Adia Victoria at The Sunset, Seattle

Peter Dervin Posted On March 3, 2017

I first was introduced to Adia Victoria and her music at the 2015 Treefort Music Fest in Boise, Idaho where she came out on stage with her fluorescent pink hair and proceeded to plaster the room with her gritty roots blues. Having never heard her before, her songs were heartfelt stories that bit to the core.

Last year Adia came through Seattle and played to a packed house at The Sunset in Ballard. Her album “Beyond The Bloodhounds” had just come out and she was introducing many of her songs to a receptive audience. Since her performance last year, I have been listening to her music and have been looking forward to hearing her perform once again.

With Adia’s return to Seattle, I was pleasantly surprised that she was returning to The Sunset, which is a great venue. I was even more surprised when I arrived, as I was the first person entering the music space. There I met the opener, Reverend Dollars who opened the evening with a very soulful DJ set which even included some Talking Heads in the mix.

The next performer is a rising talent in the Seattle music scene, DoNormaal. I first saw her when she opened for La Luz at the Tractor Tavern last year. DoNormaal mixes her poetic lyrics with her pre-recorded rhythmic soundscapes that integrate into an organic collage of rap and blues. Go check out her unique music at http://www.soundcloud.com/donormaal

As Adia Victoria and her band took the stage, the room grew darker with deep red hues. Appearing angelic in a floating white dress, Adia sings with a subtle voice that then rages with power and force. Her band features Mason Hickman on Guitar, Jason Harris on Bass, Alex Caress on Keyboards and Saxophone and Tiffany Minton on Drums.

Adia also introduced several new songs from her recently released EP “How It Feels”, a collection of songs sung in French which were lovely to hear performed.

I had read in an open letter that Adia had posted on her Facebook page describing how she didn’t see herself as an “Americana” musician and how the genre created a stereotype. As a young artist, whose music reflects her life experiences from growing up in the south and the people that shaped her essence, these are her words. From my view, in front of a stage watching her bring her music to life, I find her rock roots blues to be liberating.

Everything from buzz rock on songs like “And Then You Die”, to floating trips through the darkness on “Howlin’ Shame” to her song “Stuck In The South” that pulls you into her world.

As I see other artists like Rhiannon Giddens and Valerie June getting a lot of attention for their style of music, I believe that Adia is more focused on her own brand of blues and not anyone’s perception of where she should be categorized. More power to her!