Alina was born in the Ukraine but was raised in the suburbs of Massachusetts, where she often saw Mary Lou Lord singing in T stations (“she was my idol”). The post-high school road led Alina to potent places like Texas and New York City; she began her musical career busking on the streets of Austin and performed with Emma la Reina, a rock band in New York. Alina has one critically-acclaimed EP (Prettier in the Dark) under her belt and a new full-length due out in 2007, with a range of songs featuring full band arrangements, strings, and odd found instruments (like Alina’s beloved ‘strum stick’). The New Yorker has called her voice “potent and ethereal,” and Venus characterized her songwriting as “mysterious, gritty and raw.” Her music is for lovers of Cat Power, PJ Harvey, and Sinead O'Connor.

In her travels around the United States and the rest of the world, Alina has opened for Bettie Serveert, Takka Takka, Alec Ounsworthy (Clap Your Hands Say Yeah), Orienda Fink, Scout Nibblett, Jason Anderson, Eugene Mirman, Final Fantasy (Owen Pallett of Arcade Fire), Jason Collett (of Broken Social Scene) and the Wedding Present. In 2006 she also performed at a music festival in Moscow.