Skateboarder Alexis Allan Takes on "Lestats"

Skateboarder and Rockstar. That is a pretty lethal combination, especially if you are a 16-year-old girl. Alexis Allan (formerly Alexis Schempp) is known to most in the action sports world as the gromette skateboarder who appeared in publications from Teen Vogue to Transworld Skateboarding. She is now taking on a new gig as a singer songwriter.

This past Saturday, the El Camino High School Sophomore played her CD Release Party at “Lestats,” a quaint music venue on Adams Avenue near downtown San Diego that recently hosted musicians Tyler Hilton and Jason Mraz. The crowd was packed with a mixture of students, local artists and a few skateboaders including former pro Colt Cannon .

“I have always been inspired by music and through skateboarding I was exposed to a lot of different artists. To me the two just go hand in hand,” said Allan who learned to skate at age eight and picked up the guitar at age nine.

Allan still takes her flat bar out of the garage to skate, but most of her free time (outside of school and varsity swim team practice) is now centered on recording new tunes.

Her songs are full of sweet, melodic lyrics that revolve mostly about relationships and boys. (What else is there when you are 16-years-old?) Her stage presence, however, is that of someone much more mature. In front of a crowd, Allan is poised, confident and fearless, like someone not afraid of dropping in on a vert ramp.

Alexis Allan plays next on April 10^th at Lestats in San Diego at 8:00pm. You can check her out yourself at www.alexisallan.com

-Shelby Stanger