Maya de Vitry’s dynamic and vibrant voice seems to rise out of some necessity of simply bringing songs to life, embracing listeners with what Folk Alley calls a “soulful intimacy”. She grew up in a musical family in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, understanding music to simply be a place of gathering, a way to spend a summer night by a campfire. She was surrounded by bluegrass and old-time music, and country, gospel, and folk songs. She took piano lessons from her grandmother, and took up classical violin in school, but it was some combination of the haunting fiddle music of Appalachia and the vulnerable poetry in Townes Van Zandt’s songwriting that first compelled her to begin creating tunes and songs of her own – and it was around campfires that she slowly found the courage to begin singing them.
Maya first traveled and performed as a fiddling street musician, and then in bars, theaters, and on festival stages as a founding member of The Stray Birds. When the trio parted ways in 2018, Maya embarked on an ever-evolving musical path of solo work and new collaborations. Now based in Nashville, Tennessee, she enjoys moving between acoustic and electric worlds, playing in the musical spaces between folk, country, and indie rock – although she thinks of it all as “song music”. Her recordings and live performances embody both sincerity and playfulness, and a compelling reverence for the power of songs to be a place of gathering – whether played on stage, or around a campfire.
Website: www.mayadevitry.com
