Born in the idyllic countryside of the Philippines and raised in New Jersey by a single mom and extended family, Alfa got her start playing classical piano and violin. At 13, Alfa taught herself guitar and crafted a sound suited for her not-so-run-of-the-mill voice, drawing comparisons to Jewel, Fiona Apple and Joni Mitchell, and later Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareilles and Regina Spektor.

Since the release of her debut LP, "Second Skin" (2009), Alfa has found herself on more planes than fingers (and toes) combined. Touring Texas, the Midwest, the East Coast and California in 2011 alone. Her music has been heard on MTV, MYX and MNet.

A smart lyricist with a knack for catchy melodies and a signature raspy voice, Alfa has brought her organic musical style to the stages of the Ford Amphitheatre and The Shrine (to a crowd of 6,000) in Los Angeles, Lincoln Center and the Highline Ballroom in New York. In 2011, Alfa took the leap and moved to Los Angeles, her white Nissan filled to the brim with instruments and belongings.

In 2010, Alfa's uplifting piano-pop song, "Supergirl" made the honorable mention list of the New York Songwriters Circle's Songwriting Competition. The same year, Alfa's music video for the Shakespeare-inspired song, "Love as Tragedy: A Play in 3 Acts" made its debut (directed by David Speranza). In 2009, Alfa took home the Grand Prize in Kollaboration Acoustic 3 in Hollywood, a nation-wide talent competition featuring Asian-American talent.

"Second Skin" was produced by Alex Houton (Charlotte Sometimes, Jet, Panic at the Disco) in Red Bank, NJ and was written in an attic in northern NJ shortly after Alfa graduated college. It is available on www.alfa-music.com, and on iTunes, Amazon, iHeartRadio, Pandora and other major digital distributors.

Alfa endorses Walden Guitars.

Stay tuned for her upcoming Nashville-and-LA-based musical project, The Idle Hours.

An Excerpt of Venues Alfa has Played:

New York, NY: Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Highline Ballroom, Skirball Center, The Bitter End, Crash Mansion, Rockwood Music Hall, The Living Room (main room, Googie's), Piano's, CBGB's Gallery, Best Buy (Union Square, Chelsea, Lincoln Center locations), Union Square APA Heritage Festival, Knitting Factory.

New Jersey: The Stone Pony, Maxwell's, Small World Coffee (Princeton), Dublin House (Red Bank, summer series).

Los Angeles, CA: Genghis Cohen, The Shrine, Ford Amphitheater, Gardena Casino, Blue Dahlia Cafe, Cafe Metropol.

Philadelphia, PA: Tin Angel.

Campuses: University. of Illinois (Chicago, Urbana-Champaign locations), Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern University, Northern Illinois University, Grinnell College (Iowa), Tufts University, Bates College (Maine), Rutgers University (NJ), New York University, Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, Swarthmore College, Amherst College, Columbia University, William Paterson University (NJ), Westmoreland Community College (PA), University of Minnesota, University of Texas (Austin), Fordham University, University of Michigan.

Other cities/towns: Tulsa, OK; New Hope, PA; Houston, TX; Austin, TX;