By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

Whether she’s performing, composing, staring on a television show, serving as captain of her high school tennis team or practicing with the jazz band, Alissa Musto, 17, is happy.

“A lot of people ask me how I balance everything, but the truth is it’s really not that hard,” said Musto, a nominee for “Best Female Vocalist” in the 2011 Limelight Magazine Music Awards. “If you like the things you are doing, they don’t really become chores. They aren’t things that you have to do – they are things that you get to do and that makes it so much easier.”

Musto, who lives in Rehoboth, Mass., is a senior at Providence Country Day School in East Providence. Classically trained in piano, she recently landed a Saturday night residency at Scampi’s Restaurant in Portsmouth, R.I., where she performs from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. each week.

She’s also putting together a new album, a follow-up to her self-titled, four-track E.P., which was released in May 2011. The E.P. featured “Doesn’t Matter,” the award-winning track that earned her a slot in the top three at the 2011 national Music On & Up Showcase grand finale.

“I have some originals that I’ve been working on, not only that I’ve written the words to, but the musical parts on the piano, too,” said Musto.

Additionally, Musto has been building her portfolio, as she’s played at venues such as Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, and Hard Rock Café during the last year. While she’s undecided about what she wants to study, she’s thinking about going to college for music locally, and is interested in continuing to gig in the area post high school.

“I’m hoping that if I stay around here for college, I’ll still be able to play out on weekends,” she said. “I’ll be 18, so I’ll be able to play more venues.”

And the greatest thing about performing, said Musto, is the challenge. Having the support of fans doesn’t hurt, either.

“It’s not just representing the songs that I’m playing – it shows all the hard work and time that I’ve put into it, from the thought process of picking the songs, to the years of piano training that made it possible for me to learn those songs,” she said.  “Going up there and performing and knowing that people appreciate what you do means so much.”

In fact, Musto’s fans have publicly praised her skills in the comment sections of her YouTube videos. Some of her admirers describe her as a female Elton John and the next Debbie Harry (of Blondie).

“I can only hope and wish to achieve some of the success they have,” said Musto. “When people make comparisons from across the country or across the world, it means so much to me knowing that they think I have the potential to be great like them.”

But Musto doesn’t let the praise go to her head. Perhaps, she learned to be modest from her father, Billy Musto, a well-know local artist.

“He’s been in this area’s music scene for a long time and it’s amazing how humble he remains throughout the whole process,” she said. “We don’t go anywhere without somebody recognizing him.”

Aside from her dad, Musto cited Bruce Springsteen as one of her biggest influences. The most amazing thing about “The Boss,” she said, is his voice.

“He doesn’t exactly have this voice that a lot of people would think is great, but it fits with what he does and I feel like I’m the same way,” Musto said. “I don’t have this big, strong opera-like voice that a lot of these girl singers of today have, but I think I have a unique voice.”

Not only does Musto view him as a superb songwriter and musician, she loves his performances. In August, she got the opportunity to see him live for the first time.

“Just the way he can get a crowd going for four hours straight was just so amazing,” she said “He’s such a great entertainer. He’s the whole package – it’s not just one thing.”

Yet, considering Musto’s resume, she’s the total package, too. As noted, she’s very versatile, as she began taking piano lessons at age five. She also dabbles with the guitar and harmonica, and is able to juggle her music career with school, tennis, jazz band, and Teenage Critic, a culture and arts show for teens that airs on PBS.

“We cover all types of cool things that would appeal to teenagers,” said Musto. “We did the Limelight Magazine Music Awards, different cultural restaurants, art events. It’s helped me so much, not only with interviewing, but as a performer, too. It’s good to be well-rounded because you never know when other things will help you in life.”

In terms of TV exposure, NBC aired a special on Musto in 2004 as part of the “Spotlight on the Student Artist” series. The same year, when she was nine, she was featured on “America’s Most Talented Kids,” earning bragging rights of being the youngest performer to appear on the show.

