A fine singer-songwriter with a powerful and emotive voice, Milwaukee's Heidi Spencer creates music that is confident, resonant and--on occasion--bordering on the spiritual.
Her latest album, Under Streetlight Glow, issued by Bella Union Records and credited to Heidi Spencer & the Rare Birds, may well be the perfect starting place to appreciate the delicacy of precisely what she does.
A colorful figure, with a background in film school and film making, Spencer makes music that draws from many hard-to-pin-down sources: One account on her label's website sites previous comparisons to Dolly Parton, Joanna Newsom and Edie Brickell--and while none of those comparisons are completely off the mark, none really do the uniqueness of her talent justice.
Y! Music caught up with the singer in Austin recently at the annual South By Southwest conference and very much liked what we saw and heard. An interesting and colorful person, Spencer sang a pair of emotional tunes, offered up a candid interview, and seemed not to mind in the least the informality of the Y! Music "Bedroom Sessions" format, for which remain quite grateful.
Give her a listen and you'll see what the fuss is about.