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GENE VALLEJO

Drawn together by destiny

By John Larson

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.

Voxxy Vallejo plays Mocha Moo in Lakewood at 8 p.m. April 5.

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