Mali Velasquez

with runo plum

Doors 7pm | Show 8pm | 18+

Information | Tickets

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Mali Velasquez

When Nashville-based singer-songwriter Mali Velasquez traded her Texas panhandle home for the verdant foothills of Tennessee, she did so with a newfound perspective that mirrored her environment, culminating in the lushly raw edge of her folk-rooted indie rock. Wistfully openhearted and incisive, Velasquez tips the fulcrum between reflection and remedy with melody-forward unction and lyrical tenderness. Her forthcoming debut, I’m Green, is a perennial introspection into the wild animal of young adulthood and the renewing realization that the person we’re most often seeking permission from, crucially, is ourselves.

“I know you’re delicate / But so am I,” sings Velasquez on “Medicine,” her voice a subtext of her disposition, warbled yet controlled, uncertain but sharpening over a fuzz of guitars that crash into epiphanic clarity. Like rounding a mountain road to that first sunlit outlook, Velasquez’s vocals begin to hit you: building, winding, closing in, and then opening, the expanse unfiltered and strikingly primal.

Lead single “Tore” sees similar themes of biting candor as Velasquez confronts a tendency towards shame and self-sabotage over distorted brass and a steady, pastoral groove. “Being comfortable in my skin is something that feels out of reach a lot of the time…What all of these songs are about is my relationship with myself, but also the relationship of ‘self’ as a reflection of my relationships to other people.”

I’m Green sees these familiar feelings of discomfort as an opportunity for release, the through-line being both the hesitancy that precedes the acceptance and the acceptance itself. It’s a restorative exhalation of stored energies and a practice in stretching the limbs to that which we’ve deemed unreachable.

This through-line is never clearer than on opening track “Bobby,” which sees a high school-aged Velasquez attempting to catalog memories following the loss of her mother. Computerized blips and glimmers cut through the sparse guitar work like bytes of fleeting recollection, the data of hospital bed imprints and the sacred nature of shared phrases flooding back in a crescendoed wash of swelling percussion.

“Getting these songs out has been really healing for me. Before, the way I was grieving was just kind of holding it all in, waiting for it to release. These songs have given me a new perspective on grief. At one time, I didn’t think anything good could come from this. There’s nothing left of my mom on the planet, and that can be super strange to talk about, but I do feel like there are little pieces of her living in these songs, which is very comforting to me.”

In reaching for healthier coping mechanisms, Velasquez realized a reborn appreciation for nature and nurtured a more disciplined love for oil painting. “I love to paint, and I love to paint outside, especially coming from such an arid place. Moving here to Nashville, I remember saying out loud, all the time—it’s so green! The cover art for ‘Bobby’ is a photo of my grandparents holding me as a baby that I painted, and that’s something that I absolutely want to keep doing, is just painting old photos.”

She also found producer Josef “Jos” Kuhn (Samia, Annie DiRusso, Venus & the Flytraps, Hannah Cole), who, after seeing a video of Velasquez performing an early version of “Bobby,” reached out about recording the song. The pair hit it off, and recording one song quickly became recording an album. “It’s been so helpful with Josef, because I would come to him with the songs, and it’d be us sitting on the couch or me sending a voice memo and his response would be so unexpected, and welcoming, and appreciative, which is really new for me.”

On closing track “Death Grip,” Velasquez muses about the passage of time and whether her efforts to reconcile the turmoil of a long-term relationship are futile. Like grief, her outward frustrations often turn inward as a mirror and as a chance to reflect on her longest relationship to date: the relationship she has with herself. I’m Green is the result of these reflections becoming meditations on the transformative power of both loss and shame and what emerges when we allow ourselves to surrender to their potential.

runo plum

runo plum is an indie folk-rock artist born and raised in rural Minnesota. Nestled in the quiet woods, runo finds inspiration in everything — deep reflections from the past, love, health, relationships, art, or even just the mundane things of everyday life.

The majority of runo’s songs are written at home in Minnesota and recorded at fellow artist Philip Brooks’ home studio in southern Germany. The songs capture the same authenticity as when they were written, brought to life with wind chimes, rustling trees, and the distant sound of birds singing.

Music has been a constant companion of runo’s throughout her life , but the art of songwriting began to blossom at the age of 14. Fast forward to 2020, amidst the quietude of the pandemic, runo began immersing herself in the world of music production. She spent the year transforming as an artist and writing music more than ever. That year she wrote two EPs, piano songs, etc and earlier from ‘20, which she only released to Bandcamp and Soundcloud.

At the beginning of 2021, runo began sharing videos of her songs on social media. She gathered a small but dedicated audience, eager to experience the music on streaming platforms. Responding to their requests, yin to yang made its debut on Spotify, marking the beginning of a musical journey. Since then, she has independently released a variety of songs and projects, including a 6-track EP titled jupiter and a joint EP mountain songs with Philip Brooks.

Her latest project, earlier from ‘20, brings her back to where it all began. The newly recorded version of her EP has been reborn for wider streaming accessibility and features yin to yang, a standout track from her collection.