Alexa Ray Joel – recognize this name?  She is Billy Joel’s daughter, prior to today I didn’t know she was even doing music.  I had heard about her battle with depression and if you search her name you will mostly get results on her plastic surgery.

I prejudged her earlier today.  I saw a clip of her Notice Me video (see below) and it made me want to jump off a cliff. Think about how much pressure is on this girl and her music career.  She will always be compared to her father and with a song like Notice Me, what a joke.  I like to consider myself music savvy so I had a feeling that this was not all that this girl had in her repertoire.  Billy Joel’s daughter couldn’t possibly be such a dingbat and want to make it public.  But check out the video if you want a good laugh.

All I wanted was to find a live performance that would prove that she can do more.  It took some digging but I definitely found what I think is a charm, Come Home. I publicly declared my feelings on her voice on Facebook, proclaiming that she can’t sing… but I was wrong.  She has such a charming and innocent voice.  And given the circumstances she turned out to be not just a rich, spoiled, media whore like many children of the stars.

So I give Alexa Ray Joel my blessing. I give her mad props for not using her dad to launch her music career.  From what I’ve seen she is very down to earth and her sound & look are beyond refreshing.  She has embraced her curves as well as her imperfections.  She got a nose job, so what?  She’s in the spotlight; a lot of singers get their noses done to improve their breathing, which is important when you are singing for a career.  The negativity surrounding her, I find to be rather disgusting.  And while I personally can’t see her career blowing up, I know she will find a small fan base to appreciate her and her sound.  If ‘Notice Me’ is a way for her to cater to a mainstream audience, yuck.  Fire your marketing & pr people; they clearly aren’t doing you any favors.  Stick to what your good at Alexa Ray Joel, you have a beautiful soulful, jazzy sound… and as long as you embrace that sound you will forever be cool in my book.  And New Yorkers you can catch her at the Monday Night Supper Club at the Plaza Hotel, December 20th, 27th and January 3rd.  If anyone ends up going I would love to hear your feedback!