We tell you all the time about the general awesomeness of our Studio Milwaukee Sessions. There’s a chance you might not take that seriously, however, given our obvious bias. So, in the spirit of Monday’s return visit from the talented Victoria Canal, how about we prove our point via a few of the other artists who are Studio Milwaukee frequent flyers?
When she played our space on a sunny afternoon, Canal joined the ranks of repeat visitors that added three more names in just a few days during Summerfest: Hippo Campus, Amos Lee and Dawes. Those three were all off-site at The Cooperage — similar to two-time session’er Phosphorescent’s recent performance at Lilliput Records.
Then there’s Buffalo Nichols, Brett Dennen, Belly, Dr. Dog, Valerie June and Whitney, all of whom enjoyed the Studio Milwaukee experience enough to swing through for another bite of the apple.
If you want to get technical about it, Canal had them all beat the moment she stepped on stage Monday ahead of her show at Vivarium that night. It was actually her third time performing at Radio Milwaukee, following an initial spot at Grace Weber’s Music Lab and last October’s session. Even in that relatively short time between appearances, we heard something wonderfully different from Canal, who issued a slightly intimidating challenge to herself in the past few months.
“I was just thinking about it … coming back here for a third time, it almost feels like I’ve been a different artist every time I’ve shown up here. I’ve gone through so many waves and stages of experimentation and just trying things,” she shared during the mid-set interview.
“I went on a journey of collaborating with a lot of different people, and this song in particular [“June Baby”] I made with a couple of the guys from The 1975, which was just a really cool way to stretch myself. I guess it has come pretty naturally. I’m just kind of following the flow of whatever music feels true to me in the moment.”
Everyone will be able to hear the result when Canal’s debut full-length album, Slowly, It Dawns, comes out Jan. 17. Monday’s session audience got a solid listen, though, as she played four tracks from the record, including one of our patented off-air tack-ons just for the crowd in attendance.
The most impressive entry in her set was “Fifteen Percent,” which saw Canal seamlessly jump from acoustic guitar to a nearby keyboard without dropping a note. I defy you to pick out the moment in this audio-only format, but feel free to give it a shot by hitting the “Listen” button at the top of the page.
Also, as promised by Dori Zori in this session, you’ll find Canal’s previous answer to the world-famous “childhood smells” question below. Then make sure to catch Canal on tour in the weeks ahead and Slowly, It Dawns when the album gets its release Jan. 17.
Set list
- “June Baby”
- “15%”
- “California Sober”
- “Hollow” (non-broadcast performance)
