DOWN IN VIRGINIA: WE LOVE GRACE VICTORIA
by Cath Spino, Assistant Music Editor
Ah, the Internet. A lovely, chaotic-good little void where time is limitless, making yours days surviving this pandemic brighter. No risk of transmission here. Like most millennials, I scroll Tik Tok for hours on end these days, totally mesmerized by the antics of other users and more recently, completely blown away by musicians trying to (and more often than not, actually) “making it” on the app. There’s an amazing intimacy of these musician’s Tik Tok performances as we see them playing in their own environments, our own private, virtual NPR Tiny Desk concerts. During a time where every day life can feel void of human connection, seeing live music or a raw cover can change your mood.
One of these musicians is a friend of Wednesday Zine, Grace Victoria. After being tipped off on the content she’s been creating during the pandemic on Tik Tok, I found out about her first single for 2021, “Down in Virginia”. Unlike her pop-clubby 2020 single “Black Looks Better on Me” (which if you haven’t heard it, go listen to it now), “Down in Virginia'' seduces the listener with jazzy and blues smoothness telling just as penetrating of a story as “Black Looks Better on Me”. From the moment it starts, we are transported to a place where Grace’s vocals are in command. Her voice is smooth and easy as she vocalizes the truths about racism in the South. The song is biting as it is smooth. Lines like “a crazy woman called me n***** made me wanna scream” are sung so deftly, with such a quiet power, that demand you to pay attention. Grace Victoria’s tonality and flare for rhythm and melody are the perfect vessel for listeners to be questioned by how complacent they are in upholding structures of racism in America. She sings with deep wisdom and a timeless air, she’s one to keep your eyes on and a voice to keep in your ears. You can listen to her single here.