Traveling can teach us about ourselves, and that was exactly the case with Adia Victoria. After growing up in South Carolina, she lived in Paris and New York before moving to Atlanta and eventually choosing her current home in Nashville, Tenn. "What traveling showed me, leaving the South for the first time, is that I'm extremely Southern," Victoria says. "Socially, culturally, I'm very, very much of my surroundings, my environment."

Despite her travels, she hadn't visited the Twin Cities before today. Now, touring in support of her debut full-length album, Beyond the Bloodhounds, Adia Victoria is in the Twin Cities for a gig at the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis. Earlier in the day, she stopped at The Current's studio for a session hosted by Mark Wheat.

Thematically, Behond the Bloodhounds is a bit autobiographical. "The album tells the story of my emotional awakening," Victoria says. "At the beginning of my 20s, I kind of just exploded emotionally — some would say I went insane — because I hadn't felt anything and then I started feeling all these things, and one of the ways that I expressed myself when I was 21 was by picking up a guitar. So music kind of aided me along in that journey of self expression, saving my life."

To hear Victoria tell it, reaching for a guitar seemed a natural response to what was going on in her life. School recitals in her early youth nurtured her fondness for music. "When I was a little girl, I loved performing," Victoria says. "It made me feel empowered to stand before people and sing a song, versus just speaking. I felt a connection with people that I didn't feel otherwise. I felt alive."

Now, Adia Victoria is feeling very much alive in the life music is giving her. She measures her success thus far in something many people can relate to. "I moved out of my mom's house," she laughs. "I got my first apartment. It's nice."

Listen to the complete interview to hear more from Adia Victoria, including how Beyond the Bloodhounds helped her exorcise some of the memories that had been haunting her, and how she discovered producer Roger Moutenot, with whom she worked on her album.

Songs Performed

"Dead Eyes"
"Mortimer's Blues"
"Horrible Weather"
All songs from Adia Victoria's 2016 album, Beyond the Bloodhounds, available on Canvasback Music.

Hosted by Mark Wheat
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor

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