ALICE ARMSTRONG

Alice Armstrong is an award-winning singer-songwriter and entertainer from Surrey, UK, known for her impressive vocal range, dynamic songwriting and unmatched stage presence. 

In 2024 so far, Armstrong has been voted Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year at the UK Blues Awards, won the UK Blues Challenge, played sold out shows across the UK, been a guest on BBC Radio 2 with Cerys Matthews and is a common addition to Joe Bonamassa’s personal Spotify playlists. Her second EP, ‘Live at Area 88’ came out on the 14th June

Armstrong’s meteoric rise began as recently as January 2023 after releasing her debut single ‘Speed Dial’ (co-written with multi-award winning Matt Long). That year alone, Armstrong performed and toured across the UK and mainland Europe to crowds of over 6,000 people and at legendary venues such as the 100 Club, Marshall Records and The Clapham Grand. She reached the top 3 most-played list of the Independent Blues Broadcasters Association and top 20 in Blues Matters Magazine, was nominated for six different categories in the UK Blues awards and performed at the 2023 Blues awards ceremony, sponsored by Marshall. 

Armstrong also released a debut 6 track EP ‘Love, Sex & Death’ and was invited to perform aboard Joe Bonamassa’s prestigious Keeping the Blues Alive Mediterranean Cruise. This runaway train of success has only continued in 2024.

An article in ERB Magazine says this of Armstrong: ‘She’s a born entertainer, with a voice very few people could rival. If you can get to one of her gigs, I would recommend going to hear what could easily be the voice of a generation‘.

Armstrong credits Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Tina Turner, James Brown, Ella Fitzgerald, Etta James, Donnie Hathaway, Freddie King, Amy Winehouse, Janis Joplin and Dinah Washington to be just some of her musical influences, peppering her performances with her trademark sense of humour garnered from the likes of the Goon Show, French & Saunders and Monty Python. 

Personal History

Growing up as an only child in a small cottage in the South of England, her grandfather’s tales of being a singer in post-war London and her parents' obsession with Blues and Soul fuelled Armstrong’s blossoming love for the golden age of music. Being so unlike the majority of her peers, Armstrong was ostracised for being poor, ‘fat’, loud and ‘weird’ due to her neurodiversity and love for the unusual and macabre.

Her foray into art college was stopped dead in its tracks by a car accident at 18 years old. Whilst healing from her injuries, Armstrong fell behind in college, leading her to drop out and work as a waitress by day, whilst creating art, running open mics across the South and hosting bohemian jams at home in the evenings. More challenges came in the form of the suicide of a beloved friend and increasingly severe light sensitivity and consequent migraines, the reason for which Armstrong wears her now trademark red-lensed glasses.

Armstrong pours her complex collection of experiences, a wealth of both pain and joy, into her dynamic songwriting and emotive vocals. Top all this off with wry British humour, fierce body positivity, a passion for inclusivity, colourful human stories and relatable experiences, and you end up with powerful music for all walks of life.

Alice Armstrong

https://www.alicearmstrongmusic.co.uk