Burgeoning indie rock songsmith brings fall trek to Montana
Big Sky Country is set to welcome Richmond, Virginia native Lucy Dacus for a pair of shows this month as part of the musician’s fall tour. The stops coincide with her continued ascension in the indie music world following the release of her widely celebrated sophomore record, Historian.
The album was met by a cavalcade of critical elation, with NPR, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NBC News, Slate, The Atlantic, Billboard, Paste and Stereogum declaring it one of the best albums released last year. Her collaborative EP as one third of boygenius (with Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker) landed on many of those same lists, plus Newsweek, The New Yorker, Esquire and The New York Times. She’s since played revelatory sold-out shows at clubs and festivals alike, also appearing on television sets across the country on CBS This Morning, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Last Call with Carson Daly.
In anticipation of her local performances, the Rolling Zone spoke with Dacus about the live show and a second shot at first impressions.
Rolling Zone: Montana’s lucky enough to be hosting two stops on your fall tour, first at the Rialto in Bozeman then Missoula’s Top Hat the following evening. For those perhaps familiar with the material but will be seeing it performed for the first time, can you give a preview of the Lucy Dacus live experience?
Lucy Dacus: Well, we play the songs [laughs]. Just kidding, I mean, we do. We’re a four-piece band, not tons of tricks. There’s one moment of choreography that I will not spoil but my band’s really cute and really good. We’re pretty playful on stage, that’s kind of the way we stay engaged doing the same songs night after night. I know a lot of bands go through the motions, but every night feels different for us. We mix up the set and I try to take requests when people have them, so if anybody sees this and wants to request any songs just @ me on Twitter.
RZ: Since the release of your debut No Burden only about four years ago, you’ve become a bit of a road warrior rather quickly. Consistent touring is definitely a sign of evolution for an independent artist, but have you had to reassess how to distribute your creative energies considering the greater workload?
LD: Yeahhh, absolutely. We book these shows like half a year out and you can’t really tell how you’re going to feel when you get there. Honestly, I probably should have taken a break this year. My body and my voice have taken a huge toll from touring. But I’ve been developing some better habits, like I don’t speak for 12 hours at a time after the show. Habits like that really help with longevity of touring life. I think next year I’m going to take a good ole break, even a month would be nice. We haven’t had a full month off in years.
RZ: Your second release, last year’s Historian, certainly scoffed in the face of the sophomore slump myth. You’ve said this album was the one you needed to make and whatever follows is just a bonus. What was your overarching goal with this collection?
LD: No Burden caught all of us off guard. I had never been in the studio before and didn’t know anyone would hear that. It was our guitarist’s school project, the purpose was not to begin a career. Suddenly people heard it and they were just random songs we picked from my catalog, years of writing, the ones we wanted to work on. So, it didn’t feel as intentional. And when you hear me sing, that’s the first time I’ve ever sung in a recording studio, and the first time I’ve ever sung with a band because I was solo up until we recorded. My voice was so underdeveloped. Even now I listen back and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I was trying to level up to the drums, I’m all wobbly and so confident, and sound sassier than I actually am. People were getting a first impression of me that I didn’t thoroughly think through. I wanted to make a record that was really thoughtful and got to the core of the things I think about, what represents my day-to-day qualms and questions. And I think Historian did that. I’m way more comfortable in the world having that out there. I feel like people know me more accurately.
RZ: It’s a little bit more of an introduction to you, on your own terms.
LD: Yeah, it feels like a debut.
RZ: Your writings are marked by some pretty dense subject matter, but always seem to feature varying levels of hope. What does putting these lyrics on paper do for your reflective process?
LD: Sometimes I don’t know what I think until I’ve written it into a song. Often I’ll have a bigger sort of confusion on the back burner for a while, maybe even years. Then one day I’ll just be writing and it’s like ‘Oh, I understand that now. Wow.’ Those are the words I wish I had for so long and were never there. Writing is definitely for me before anyone else. It’s cool that other people tend to get something from it.
RZ: What do you hope these songs do for your listeners?
LD: I’ve benefitted so much from feeling understood by writers. Even if it makes you feel worse, it feels better to hear words for things you can’t express. If I’m able to do that, that’s the best thing I could do. Further than that would be to provide hope for people because it’s hard to come by. Hope is elusive, you come in and out of it. If I can gently motion people toward hopefulness, that’s an A-plus for me.
RZ: Are there a couple standout artists from whom you draw inspiration and also hope to at least mildly emulate?
LD: I think I hope to not emulate anyone, but I do get inspiration all the time. This is corny, but Phoebe and Julien. I look to them and respect their opinions and work on a level deeper than just a listener. I love Bruce Springsteen, I love Sharon Van Etten, and I really love Laura Stevenson. I’ve never been intentionally influenced, but being asked questions like this I’ve realized yeah, I did listen to Prince through my entire childhood.
