the group. He seems to have found the happiness he sought. "This is like a family to me," Harris said.

Voxxy came up with her stage name when posting material on the Internet. A band she was communicating wanted to know her name, and she came up with it from vox, musician slang for vocals. Paired with Vallejo, the new group in Tacoma had a name.

Voxxy said some people assume, based on the band name and the rapport she and Vallejo exhibit on stage, that they are a married couple.

"We are really like a brother and sister," Vallejo observed.

The group has recorded six songs and is working on an album. Voxxy writes most of the lyrics, with Vallejo writing some and much of the music.

When playing local bars and coffee shops they break out a few cover tunes such as Janis Joplin’s "Me and Bobby McGee" and "Come Together" by the Beatles. They recently shot a music video at Bob’s Java Jive.

MUSIC: Tonight at Bob’s Java Jive, Voxxy Vallejo, the two member Janis Joplin meets Jimmy Page blues band slowly gaining a following around the South Sound, will set up show for a show and video shoot. It’ll be Voxxy’s first video ever, and you and everyone you know is invited to attend. Bobble Tiki thinks tonight’s show will be a hell of a lot better than the last time you made it to video, and you won’t even need to take your top off this time.

Voxxy Vallejo are few in numbers, but formidable in power. On stage it’s just the two of them — the blues heavy licks of Gene Vallejo spliced with the awe factor of Voxxy’s vocals — but that’s more than enough. Voxxy Vallejo have the ability to make you forget it’s just the two of them, especially on record where the multi-instrumentalism of Vallejo makes their sound complete. Not that it will be incomplete at Bob’s Java Jive. There’ll be more than enough Voxxy Vallejo to go around.
Deborah Page will open the show tonight at Bob’s Java Jive, and after Voxxy Vallejo plays a set and shoots their video, Kurt Lindsay will finish things off. — Matt Driscoll

MUSIC: If you’re into sexed up blues rock, and if you’re anything like Bobble Tiki you’re into anything prefixed with the phrase “sexed up,” then Voxxy Vallejo’s show at Oh! Gallagher’s in Lakewood should be your cup of tea. A tag team, combining the guitar work of Gene Vallejo and the vocal styling of the artist known only as “Voxxy,” Voxxy Vallejo is a band worth familiarizing yourself with. A Thursday night in Lakewood seems like the perfect opportunity to do just that.

I’m psychic. Cool, huh? Channeling my psychic powers, I predict that the South Sound will be sick with new music in 2008. I predict new albums on vinyl will make a comeback. I predict that mp3 players will sing Tacoma’s songs. And I predict nightclubs will burst at the seams with new faces and local pride.

My crystal ball tells me Tacoma’s newest bands have acquired the skills and assistance needed to digitally express a slew of perfect pop songs. In its murky kaleidoscope face I see Mono In VCF releasing a new record titled Wallpaper. The Drug Purse will make a split seven-inch with The Freakouts as well as record a full-length by the end of 2008. I see The Elephants and Waves and Radiation releasing new records; The Elephants in February. Also in February I see Paris Spleen releasing The Gesture. I see Tree Roots in the Basement releasing Say When. In March, Wide Eye Panic will release its sophomore effort, The Process. Basic Radio will release its debut CD, No Static. I see Mama Loves Daddy releasing In the Valley of Desire. Scott Andrew will release his latest effort, Save You From Yourself, just in time for spring break.

My tea leaves say that the sultry, Janis Joplin-reminiscent newcomer Voxxy Vallejo will release a full-length in April or May. After more than two years of anticipation, The Painkillers release Every Rainy Day. Tacoma’s beloved Girl Trouble will release an album that they struggle to name. Possibly naming it after something close to their hearts. The tiny vocal powerhouse Kari Ehli will give us What Love Is, a country/rock album before summer. Ghosts and Liars will release new music — even if only online — and its individual members will tackle solo projects before year’s end. I predict new releases from Jet Black Stare and Atomic Outlaws, too.

And that is just scratching the surface.

I tossed my magic bones to discover that Deborah Page’s new CD, For, will be more popular than pancakes. Scream Club’s 12-inch, 10-band international compilation, ACTION! DISCO!, will inspire thousands of awkward teenagers to boogie down. My bones claim mysterious Tacomans will sneak music into a 100th Monkey tile.

My spirit guide says South Sound bands are a diverse group. The Drug Purse will enter the film world with “We Were Snails.” Girl Trouble will release a full-length, independent, Tacoma-made flick titled “Quiet Shoes.” Scream Club will release their music videos on DVD. Voxxy Vallejo will hang original artwork at local galleries, as well as release videos for her songs “Rock On” and “Leave Em Cryin’.”

In light of the Hollywood writers’ strike and awful reality shows, my tarot cards predict folks will embrace local entertainment in larger numbers. My favorite local bands will refine their niches, build up their fan bases and work their mojo like Tiffany “I Love New York” Pollard.

A flock to nightclubs, restaurants, taverns and bars couldn’t happen at a better time. After inhaling really strange glowing smoke in my teepee, a vision of live music club owners dropping big dollars for government-mandated sprinkler systems circled my head. Large clubs were originally told that they had until this month to comply with this “Great White” fire code, but the deadline has been extended to Dec. 1, 2009. My female intuition says some clubs will tighten their belts, raise their prices and lower their spending in order to pay for this mandatory improvement. Let’s support the clubs’ efforts. As your horoscope states, “Appreciate what you have before it’s gone.”

My name is Angie and I’m just a shot away — angie@weeklyvolcano.com. If you can’t rock me, somebody will.