Growing up, Alexandra Raven (known locally as Alexandra Martindale) loved to sing and write songs but kept that talent mainly to herself. 

Now, she is ready to share it with the world.

"I wrote songs forever," she noted. "I didn't even sing in front of people. I was so nervous and it was so important to me that I didn't want it open to judgment."

Alexandra spent much of her life in Bengough but moved to Weyburn in her teenage years.

"Coming to Weyburn actually kind of helped me blossom into more of my music confidence. There are a lot more people into different stuff and we had band and all this going on and I was like...I can do this, I can do this as a career."

Alexandra noted that after moving to Weyburn and finding people who supported her on her journey, everything took off.

"I started writing more intensely, I started singing for my friends and family...I put in so much work," she said. "I tried to reach out to labels and producers and it was a lot. Finally, I posted a cover of me on Instagram and I was so nervous to post a cover online of me singing because it's a safe place for me, my music."

She noted that her boyfriend was super supportive of her posting the video, which she had recorded in her car. 

"I waited for about a week or two and then finally this producer that has worked with so many people, grammy-winning and nominated people, he came across it because he was following one of the hashtags and he liked my video and commented. I was just like...no way!"

Following the like and comment, Alexandra reached out to him to see how they could move her singing career forward. After much back and forth, they were both determined to make something work.

"So we had this video call and I performed a bunch of my songs to them and they were just...shook," she said. "It was so cool to just have that validation from those guys that are right up there, it was pretty cool."

The song that really caught their attention was "Sunny Dayz". The producer decided that would be the song that they would start off with.

"They sent me a bunch of recording equipment and stuff and I set up this little studio in the basement and it was awesome," she said. "But it's tricky, trying to do stuff in Hollywood and do stuff here. I was working full time and then it was back and forth with video calls and so he was just 'You know what, do you want to come to Hollywood? Let's just do that. Want to just do that?' and I was like...yeah I want to do that!"

She noted that they got a full experience on their trip to Hollywood. The trip itself was covered and she and her boyfriend got to take in the sites of the city before heading to the studio. 

"Being in the studio, that was pretty freaking cool!" she said. "We got in there and I recorded my song in under two hours and it was just...it was great. We connected and everyone was vibing out and it just came out perfect."

The next step, of course, was getting the song out there. It's now available on all streaming platforms and Alexandra is currently working on putting more music together to possibly create a full album in the near future.

The experience has been an incredible one for the local singer who, just a few years ago, wouldn't share her music with anyone. 

"I am just so honoured and so grateful that I can have this opportunity, not just for myself but for my family and to give people hope to believe in their dreams," Alexandra said. "Through this experience, I had a lot of great people but I also had a lot of people saying it's not realistic and do this and do that and I was just like...no, I have big plans, I can do this, I know I can. I never gave up and I'm so grateful that I did have amazing people in my life that kept on reminding me to keep pushing on and it all worked out. We recorded my music that I never thought anyone would here and now it's everywhere! It's just so cool."

Alexandra's song Sunny Dayz is now available on all streaming sites and will soon be playing on Magic 103.

We can't wait to see what Alexandra does next!