Alexa Wilkinson at The Mint

My friend Stevie called me up the other day wanting to know if I wanted to check out this singer/songwriter she knew at The Mint in West L.A. It's close to where I live and I'm always up for a visit from Stevie, so I said, "Sure. Why not?" Stevie is big into all kinds of music and is constantly blogging about new artists, so I figured if she thought this chick was good, then she must be good.

Turns out that Alexa Wilkinson is a very talented young singer/songwriter. Her passion for music started at age 10--because of a boy. He was taking trumpet lessons and so she started learning to play the trumpet in order to be around him more. Unfortunately, Alexa possessed a lot of natural talent and progressed as a musician whereas her 10 year-old crush did not. She even played trumpet at tonight's gig--along with singing and playing guitar. Her sound is a mix of country, folk, blues and pop and her voice is a gorgeous instrument.

As for the venue, The Mint has a cool, hip yet laid-back vibe to it. There are plenty of tables and booths and they serve appetizers and entreés in addition to drinks. Both, however, are the usual L.A. expensive...Stevie and I had the Calamari Tempura (addictively good--albeit a bit greasy) and the Vegetable Napoleon (which was unique and at least we could say we ate our veggies!).

And now it's after midnight and time for me to get to bed! So much for being an L.A. party girl...