Lucy Dacus
If you want to know Lucy Dacus, just listen to her songs and watch her band on stage. That, the 23-year-old indie-rock sensation says, is who she is. “The band is called Lucy Dacus, my name is so totally associated with the content,” she said in a recent telephone interview. “We’re not up there playing characters. Unlike some artists, I’m not bothered by people feeling like they’re seeing me at the shows.”
And, Dacus said, they are hearing her in the songs she writes, which she readily admits come from her life. “I’ve talked with friends about this, when you write about yourself, that’s what people connect to,” she said. “When you write a sermon or a lesson, that may not reach people. I’ve learned a lot from people who have been writing about themselves.”
The latest batch of Dacus’ songs can be found on Historian, her acclaimed second Matador Records album that she says is a song cycle of loss, perseverance and, ultimately, optimism. There is a song about a recent break up with a boyfriend and one about the death of her grandmother.
The songs weren’t written together. Some predate her 2016 album, No Burdens, and she says she continues to record an extension of that debut. The music is richer and more involved, though the guitar-centric focus remains. “The music is a step up,” she says. “The content is more difficult. My singing; I get louder. The guitars get louder. It makes sense to me as a follow up album.”
Dacus, who’s based in Richmond, Va., comes by music almost as naturally as she does writing. Her mother was an elementary school music teacher and pianist. “We’d clean the house and sing together,” she said. “She taught me how to harmonize when I was really young. That’s probably the most musical training I’ve had—her giving me an ear for harmony. The rest of it is all self-taught.” She says she drew writing inspiration from Shakey Graves—the Texan who started solo and works a lot in open-B tuning—and Broken Social Scene, who pack an expansive sound into tight songs.
Now she gets to take her songs out on the road and present them in some of the same venues in which those bands have performed. That could be a lot of pressure for a young artist, but Dacus says, “If there’s any pressure, it’s from myself. I don’t want to have a bad show. I just want to have a good time. I think if I do, other people do.” Dacus says she’s thrilled to have Historian out in the world and is encouraged by the response its received from critics and newfound fans.
“It’s super exciting. I’ve lived with the songs for so long, and now they’re out there. I’m the mother; no one else can do that. I’m really happy others can hear it. It’s kind of strange. I’ve had them in my iTunes for so long, different mixes; and I’ve only shared them with a few people, family and friends. Now people are hearing it, writing about it, talking to me about it. It’s been an adjustment that way,” she said.
And she said the fact that her music, in both in recorded and live versions, is reaching people has been instantly fulfilling. “That’s probably the coolest part of all of this—that really immediate affirmation,” Dacus said. “How many jobs are there in this world that people come up to you and say, ‘You’re making my life better?’ A doctor maybe. That feeling is never going to get old. Talking about it, I feel like tearing up. I’m such a softie. I really value the people that value me.”
Lucy Dacus opens for The National on Monday, July 30, at the Riverside Theater at 8 p.m.