“I didn’t have a lot of experience being in front of a camera at that age, but it was a really good experience and I think it helped me so much in moving forward,” said Musto. “I came back from that doing a lot of other local competitions.”

Some of the competitions include the “Kidz Star USA Talent Search,” which attracted more than 45,000 entries during Summer 2011. For this competition, she was selected as a top ten finalist.

Further, she won first place in the 12-and-under category at “New England Performs,” a festival in 2011 that showcased more than two hundred young artists from all six New England states.

Musto also competed and won other competitions, including “Rhode Island’s Got Talent” in 2008, “Talent Quest TV Show” in 2009, and was a runner-up in “Taunton’s Got Talent” in 2011. She performed on multiple New England-based shows including “The Rhode Show” and “Community Auditions: Star of the Day.”

In 2010, she was named “Piano Act of the Year” in the international “Golden Ribby Awards” sponsored by Wonderworld TV. She played live for an audience of more than 2,000 viewers.

The same year, she partnered with GreenSchools, a non-profit environmental organization, and earned the title of “Green Rocker Ambassador”, or spokesperson. Through the program, she is a featured performer at schools, fairs and other events throughout New England, with a main goal of raising awareness about the importance of being eco-friendly.

“I wrote a theme song for them that I performed at the [Massachusetts] State House [last year] and play at a lot of other functions they have to try to get the message out there for environment,” Musto said. She was also awarded a citation from the State of Massachusetts and House of Representatives for musical achievement and involvement in the community.

For a full list of Musto’s accomplishments, as well as more information, visit alissamusto.wix.com.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

While four of the five members of the Jessica Prouty Band aren’t old enough to legally enjoy a cocktail, they’re finally able to play at clubs after spending the last five years performing throughout the northeast at family-friendly events, such as theaters, fairs, school programs and charity gatherings.

“Those were great experiences, so we’ve really been able to enjoy the whole spectrum of entertainment,” said the band’s namesake, lead vocalist and bassist, Jessica Prouty, 18.

This winter, the Boston-based rock band plans to hit the studio to begin recording a fourth album. At the moment, they’re working on arranging music to lyrics Prouty has written, plus juggling the responsibility of being college students, as Prouty, along with the band’s two guitarists and backup vocalists, Cody Nilsen, 19, and Aaron Shuman, 22, are studying at Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

“It definitely is difficult, but we’re planning regular weekly practices over at the Berklee Fordham facility, and we’re really putting the band right up there in priority with our schoolwork,” said Prouty, who is majoring in music business. Nilsen is studying professional music, while Shuman has taken up contemporary writing and production.

“It’s helped us musically, too. I didn’t have a strong music theory background walking into Berklee and after my first year I’ve learned so much.”

They hope to apply what they’ve learned to their new album, which will be produced by Brian Maes, who fronts his own band, as well as performs with Ernie and the Automatics as lead vocalist and keyboardist. Prouty met Maes before she formed her band at a summer garage band camp he operated.

After camp, Maes contacted her and praised her original recordings, some of which she composed on her own, and others she wrote with her former band, Undecided Youth.

“He said, ‘Wow, you have some really good songs,’” said Prouty.

Maes then asked her if she would consider using his local studio to record an album under his record label, Briola Records. She discussed it with her parents and took him up in his offer.

“At that point, we started making a CD,” she said. “I didn’t want session players – I really wanted to have a band because I missed it so much.”

From there, she asked fellow camper and keyboardist, Andy Covino, 17, to join her. She also approached a few former members of Undecided Youth, including drummer Cam Pelkey, 19, who has been friends with Prouty since third grade.

Pelkey jumped at the chance and hasn’t looked back.

“Just being able to talk music and spend time with these guys has been the best experience of my life,” he said.

Shuman, the newest band member, who joined in May, agrees. Prouty met him in a shared course at Berklee.

“I love playing out and hanging out with these guys,” he said. “We get a lot of playing time, which I love. It’s everything a musician could want.”

The addition of a second guitarist, Prouty said, has enriched the band beyond her

expectations. The rest of the band concurs.

