Alina Estelle Hardin

"Cotton White" single available on the Family Album

After spending 10 months in France formulating melodies in her mind, Alina bought her first guitar when she was 18 years old. One year penned a dozen songs. Though she currently resides in Oakland, most of her inspiration comes from her years spent growing up in Nevada City and her visits to her home away from home on the coastal cliffs of Northern California. Her melodies and words exist in a far off stare where lace hanging in an open window gives rise to questions of birth, love, marriage, death and other dilemmas of the human spirit. Alina’s songs are folkloric, storytelling, sometimes dreamy and dark, and other times poetic and reminiscent of childhood. She grew up singing songs with her mother and sister out of Allan Lomax’s book of American folk songs. Her voice is completely captivating and entrancing, and her complex song structures seem effortless and natural.