One of the amazing things about discovering a local music scene is that you realize that your next most-favorite song in the world could be walking around on the streets of your city, waiting for you to discover it.
Over the past few years my ratio of beloved favorite tunes has tipped in favor of local, with the incredible songwriters in Philly’s scene lodging melodies in my head again and again. On Friday I was a terrible delinquent friend and fan and fell asleep on my futon before I could drive to Old City to see three of those songwriters – Dante Bucci, Andrea Nardello, and Victoria Spaeth – play a show at the Tin Angel that I had been looking forward to for months.
Seriously, I should never be allowed to sit by myself on that futon after dark without a guitar in my hands. Nothing but narcolepsy can come of it.
Luckily, technology has saved the day – there’s a video playlist of Victoria Spaeth’s entire set from the show, which includes her breath-taking tune “Electric Love.”
I remember the first time I saw Vicky play “Electric Love” song, as well as “Breath and Release,” which is on her debut CD. It was as if she sucked all of the air and light out of the whole room and surrounded herself with it, so that you couldn’t survive in the vacuum unless you were right there with her in the moment. Both songs are instant classics – they sound like lost Joni Mitchell tunes with their sighing vocals, string-slapping rhythms, and easy sensuality.
It has been amazing to watch Victoria grow from a girl who played Jewel songs at open mics to a serious artist with crazy guitar chops who is penning some of my favorite songs. I’m so very proud of her progress, especially because it means I have even more favorite songs to fill my ears with.