“It’s brought such a full sound to the whole project,” she said. “We can do so much more now.”

Through the course of their career, the band has won several battle of the band competitions. A few of the most notable include the 2012 Ryan J. Lariviere Battle of the Bands event, where they earned several prizes, as well as the honor of playing at the New England Music Awards at the Lowell Auditorium in Massachusetts this April, plus funding to record their album.

Additionally, they won second place in the NAMM-sponsored nationwide SchoolJamUSA contest in California at Downtown Disney. There, Prouty received the title of “Best Vocalist,” while Pelkey earned the title of “Best Drummer.”

Further, they were named “Band of the Year” at the 2012 Limelight Music Awards, along with runner up for “Best Live Act” and “Best Female Vocalist.” They performed at the event as well.

“That was so much fun,” Prouty said. “It was a cool experience. We have the awards hanging up at home.”

Aside from all their accolades, their original songs have been played on multiple radio stations, such as Boston’s 92.5 The River, WFNX, WAAF, WATD, Pixy 103, WBRU, Cool 102, WTOS, and 106.3 The Bone.

They hope their new album will garnish them with more airplay, but for now they are focusing on completing the music.

“Cody and I are working on the bare bones of a song and then the rest of the band will finish the piece,” Prouty said. “I think that’s how it’s going to work for the rest of the songs, as well. It’s been going really cool so far.”

To learn more about the band, visit jessicaprouty.com.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

For The Borrower’s Debt, an acoustic indie/folk trio based in Los Angeles, California, March brought along the release of their debut EP, “A Treehouse Narrative,” and June found them immersed in a nine-show tour of the East Coast, giving fans their nostalgic sound and guitar-driven music.

These days, the band is gigging throughout L.A., working on another album and fondly remembering the unique and unexpected way they formed last year.

After being friends and working together for about six months, Tommy Gardner, the band’s baritone voice, and Jordan Hearn, the band’s alto voice,  realized they had similar taste in music and began playing together.  In time, they decided they needed a soprano and posted an ad on Craigslist hoping to find the missing link.

“We really love three-part harmony and we wanted that to be a part of the group,” said Hearn, who is originally from Arkansas.

To their delight, Callie Ray replied and they set up an audition at Hearn’s apartment in Burbank. However, to their horror, they were locked out.

“It was hilarious because I was meeting these people for the first time and they were just standing on the sidewalk with their guitars like, ‘We can’t get in the apartment so I guess we’re just going to play out here,’” said Ray, a New Jersey native who also plays guitar, ukulele, and flute. “It was surprisingly comfortable for how awkward that could have been. It was a memorable audition.”

Gardner agreed and said most of the try-out was held in the back of Ray’s hatchback Ford Escort. Nevertheless, they liked what they heard and hired her.

“We were on the side of the road playing songs and felt our voices sounded really well together,” said Gardner, former guitarist for the now-dissolved Rhode Island band, Someday Providence. “That’s become the vibe of the band – we play anywhere. There’s no place too big or too small.”

While Ray wasn’t involved with the writing process of “A Treehouse Narrative,” her vocals appear on the album and she has been contributing to the band’s current writings.

Also, Gardner produced the six-track album and co-wrote it with Hearn at Hearn’s

apartment, which resembles a tree house, hence the album’s title. Then, they recorded it at Gardner’s place.

“I would bring in a musical idea and only have one or two lines and Jordan and I would create more,” Gardner said. “He’d give me his input about where he thought the song should go. It was a collaborative effort.”

As noted, all three members play guitar, with Gardner also playing piano, and Hearn bringing his banjo and harmonica skills to the mix. The band cites Good Old War, The Civil Wars, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, and Alison Krauss & Union Station as some of their biggest influences.

To purchase “A Treehouse Narrative,” check out other merchandise or learn more about The Borrower’s Debt, visit theborrowersdebt.com.

By JESSICA A. BOTELHO

“Play an instrument.”

