Alex Kilroy releases brand new single

Born in Transylvania, Alex Kilroy grew up with the feeling that his life was waiting somewhere beyond the horizon. An American flag hanging above his childhood bed became an early symbol of a future he could already imagine, long before he’d played festival stages, faced visa setbacks or travelled across continents. That persistent belief would eventually lead him towards the United States but the road there began with music and more specifically, with the American blues.

His first musical education came through classical piano, giving him discipline, structure and an understanding of how songs are constructed. Everything changed when he discovered Stevie Ray Vaughan; the piano gave way to the guitar and the discovery opened a completely different path. Still in his teens, Alex was already fronting blues tribute bands and appearing at festivals across Europe, having found an instrument and musical language that felt immediately right.

Wedding gigs helped him raise money, while cold calls to venues and visa struggles became part of the process of chasing the life he had imagined. Eventually, that determination brought him to the States, first through a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and later to Orlando. His admiration for American blues gradually became something more personal, forming the platform for a songwriter with his own experiences to explore. Now, a few months after releasing his debut album Break My Chains, Alex Kilroy is now returning closer to the musical origins that first inspired him.

His forthcoming EP New Shade of Blue arrives on the 23rd of October, led by the new single titled “Crossroads On My Mind.” While Break My Chains moved across blues rock, Southern grooves, gospel, pop and melodic songwriting, the new project embraces a grittier and more traditional blues sound. “Crossroads On My Mind” flows around a traditional blues feel while offering one of Alex’s most autobiographical recordings, turning the unlikely route from Transylvania to the USA into its central story. The crossroads are both musical and literal, reflecting the decisions, obstacles and persistence that paved his path.

He looks back to his childhood in Transylvania, the dream of reaching America and the determination he shared with his parents. He remembers playing hometown bars, pursuing the visa that might finally make the journey possible and carrying his family’s faith through the setbacks, distilling his extraordinary life into a traditional blues song. Set up by twanging lead guitar flickers, the arrangement swells into a smokey blues groove where pulsing rhythms, intricate instrumental flourishes and soulful vocal performance combine to serve up an enthralling jam.

Having spent years studying the blues style, he now approaches it from within the perspective of someone who travelled an astonishing distance to find his place inside it. That journey carries an even deeper emotional context following the loss of Alex’s father, Iulian, earlier this year. A guitarist before moving into artist management, Iulian was Alex’s earliest musical influence, most persistent critic and an important voice in pushing him beyond imitation.

Those lessons sit alongside the memory of his mother’s prayers on “Crossroads On My Mind,” connecting the personal history behind the song with the musical tradition that gave Alex somewhere to go. With New Shade of Blue on the way, he moves closer to the roots that started the journey while finally speaking through them in his own voice.

Listen to Crossroads On My Mind below

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