“I take a little bit of California, which is a sort of carefree, beachy vibe, and I mix it with my roots, which are country,” said Mishavonna. “The new album has the whole county, soul, rock and roll kind of thing. That’s what I like to consider myself, a mix of those three genres. But country is definitely my first love. I just adore singing country music. There’s nothing else I’d rather do.”

Raised in both Texas and Southern California, Mishavonna has been a professional singer since the age of 13. She burst onto the national scene with her acclaimed performances on American Idol, where she was a Season 8 semi-finalist and received the coveted “Golden Ticket” to Hollywood. She was among 36 chosen out of 100,000 who auditioned.

More than 100 stations nationally are already playing “Done With Y’all” and the song is poised to enter the Music Row chart in the coming weeks.

Mishavonna performed at the ‘Ace Pro guitars booth’ at the Namm Show in Anaheim, CA.

It’s been a long time since an original Christmas tune made a substantial dent in the charts, but Crystal Gayle and Mishavonna are hoping that their new duet will be the exception to the rule. The Grammy Award winning country legend and the American Idol Season 8 alumnus have teamed up for “Christmas Everywhere”, which was released just after Thanksgiving.
Mishavonna, who was known as Mishavonna Henson during her stint on Idol, wrote the song with her producer Fabio Angelini. Opening with the festive sounds of sleigh bells along with a prominent pedal steel, the tune explores the familiar theme of separation from loved ones during the holiday season, with a slight twist: instead of the usual lone protagonist longing for home (“I’ll Be Home For Christmas”) or missing a loved one who has gone away (“Blue Christmas”), “Christmas Everywhere” is sung from the point of view of both a mother and daughter, as both reminisce about Christmases past. Mishavonna as the daughter thinks about Christmas at home during the first verse, with Gayle taking over the second verse as her mother, reliving the holidays when her children were growing up.
I was not previously familiar with Mishavonna but I was impressed with her powerful voice, which is somewhat reminiscent of Shelby Lynne. I’m a little surprised that she didn’t advance beyond the semi-finals. It’s been a long time since we heard a new country recording from Crystal; she is still in good voice and the two women’s voices work well together.
Mishavonna is reportedly working on a country album which should be released sometime in 2011. If she can find the right material, she should have a decent shot at success. The independently released “Christmas Everywhere” won’t provide the breakthrough, since contemporary Christmas songs rarely become hits and Gayle no longer has the ear of country radio programmers. However, it is a pleasant listen, even if it’s not entirely original. It will definitely be in heavy rotation on my Christmas playlist this year.

Mishavonna recorded a Christmas duet with Crystal Gayle Monday in Nashville.

Christmas Everywhere, which Mishavonna wrote with producer Fabio Angelini, is a ballad sung from the perspective of a daughter and a mother.

“It’s basically about when you have loved ones that aren’t able to be with you at Christmas time,” Mishavonna says. “It’s about how it doesn’t matter where you are, you always have the memories and you always have each other.”

The two singers initially met at a Gayle concert in Las Vegas, introduced by one of Mishavonna’s band members, whose parents were friends of Gayle. She has since opened shows for Gayle and accompanied her on a tour of Ireland.

“I just love the way she can sing,” says Gayle, who had several country-pop crossover hits during the ’70s and ’80s, includingTalking in Your Sleep and Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue. “It’s not just a staight-ahead country voice, it’s not a straight-ahead pop voice. I love the texture of what she does with it, and what she can do with it.

As for the duet, “We have totally different voices. She has this range from one end to the other, and I’m me – I can’t be anybody else – but it works.”

Working on breaking into the country market; plans album release early next year.

Mishavonna plans to make a full-length album available early next year, but Christmas Everywhere will be for sale digitally by Thanksgiving. “We’re working hard right now,” she says. “We have most of the tracks done, and we’ve got to master it and put it out.”

KSON, San Diego “Hot Country” The KSON Kid’s Store – Cliff’s kids – Grand Opening on Saturday, August 14th at Parkway Plaza.
Cliff and Brooks hosted this event with Special performances by Troy Olsen and Mishavonna.