RZ: Speaking of Springsteen, you’ve also been releasing various holiday-inspired singles since the top of the year, the latest being a cover of “Dancing in the Dark” in celebration of his birthday. Where did the idea for this series transpire from?
LD: We go into the studio sporadically because we don’t like to stay out of there too long. I knew I wanted to play around before the next record to just learn more and become more familiar with the mixing process and engineering. So we recorded all these songs, either stray originals or covers of songs I love. We had no plan to put them out, and I just got frustrated that they were sitting unheard. I kind of by chance figured out this excuse to put them out with the holidays. It’s actually been perfect because every couple months I’ve got to share a song. It’s low-stakes and really feels like I’m giving something, and people have come along for the ride really generously. The cover that just came out was recorded two years ago, it’s seriously been sitting collecting dust. I’m glad it’s finally out. I’m not going to lie, the next one is my favorite and it’ll be out by Montana.
RZ: Do we know the title of that yet?
LD: I can’t say, but we will play it at those shows.
RZ: The singles are possibly tiding us over until the next all-original release. Is that something you can give an update on
LD: Yeah, we’ve been making it. Most of the material is written and recorded, but I don’t know how long it will take to actually finish. I just like to make things constantly. We might finish it but not have it come out for a year. I’m really deep into that next record right now.
RZ: Aesthetically speaking, you’ve got a bold color scheme of late. Was there an objective behind creating these bright visuals to pair with the music you’ve been releasing?
LD: Holidays usually have a color scheme and I wanted the visuals to correspond with each. Christmas is red and green, Halloween’s black and orange, for “La Vie en Rose” we had pink for Valentine’s Day. “My Mother & I” was Taurus season, and the stone for Taurus is emerald so I wore the green jumpsuit. There’s no color scheme for Bruce but I wore a jumpsuit that had ‘Bruce’ embroidered on it. I prefer wearing black, I’m not a super colorful person, but it’s nice to do something new. Do things that maybe make me feel a little bit out of my element, and also realize how much I would think about that. Like, ‘people are going to think I’m a really bubbly person because I’m wearing a blue or green jumpsuit.’ But nobody thinks that. It’s nice to figure out that people have a really generous idea of what is acceptable. I feel like the more that I do, the wider the palette is for what people will expect of me. It’s nice to not be limited.
RZ: Your career began around the dawn of the streaming era, but you’re plenty old enough to remember going out and buying CDs. Though you’re a relatively new artist, what thoughts do you have about the current state of the music industry, from a touring musician’s standpoint?
LD: When it comes to streaming, I love that there’s a free way to listen to my music. I know people are mad that musicians don’t get paid as much, but I never got paid for music. For me, I’m making way more for music than I ever thought I would. That’s maybe frustrating for people who went from making most of their money on album sales to really not anymore. That’s probably true for any industry. I really don’t think that music is a luxury good. I think that vinyl is, I mean, I’m looking at my collection right now and there’s like 400 of them. I’m a vinyl person but I don’t want [my music] to only be accessible physically. I couldn’t pay for vinyl for a really long time and was able to listen to music on Spotify, and before that Pandora or the radio. I like that people can just find me, become a fan and come to the show.
RZ: So, you’ve got a couple more of these one-off singles coming out, you’re working on a new record, but where do you foresee Lucy Dacus going from here?
LD: It’s funny because my life is planned out so far ahead. Next week we’re going back to Nashville to work more on the record, and then six weeks of tour, down to Mexico, then it’s holiday season and a few shows in December. Basically 2020 is quote ‘year off’ unquote, and I’m already doing something all through March. I think I want to do something creative that isn’t music. I need to give more time to something I haven’t been doing. I used to make all sorts of art, and this is just the one that’s become my job. I really want to, I don’t know, be a novice at something again. I want to learn something on purpose. I like to be out of my element and like, stupid. I just want to be stupid about something and learn. Not positive how that will manifest but I have it in my heart that I want to do it.
RZ: Always learning. Did you have a parting message before we see you?
LD: I’m so excited for those shows. We’ve never played headliners in Montana, and I don’t know when we’ll be back, so if there’s a request for any songs we have out, @ me on Twitter. Really looking forward to it.
Lucy Dacus takes Downtown Bozeman’s Rialto stage on Wednesday, October 16th. Nashville singer/songwriter Liza Anne and ‘regret pop’ Texan act Sun June will get the music started at 8pm. Advance tickets to this all-ages show are $15 at logjampresents.com or $17.50 in-store at Cactus Records. Doors at 7pm.
Missoula’s Top Hat Lounge hosts an 8pm show the following evening, Oct. 17th. Tickets and additional details also available through Logjam.
Learn more about Dacus at lucydacus.com or find her on Facebook for updated tour details and other announcements. Read her birthday letter to The Boss at vanityfair.com and be sure to follow on Instagram and Twitter – tweet your requests for the show(s)! Dacus’ latest release, Historian, and festive singles are available now. Stream on Spotify and Apple Music. •
