Page 12 - BiTS_10_OCTOBER_2021

VL: Yes, I do in September, I believe 25th, and that’s at an awesome festival in Western New York,

so that will be a lot of fun.

BiTS: In the last year, even though you’ve not been having all that many gigs, you have won dozens
of prizes and things. How do you feel about all that kind of stuff?

VL: Just blown away and just incredibly appreciative, really, I mean. Just recently, I was thinking
about how all of this love from everyone really got me through this year and got me through the

pandemic. It’s really been a tough time but knowing that there’s people behind me who really love
what I’m doing and are excited about my music has helped me get this debut album out this year
and is keeping me excited about shows and writing new songs.

BiTS: Have you got any plans to go back in the studio again?

VL: Absolutely. Yes. I’ve been writing so much during the pandemic and we’re just starting up this
summer working on laying down some
tracks, so yes, there’s definitely lots of

new songs in the works.

BiTS: I read somewhere online that
although habitually on stage you play an
electronic keyboard, that you’ve got your
own upright piano at home. Is that true?

VL: Yes, the first piano and the only
piano I’ve ever had is this hundred-year-
old upright piano and that’s where I
learned to play. It’s still the only actual
piano I have. It’s kind of a funny story.
When I was five years old, we moved to a
new house, and we found one of our

neighbours had this old piano in their barn and so we rescued it and we brought it home and the
name Margaret was inscribed on the front of the piano. We don’t know who that is, but I always
kind of thought when I was really young, oh, Margaret is getting lonely - I’d better go play with her
and it was almost like a friend. I was practicing all the time and this music, and my songs are such
a part of me that it’s really special to be able to share these songs with everyone, so yes. I have an

upright piano.

BiTS: Do you practice every day, or is it playing that just does the practice for you?

VL: I definitely practice a lot and I’ve never had a piano teacher. I’ve just taught myself through
listening to so much music and just writing and improvising, so yes, I definitely practice a lot, but a
lot of it does sometimes feel like it just kind of comes out of nowhere - the songs and the ideas
because it is such a part of me and it’s really, really always fun to play and write.

BiTS: On the album, there’s all kinds of different piano styles, including some stuff which clearly is
from New Orleans, as well as Jerry Lee Lewis and all the rest of it. Where did you pick up the styles
from just by listening to other people?

VL: Definitely a lot came from listening because I find inspiration from many different genres and
styles, whether it’s New Orleans piano or early rock and roll, like Little Richard or Jerry Lee Lewis
or it’s Otis Spann and Pinetop Perkins, the early boogie-woogie blues players. There’s definitely a