Lucy Dacus proves herself in The Current's studio
by Jade and Cecilia Johnson
April 05, 2018
Lucy Dacus sounds almost ready to be an emerging rock star.
Well, she has that status already. After recording her debut album, No Burden, to satisfy a school project of guitarist Jacob Blizard's, she was lifted up as a harbinger of indie rock's future. The question was whether she could manage it.
Pushing through rough circumstances and weighty expectations, Dacus and her band just followed up No Burden with the album Historian, a make-or-break album that's more than enough. Her voice, writing, and instrumentation feel rich and raw.
During her first session in The Current's studio, Dacus says she knows her kind of success is rare. She wrote off a music career years ago, believing it was impossible. But here she has one anyway. While she talks, her voice sounds a little unsure about what she did to belong here, but behind all that, it evinces a strong mind.
Dacus is her own kind of rock star. Having never taken a music class, she plays open-tuned guitar. Nourishing a deep-seated love of words, she keeps books and notebooks everywhere at home. Harboring a fear of addictions, she stays away from coffee and drugs.
After earning success with No Burden, Dacus tried to buy an abandoned church, intending its transformation into a multi-purpose music and living space. However, being then-21 and devoid of credit, she was told to look into a house instead. "This is maybe boring," she interrupts herself while telling Jade the story. "I just said 'equity.'"
She may be quiet, but Dacus is anything but boring. She's clever and self-aware, which is easily inferred from her lyrics. And she's fascinating to listen to. For more, including conversation on the spoken-word snippet from "Nonbeliever," The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, and the song she wrote after the 2015 Baltimore uprising, listen to her full session via the audio player above. You can also read Maia Jacobson's review of her show last night at the 7th St Entry.
Band members
Lucy Dacus - vocals/guitar
Jacob Blizard - guitar
Ricardo Lagomasino - drums
Sadie Powers - bass
Songs performed
"Addictions"
"Nonbeliever"
"Yours & Mine"
All songs from Lucy Dacus's 2018 album Historian, available via Matador Records.
Hosted by Jade
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Corey Schreppel
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Cecilia Johnson
Resources
Lucy Dacus (official site)
