Saturday August 26, 2023 Amilia K. Spicer

It may be her haunting, husky voice that first grabs a listener, the way it glides over melodies like smoke, but it’s the songwriting that Spicer really wants you to hear. Her songs have a grit-even when they ache, and still can exude a playfulness when she’s on stage. Wanderlust spills from her songs, with topography that covers languid Pennsylvania farmlands, quirky roadside stops, and an occasional turn down an LA dark alley with flickering neon..Or, as she might say with a slight drawl: “Water, wine and whiskey” Called “fearless” by the San Antonio Express-News, Spicer drew attention the first time she played an LA club on a whim. Ears perked, and she was on her way-—to a rare Mainstage Kerrville Folk Festival debut, three Kennedy Center performances, song placements in several high-profile TV shows (Party of Five, Dawson’s Creek), and quirky indie films. But Spicer initially regarded music as something she could walk away from any time—until a potential record deal fell through. As she envisioned the future slipping from her grasp, she had a startling realization. “I finally figured out,” she says, “this is not what I do. This is who I am.’” With that faith came a new fierceness to her work.