Adia Victoria

Adia Victoria (born July 22, 1986) is an American singer and songwriter, known for her "gothic blues" musical style.[1] In addition to playing and writing music, she also writes poetry.[2] She is currently based in Nashville.[3]

Adia Victoria
Adia Victoria performing at Austin City Limits Music Festival in 2015
Background information
Born (1986-07-22) July 22, 1986
Spartanburg, South Carolina, US
OriginNashville, Tennessee, US
GenresCountry, Rock, Afro Punk, Blues
Years active2013 - present
LabelsWarner Music Group
Websiteadiavictoria.com

Biography

Adia Victoria was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina and is one of six siblings.[1] Her father is Trinidadian.[4] She was raised as a Seventh-day Adventist and she attended church schools until in the 6th grade, her mother enrolled her in public school.[1] Shortly after, her parents divorced and Victoria began to write poetry and short stories as a means of coping.[1] Being moved from the world of Seventh-day Adventists to a public school was difficult for Victoria, who didn't feel she fit in.[5] Victoria and her siblings often spent time with her maternal grandparents who lived near Campobello.[4] She attended Landrum Junior High School in Campobello.[6] Her family also left the Adventist church before Victoria attended high school, which allowed her to explore music she hadn't been exposed to before, like Kurt Cobain, Miles Davis and Fiona Apple.[4]

After high school, she went to New York for a time, in an attempt to "strike it big in a new city."[7] In 2007, she left New York for Atlanta.[7] On her 21st birthday, a friend gave her a guitar and she began to work with blues music.[1] Victoria moved to Nashville in 2010.[8] She chose Nashville as a place where she could live anonymously.[9] In Nashville, she earned her GED and then took French in college.[4] She began to perform around Nashville.[9] In 2016, she performed at South by Southwest.[10]

Her personal "look" was noticed by Vogue for its "Afropop" roots.[11] However, Victoria states that she doesn't like to be "fetishized" for her looks, saying, "People think that because you are attractive, you owe the world something, to let them consume you."[2]

Work

Victoria began her career with a backing band consisting of Ruby Rogers, Tiffany Minton, and Mason Hickman.[8] Later, she began working with a different group, and they debuted together in January 2016.[12]

Victoria's first single release was "Stuck In the South", which was described on All Things Considered as a "very swampy mysterious kind of slow-burning song."[13] Rolling Stone describes her as "PJ Harvey covering Loretta Lynn at a haunted debutante ball."[14] Her live performances are described by Wondering Sound as angry and "furious and feral."[4] American Songwriter calls her stage presence "commanding."[15]

Victoria's full-length debut, Beyond the Bloodhounds, was produced by Roger Moutenot,[1][16] The name of the album is a reference to Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.[16] The predominant theme of her first album is dealing with life in her twenties.[7] Moutenot has previously collaborated with Yo La Tengo and also produced her first single.[17] Canvasback is her current record label.[12]

Discography

Studio albums

EP's
  • Sea of Sand EP (2014)[7]
  • How It Feels EP (2017)
  • Baby Blues EP (2017)

Singles
  • "Lonely Avenue"
  • "Dead Eyes" (Released as single)
  • "Out Of Love"
  • "Mortimer’s Blues"
  • "Sea Of Sand" (Released as single)
  • "And Then You Die"
  • "Howlin’ Shame" (Released as single)
  • "Horrible Weather"
  • "Head Rot"
  • "Invisible Hands"
  • "Stuck in the South" (Released as single)[13]
  • "Mexico Blues"
  • "Different Kind of Love" (2019) – No. 15 Adult Alternative Songs[18]

Compilation tracks
  • "La pour ça" Standing At The Gates, The Songs of Nada Surf's Let Go
  • "Backwards Blues" 30 Days, 30 Songs (Now called 1,000 Days 1,000 Songs) Day 10, Song 11[19]
  • "7th Amendment (Caravan)" 27 The Most Perfect Album
  • "Detroit Moan" An exclusive unreleased Victoria Spivey cover posted on Rookiemag.com in 2016. Link is still valid in 2019.[20]

References
  1. Raiss, Liz (December 2015). "Adia Victoria: With Ghostly Folk Songs, a Southern Poet Rewrites Her Life Story". The Fader. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  2. Moss, Marissa R. (1 June 2015). "Where Pretty Doesn't Matter: Adia Victoria". American Songwriter. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  3. "New Mix: Foxygen, Lily & Madeleine, Porter Robinson, More". Npr.org. 5 August 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  4. "Adia Victoria's Angry, Thrilling Southern Blues". Wonderingsound.com. 30 July 2014. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  5. Spanos, Brittany (21 July 2014). "Adia Victoria: Stuck in the South". Rookie. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  6. Arnaudin, Edwin (3 March 2016). "Adia Victoria Plays Nashville Blues in Asheville". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  7. Valentino, Silas (20 August 2015). "Adia Victoria Stares Down the Corrupt B Side of 'Southern Hell'". The Village Voice. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  8. "Adia Victoria w/Erica Russo". Themothlight.com. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  9. McKenna, Brittney (8 August 2014). "Adia Victoria: The Escape Artist". American Songwriter. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  10. "Adia Victoria". Schedule.sxsw.com. 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  11. Wagoner, MacKenzie (21 August 2015). "5 Beauties Who Answer to Afropunk's Rebellious Call". Vogue. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  12. Trageser, Stephen (26 February 2016). "Watch Adia Victoria Shred 'Dead Eyes,' First Track from Her Debut Album". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  13. Thompson, Stephen (13 March 2016). "South By Southwest Music Preview". All Things Considered (transcript). Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
  14. Spanos, Brittany (January 2015). "10 New Artists You Need to Know: January 2015". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  15. McKenna, Brittney (19 August 2014). "Those Darlins, Tristen, and Adia Victoria Rock Nashville". American Songwriter. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  16. Aaron, Charles (22 March 2016). "Geeked Up: Girl Grouping". MTV News. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  17. Green, Caralyn (23 September 2015). "Rust Belt Revival". Pittsburgh City Paper. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
  18. "Adult Alternative Songs - Week of June 22, 2019". Billboard.com. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  19. "Backwards Blues". 30days30songs.com.
  20. "Rookie » Adia Victoria: Detroit Moan". Rookiemag.com. June 28, 2016.
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