That’s Lisa Guyer’s top tip for aspiring singers, especially females.  But, it’s one of many pieces of advice the singer/songwriter plans to teach students of both genders aged 13 to 18 during her five-day music program, the Lisa Guyer’s Music Empowerment Program, which runs June 25th through the 29th at Wilton-Lyndeborough High School, located at 57 School Road in Wilton, New Hampshire.

“With all the experience I have from being out on the road learning things the hard way, I feel like I can give them the opportunity to learn about what it’s like being on stage,” says Guyer, 48, who has been performing professionally for 31 years. “We’re going to have a blast. No one’s going to be wrong unless they don’t try.”

The goal of the program, Guyer says, is to help young performers find what she and her team of three instructors call the “golden nugget,” or “it factor.” In other words, Guyer, along with Heidi Pauer, a teacher in the New Hampshire school system and also a member of Guyer’s staff of mentors, wrote the program to encourage students to forget their inhibitions and bring out their inner artists.

“Do I think you can teach ‘it factor?’ No, but I think we’re all born with a light inside us that needs to be polished and honed,” she said. “I’m going to try to help them shine.”

Guyer and Pauer, as well as Kim Riley, a fellow musician, and Linda Erb, a local teacher, will teach approximately 60 students collaboratively, as well as break them down into four groups of 12 to 15 from time to time, to guide them through various topics.

Subjects include movement, in which mentors will show students how to share the focus between playing music, feeling music and letting music “free your body;” thinking outside the box, a session designed to teach the art of improvisation as it relates to live performances; jigsaw symphony, a topic in which collaboration is the main objective, and blind inspiration, a workshop that promises to draw on the senses.

Further, Guyer intends to have a one-on-one with each student on the first day.

“It’s not going to be children sitting in class with a piece of paper and a pencil-that’s not going to happen,” she said. “It’s going to be recess all day, but structured. I’m hoping they make new friends and write a new song together.”

For Guyer, not only is it important that students have the ability to perform independently, as she says she makes half her income by playing solo shows, it’s vital that they open their minds to teaming up with other musicians, too.

In fact, after Sully Erna of Godsmack asked her to sing vocals on the song “Hollow,” which appeared on Godsmack’s 2007 release, IV, she recorded and toured with Erna for  his 2010 solo album, Avalon.

“We’ve always had a mutual admiration for each other and we got into this space where he asked me to do the solo thing with him. That became Avalon and I’m very grateful that someone in his position, friend or no friend, was very gracious with me,” she said of Erna, who she has been close with for more than 20 years.  “He gave me lead vocal appearances and back up vocals through the whole thing and for him to put me in the limelight was incredible. He’s a really great guy and a really sweet soul.”

Also, during the Avalon tour, a show at the Wilbur Theater in Boston was filmed for upcoming release. While Guyer didn’t watch the film at the time she was interviewed by Limelight Magazine, she says Erna assured her it is “beautiful,” and she was able to listen to the audio.

“It sounds amazing,” she said.

Aside from being a vocalist, Guyer plays piano and a “little bit of drums.” She’s been performing since she was four and comes from a highly musical family. As a child, she and her family frequently put on vaudevillian shows at senior centers and churches. Whether she was singing, doing comedy acts, or even taking dance classes with 18-year-olds by the time she was seven, she believes the experience helped make her a well-rounded performer.

“It gave me that confidence to do my thing,” says Guyer, who in addition to singing and writing music enjoys interior decorating, photography and gardening.

“I’m always out with Mother Nature,” she says. “It gives me peace.”

Eventually, Guyer hopes to teach her program to adults. For now, she’s focused on making sure she holds a camp every school vacation so she can give advice to aspiring young musicians.

“The industry has changed so much since I was younger and the best thing I can say is practice and work on it,” she says. “Do everything you can to be in school shows and be as diverse as you can. Get out there. Be creative. Put your music up on YouTube. Keep honing your craft. Let no one tell you that you can’t do it.”

To learn more about Lisa Guyer’s Music Empowerment Program or to enroll online, visit lisaguyermusic.com, call 603-554-8602 or email lgmep12@gmail.com.