From her preteen songwriting attempts through
her graduation from the Berklee College of Music, Victoria Vox
dreamed of becoming a professional singer/songwriter. During her Berklee years, the native of Green
Bay, Wis., collaborated with other students to record her first CD,
the full-band extravaganza Victoria
and the Ultra Pink Bicycle Incident.
After graduating from Berklee in 2000, Vox moved to Nashville,
Tenn., in an unsuccessful attempt to crack the country-music
songwriting circuit. After wising up to the folly of her situation,
she took off for England and, six months later, released Still, an
acoustic-heavy CD filled with touching songs of emotional content. In 2003, after leaving London for Green Bay,
Vox found herself faced with the momentous “quit the day
job” decision. Would she sink or swim in the world of
professional music? She soon hooked up with two like-minded
singer/songwriters, Kellie Linn Knott of Minneapolis and Stolie of
Chicago, to form Tres Femmes in 2004. The harmony-driven acoustic
trio released a self-titled CD of collaborative original songs that
year and toured the country. (Springfieldians were fortunate enough
to experience a few shows.) During their travels, Vox diversified
the three-guitar instrumentation by adding bass and ukulele. In 2004, Vox recorded In Between, an EP of
acoustic songs awash in drum loops and electric sounds in a more pleasing pop vein than her other recordings.
During tours for this CD, Vox found the ukulele beginning to dominate
her performances, and she found audiences asking for a record featuring
the little four-stringed wonder of the Hawaiian islands. Vox’s fifth album, Victoria Vox and Her Jumping Flea (“jumping flea” is the literal translation
of the Hawaiian word ukulele), has a refreshing sound that complements the
ukulele tone and emphasizes Vox’s velvety voice through a
wonderfully sparse yet enticing production. Covers include
“Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Psycho
Killer,” “Guilty,” and, of course, “Ukulele
Lady.” The originals are simple and unabashedly plaintive.
“America,” an imploring Vox tune, was recently featured
on A&E’s new original series Random1. Vox, who has happily reached her goal of
200-plus live-music dates annually, begins the “Jumping
Flea” spring tour on Sat., March 12, at Schuba’s in
Chicago and then passes through St. Louis, Tulsa, Austin, Tucson,
San Francisco, Seattle, and Minneapolis, just to name a few cities
on the itinerary, before ending in Algoma, Wis., on April 8.
Victoria Vox performs at Floyd’s Thirst
Parlor (212 S. Fifth St., 217-522-2020) 8:30-11 p.m. Mon., March
13. For a head start on
your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, tune in to WILL (Channel
12), Champaign-Urbana’s PBS affiliate, at 7 p.m. Wednesday,
March 15, for a presentation of Celtic
Palooza. The concert film, made last
year, features Springfield Irish-music group Exorna (Victor
McMullan, Mark Butler, and Forrest Harris), plus area musicians
Lisa Boucher, Dean Karras, Bloomsday, and Spiral Seisiún. “We have
carefully designed this record for maximum rockage,” bassist
Mike Huberty of Sunspot says of the band’s newest CD, Cynical, on its Web
site. The traveling band plays Viele’s Planet (126 E.
Jefferson St., 217-544-0598) on Friday, March 10. The band promotes
itself with this catchy slogan: “Arena rock for geeks.”
Sunspot hails from Madison, Wis., a state-capital city similar to
Springfield — except that Madison supports the local music
scene by giving industry awards to deserving bands and musicians.
The group won for best CD in 2004 and best group in 2005. You
won’t find many better contemporary pop-power trios. If a
late-night Viele’s adventure doesn’t fit into your
schedule (or scares the bejesus out of you), check out the
threesome at Sun’s Up Koffee Kafe (1001 N. First St.,
217-522-5348), 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 11. The March edition of
“In Bed by Ten” features Frank’s Discount Lounge
Act, which spotlights local jazz musician Frank Trompeter in a new
career as a lounge singer. Trompeter puts glamour and glitz back
into the oft-ridiculed lounge-singer tradition. The show takes
place 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, March 15, in the ballroom of the old St.
Nicholas Hotel, at the corner of Fourth and Jefferson. Finally there’s
a jazz open mic that encourages musicians of all playing levels to
come and share knowledge, playing and learning together in the
great tradition of classic jazz — or, as bassist Jeff
Cunningham, nicely puts it: “The way the style traditionally
has been passed on.” The get-together, hosted by trumpeter
Frank Parker, features many of Springfield’s finest jazz and
blues players working on those elusive chops at the Brewhaus (617
E. Washington St., 217-525-6399), 8 p.m.-midnight each Tuesday, or
thereabouts. You know how those musicians can be.
This article appears in Mar 9-15, 2006.
