Meet Alexander David & Jenesa Dawn AKA: Jenesia | Musicians- Jenesia

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alexander David & Jenesa Dawn AKA: Jenesia and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alexander David & Jenesa Dawn, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Alexander and Jenesa were both born in the Edmonton area. Jenesa grew up in small-town Stony Plain while Alexander lived in numerous communities across the country before returning to Alberta. The two met at MacEwan University while studying in their music program in 2013. Both came from families of 5 with differing Christian values. Unfortunately, Alexander suffered nearly a decade of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a man his family had living in their home. This trauma shaped his adolescent years, marked with depression, anxiety and addiction. Jenesa was the first person Alexander ever told about his story and it was actually one of the ways the couple grew closer together and why they choose to advocate now for survivors of CSA. The two are both passionate about using their music as a platform to talk about important things. They believe everybody has a story and they venture to listen to those stories and allow it to permeate their art.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The entrepreneurial artist life is not for the faint-of-heart. We have had to overcome many obstacles to get where we are today. Grit, a strong sense of “why” and the support of loved ones has kept us going. Initially we faced struggles with how to begin earning a living as professional musicians in Oil City Alberta. We had to make a name for ourselves and earn peoples respect and admiration. We chose to work hard, make connections and create a memorable brand to help achieve this. It was super stressful though because we both no longer had other employment at the start of 2016, so we were forced head-long into making ourselves profitable. We made cold-calls, applied for funding, entered contests and performed at as many live events/locations as possible. We were newly-weds, recent graduates and home-owners. There was no safety-net. We had to make it work- so we did. Necessity breeds ability. Our decision to write songs about the true struggles of life that were sonically palatable, and even catchy, meant we stood out amongst other singer-song writers. We called ourselves Soap Box Duo and began our journey.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We honestly love hitting up West Edmonton Mall even just to window shop and grab some bubble tea or a frap from Starbucks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The book, Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, had a significant impact on our story. The two of us read chapters together as friends between classes in University and it’s focus on taking negative life experiences and harnessing them for good was a catalyst in our process of truly getting to know each other and the purposes we saw for our futures. By openly discussing very personal, and painful details of the past, we grew to deeply know one another. Through this knowing we also discovered that we had similar passions. Our interests in music as a tool were in alignment and our belief that we could take our negative past experiences and use them to better others lives is what helped us to know we wanted to partner together for the long-run. We ended up dating and getting married within the year.

Website: http://www.jenesiamusic.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenesiamusic

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jenesiamusic

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenesiamusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDMgsqsqc4ZplQWL_x8q_zg

Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5dsUVmGkPTLBcsPpnc2n5A?si=JEir5o1WSOCVYn3Blm1plw

Image Credits
Shalene Dawn Photography and Tyler McIntyre Photography